command

In addition, with ShellExecute you can also specify how you want your process' window to be (e.g. hidden, maximized, minimized, etc)

well right now i am using "CreateProcess" and "system"....

so with shell execute, i will be able to run my program in the background without having the command prompt pop up every couple seconds and steal focus???

Yes, you can specify whether you want you process' window to be hidden, maximized, etc2.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/shell/reference/functions/shellexecute.asp

how would i use ShellExecute to move a file from one folder to another??

or un an .exe????

or run an .exe???

I don't think you can use ShellExecute directly to move files. To run an exe, just call ShellExecute with the lpOperation parameter as "open" and lpFile as the name of the executable.

well, but i am moving a lot of files in my program....

You could turn your project from Win32 Console Application to Win32 Application. Your main function turns to WinMain

int APIENTRY WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance,
                     HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
                     LPSTR     lpCmdLine,
                     int       nCmdShow)

and if you did evaluate the commandline arguments in main, you now have to parse the lpCmdLine argument.

In link settings you have to change option

       /subsystem:console

to

       /subsystem:windows

Regards, Alex

Simplest way I know is to use WinExec() function:

WinExec(some command here, SW_HIDE);

Wait a second, if you're moving a file, isnt it important to know if the file move actually WORKED?

I would write my own file move function, something along the lines of:

Err = rename( oldname, newname );

if( Err != NoError ) { printf("cant rename %s to %s, doing byte copy\n", oldname, newname );
in = fopen( oldname, "r" );  out = fopen( newname, "w" );
if( in == Error ){ printf("cant open %s for reading!!!\n", oldname ); return( -1 ); }
else
{
if( Out == Error ){ printf("cant open %s for writing!!!\n", newname ); return( -2 ); }
else
{
    while( ! feof( in ) ) {   rd = fread( buf, inlen, &inact, in );
                                    if( rd < 0 ) { printf("Error reading input file!\n"); return(-3); }
                                    else { wt = fwrite( buf, inact, outact, out );
                                     if( wt < 0 ) { pritnf("Error writing!" ); return( -4 ); }
                                }
        err = fclose( in );  if( err... )
         err = fclose( out );  if( err ... )
}
return(0);
}

// note, you have to declare all varaibles, check param lists and error checks for accuracy....

i cannot seem to get any of your suggestions to work for moving a file to a new directory...any examples???

thanks

MoveFileEx ( "c:\\dir1\\sample.txt", "c:\\dir2\\sample2.txt", MOVEFILE_COPY_ALLOWED | MOVEFILE_REPLACE_EXISTING);

would do the job...