This gives a little more control over launching graphical applications on Windows than other methods available, eg. OpenURL, system_, CreateProcess, etc.
(Whether or not the minimise/maximise/hide flags have any effect depends on the program, though most should work correctly; the one I actually intended this for, Google Chrome, basically ignores all of the SW_SHOW parameters!) |
?Win32
' See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/windows/desktop/bb762153(v=vs.85).aspx
' for explanation of each constant...
Const SW_HIDE = 0
Const SW_SHOWNORMAL = 1
Const SW_SHOWMINIMIZED = 2
Const SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED = 3
Const SW_MAXIMIZE = 3 ' No idea why this duplicate exists...
Const SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE = 4
Const SW_SHOW = 5
Const SW_MINIMIZE = 6
Const SW_SHOWMINNOACTIVE = 7
Const SW_SHOWNA = 8
Const SW_RESTORE = 9
Const SW_SHOWDEFAULT = 10
Extern "win32"
Function ShellExecuteA (window:Int, op:Byte Ptr, file:Byte Ptr, params:Byte Ptr, dir:Byte Ptr, show:Int)
End Extern
' RunProgram parameters: exe = path to executable file, params = valid parameters for executable, showflag = one of the above constants, dir = working directory for program
Function RunProgram:Int (exe:String, params:String = "", showflag:Int = SW_SHOWNORMAL, dir:String = "")
If dir = "" Then dir = ExtractDir (exe)
Print dir
If ShellExecuteA (0, "open".ToCString (), exe.ToCString (), params.ToCString (), dir, showflag) > 32
Return True
Else
Return False
EndIf
End Function
?
' Run one instance maximised, one minimised and one normal...
RunProgram "notepad.exe", "", SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED
Delay 500
RunProgram "notepad.exe", "", SW_SHOWMINIMIZED
Delay 500
RunProgram "notepad.exe"
' You can also run programs "hidden"; if you try this, you'll have to use Task Manager to kill notepad.exe afterwards!
' RunProgram "notepad.exe", "", SW_HIDE
' NB. Notepad is normally in the default Windows path, hence no need to provide the full path in this case; however, most programs will need the full path to the executable. |
