FindNextFile()

Purpose
The ShellExecute function opens or prints a specified file. The file can be an executable file or a document file.

The file specified by the lpFile parameter can be a document file or an executable file. If the file is a document file, the ShellExecute function opens or prints it, depending on the value of the lpOperation parameter. If the file is an executable file, the ShellExecute function opens it, even if lpOperation specifies printing.

 
Library Transcribed by Date of page Updated on
Kernel32.dll J.Paris 01.08.02  
 
Restrictions on use
Not available for Windows CE. With NT, it requires version 3.1 or later. HOWEVER THERE MIGHT BE SOME RESTRICTIONS WITH NT4; this issue is under testing right now.
 
Declare 32-bit

Declare Function ShellExecute Lib "Shell32.dll" Alias "ShellExecuteA" (

        ByVal hwnd As Integer, 

        ByVal lpOperation As String, 

        ByVal lpFile As String, 

        ByVal lpParameters As String,

        ByVal lpDirectory As String, 

        ByVal nShowCmd As SmallInt

        ) As Integer

Required Type definition
 none
 
Parameters

hWind

handle to parent window

 

lpOperation

pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies operation to perform

"open"

The function opens the file specified by lpFile. The file can be an executable file or a document file. The file can be a folder to open.

"print"

The function prints the file specified by lpFile. The file should be a document file. If the file is an executable file, the function opens the file, as if "open" had been specified.

"explore"

The function explores the folder specified by lpFile. 

The lpOperation parameter can be NULL. In that case, the function opens the file specified by lpFile.

 

lpFile

 pointer a null-terminated string that specifies the file to open or print or the folder to open or explore. The function can open an executable file or a document file. The function can print a document file.

 

lpParameters

 pointer to string that specifies executable-file parameters. If lpFile specifies an executable file, lpParameters is a pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies parameters to be passed to the application. If lpFile specifies a document file, lpParameters should be NULL.

 

lpDirectory

 pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies default directory

 

nShowCmd If lpFile specifies an executable file, nShowCmd specifies how the application is to be shown when it is opened. (Use numeric codes, or strings but you will have to include "define"s for them in your program) 
 
0 SW_HIDE  Hides the window and activates another window.
3 SW_MAXIMIZE Maximizes the specified window.
6 SW_MINIMIZE  Minimizes the specified window and activates the next top-level window in the Z order.
9 SW_RESTORE  Activates and displays the window. If the window is minimized or maximized, Windows restores it to its original size and position. An application should specify this flag when restoring a minimized window.
5 SW_SHOW  Activates the window and displays it in its current size and position.
(?) SW_SHOWDEFAULT  Sets the show state based on the SW_ flag specified in the STARTUPINFO structure passed to the CreateProcess function by the program that started the application. An application should call ShowWindow with this flag to set the initial show state of its main
3 SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED Activates the window and displays it as a maximized window.
2 SW_SHOWMINIMIZED  Activates the window and displays it as a minimized window.
7 SW_SHOWMINNOACTIVE Displays the window as a minimized window. The active window remains active.
8 SW_SHOWNA  Displays the window in its current state. The active window remains active.
4 SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE  Displays a window in its most recent size and position. The active window remains active.
1 SW_SHOWNORMAL  Activates and displays a window. If the window is minimized or maximized, Windows restores it to its original size and position. An application should specify this flag when displaying the window for the first time.

 

 
Return value
If the function succeeds, the return value is the instance handle of the application that was run, or the handle of a dynamic data exchange (DDE) server application. Always >32.
If the function fails, the return value is an error value that is less than or equal to 32. The following table lists these error values:

 

0 0 The operating system is out of memory or resources.
2 (?) ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND  The specified file was not found.
3 (?) ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND The specified path was not found.
11 ERROR_BAD_FORMAT  The .EXE file is invalid (non-Win32 .EXE or error in .EXE image).
5 SE_ERR_ACCESSDENIED The operating system denied access to the specified file.
27 SE_ERR_ASSOCINCOMPLETE The filename association is incomplete or invalid.
30 SE_ERR_DDEBUSY  The DDE transaction could not be completed because other DDE transactions were being processed.
29 SE_ERR_DDEFAIL The DDE transaction failed.
28 SE_ERR_DDETIMEOUT  The DDE transaction could not be completed because the request timed out.
32 SE_ERR_DLLNOTFOUND  The specified dynamic-link library was not found.
2 SE_ERR_FNF  The specified file was not found.
31 SE_ERR_NOASSOC  There is no application associated with the given filename extension.
8 SE_ERR_OOM  There was not enough memory to complete the operation.
3 SE_ERR_PNF  The specified path was not found.
26 SE_ERR_SHARE A sharing violation occurred.
 
Example

Declare Function ShellExecute Lib "Shell32.dll" Alias "ShellExecuteA" (

          ByVal hwnd As Integer, ByVal lpOperation As String, ByVal lpFile As String, ByVal lpParameters As String,

          ByVal lpDirectory As String, ByVal nShowCmd As Integer

          ) As Integer

Dim my_num As integer

 

'To open Windows explorer to the c:\xircom directory

     my_num = ShellExecute( 0, "explore", "c:\xircom","", "", 4)

 

'To display the c:\reginfo.txt in notepad

     my_num = ShellExecute( 0, "open", "c:\reginfo.txt","", "", 4)

 

'To open the c:\cubel.tab in a new instance of MapInfo

     my_num = ShellExecute( 0, "open", "c:\program files\mapinfo\professional 6.5\mapinfow.exe","c:\cubel.tab", "", 4)

 

'To open the c:\test.xls in a maximized window

     my_num = ShellExecute( 0, "open", "excel","c:\test.xls", "", 3)

 

'To print a word document

     my_num = ShellExecute( 0, "print", "c:\reginfo.doc","", "", 4)

 

 
Comments
 
 
See also