asked on

Shell command

I have a small program in VB5 that launches another program. I have included the following code to end the program once the other application has started:

RetVal = Shell("c:\otherprogram.exe", 1)
window_name = "otherprogram"
Running = Format$(FindWindow(class_name, window_name))
Do
DoEvents
Loop While Running = 0
End

My problem is, the application I am trying to launch is quite large and takes a lot of time to load. My application finds the window name before the program has actually started causing it to end pre-maturely and showing any existing windows beneath. Is there a way to make sure my application does not end until the program it is launching is fully loaded?

Thanks

manoj_r

I have a small function which I use to check if my shelled program has completed or not.

Include the following in the header of module.
Declare Function WaitForSingleObject Lib "kernel32" (ByVal _
hHandle As Long, ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long) As Long

Public Const STANDARD_RIGHTS_ALL = &H1F0000
Public Const INFINITE = &HFFFF

Public Declare Function OpenProcess Lib "kernel32" (ByVal dwDesiredAccess As Long, ByVal bInheritHandle As Long, ByVal dwProcessId As Long) As Long
Public Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hObject As Long) As Long

Call the following function with the handle that is returned from the Shell command.

Function:
Public Function CommandExecuted(hAppHandle As Long) As Boolean
Dim hProc As Long
Dim ReturnValue As Integer
' Wait for the shelled application to finish:
hProc = OpenProcess(STANDARD_RIGHTS_ALL, False, hAppHandle)
If hProc <> 0 Then
ReturnValue = WaitForSingleObject(hProc, 65535)
CloseHandle hProc
End If
CommandExecuted = True
Exit Function
CommandExecuted_Err:
CommandExecuted = True
End Function

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mcrider

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