How to run a shell command via VBA?
Benjamin
particularly this one:
Which adds a printer default
CSCRIPT %windir%\system32\prnmngr.vbs -ac -p "\\rds1\Printer088"
Just Another Yahoo!
onto the word, then hit the F1 key to get the Help documentation for it.
For your situation (and a nod to Steve Yandl for the idea) I think this may
work:
...
Shell "CSCRIPT %windir%\system32\prnmngr.vbs -ac -p" & Chr(34) &
"\\rds1\Printer088" & Chr(34)
...
The Chr(34) is for placing the quotes around the printer location.
--
Toby Erkson
Excel 2003, WinXP
"Benjamin" <Benj...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E8CF0CED-352C-4128...@microsoft.com...
Rick Rothstein
in the past regarding the Shell command (over in the compiled VB newsgroups,
but applicable to the VBA world) which may prove useful.
--
Rick (MVP - Excel)
You can use the Shell command. To execute internal DOS command (Dir, Copy,
etc. as well as redirection of screen output), the command processor must be
specified (using the Environ$ function and "comspec" as its argument returns
the correct command processor path on NT and non-NT systems) . Specifying
the command processor is safe & generic and will work with non-internal
commands also. That syntax, using an XCopy command as an example is:
Shell Environ$("comspec") & " /c xcopy """ & _
Source & """ """ & Destination & """ " & Option, vbHide
You set the Source and Destination (string variables) to the appropriate
paths and the Option (string variable), if any, which can be found by
opening an MSDOS Prompt window and typing xcopy /?. (Note: You can type /?
after any DOS command at a DOS prompt to list the available options for that
command.) One more example would be to list all the files in a directory
including subdirectories and subdirectories of subdirectories and all of
their files.
CommandLine = "dir """ & FileSpec & _
""" /s/b > """ & RedirectTo & """"
Shell Environ$("comspec") & " /c " & CommandLine, vbHide
Here, the output of a Dir command is redirected to a file-path you specify
in the RedirectTo (string variable). The /s/b are options to the Dir command
that tell it to recurse throught its subdirectories and not to include
header or summary information.
I used a variable for the file name so that I could more easily explain the
benefit of encasing it in quotemarks. If you redirect to a file that has
spaces in its name, or if there are spaces in the path specification itself,
then the filename *must* be quoted to protect the spaces from DOS's desire
to use them as delimiters. (That's what all those quotemarks in the Shell
statement are for.) If the filename doesn't have spaces in it, the quotes
aren't necessary BUT they don't hurt either. Hence, the above will work with
either.
As for your PING question, something like the following should work:
strIP = "4.17.23.1"
Shell Environ$("comspec") & " /c ping " & _
strIP & " > """ & RedirectFile & """", vbHide
Although you didn't specify it in your original post, I assume you want to
use vbHide for the optional 2nd parameter to Shell. This hides the DOS
window so that your user doesn't see it. If you want the DOS window to
remain visible, you would use the vbNormalFocus BUT you must use a /k
instead of a /c for the command processor argument. Basically, the /c tells
the command processor "here comes a command and, when its finished
executing, close the DOS shell it is running in" whereas the /k also tells
the command processor that a command follows, but it instructs it to leave
the DOS session running.
The above assumes you do NOT have to wait for this file to be completely
written before your code continues executing. If you have to work with this
file right after it is created, consider one of these (which makes your
program wait until the DOS process is finished):
MICROSOFT 'S OFFICIAL WAY
========================
See this link
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q129/7/96.asp
Note: This method doesn't use Shell -- it uses CreateProcessA.
FAST AND DIRTY METHOD
======================
Paste these lines in the (General)(Declarations) section of the form where
the Shell is being called (or remove the Private keywords and put them in a
BAS module if more than one form will use them):
Private Declare Function OpenProcess _
Lib "kernel32" _
(ByVal dwDesiredAccess As Long, _
ByVal bInheritHandle As Long, _
ByVal dwProcessId As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function CloseHandle _
Lib "kernel32" _
(ByVal hObject As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function WaitForSingleObject _
Lib "kernel32" _
(ByVal hHandle As Long, _
ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long) As Long
Call your Shell command in this form with the appropriate Shell arguments
placed in the parentheses:
PID = Shell( <<Put Shell Arguments Here>> )
And finally, paste the following IMMEDIATELY after the PID=Shell statement
above (making sure to handle the possible error where indicated; i.e. stop
the code from falling through to your other commands if the Shell failed):
If PID = 0 Then
'
'Handle Error, Shell Didn't Work
'
Else
hProcess = OpenProcess(&H100000, True, PID)
WaitForSingleObject hProcess, -1
CloseHandle hProcess
End If
"Just Another Yahoo!" <tobye...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:efCNoyhP...@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
Dave Peterson
dim myFileName as string
dim myParms as string
myfilename = "Cscript"
myparms = "%windir%\system32\prnmngr.vbs -ac -p ""\\rds1\Printer088""
Shell Environ("comspec") _
& " /k " & Chr(34) & myFileName & Chr(34) & " " & myparms, vbNormalFocus
Use /c says to close that (hidden!) window when it's done.
The /k to see the command window (/k = keep open).
And when you're done testing, you may want vbHide so the window isn't
noticeable. (See VBA's help for Shell to see the options.)
If this doesn't work (or some variation), you may want to include the version of
windows that you're running. I'm not sure all still support Shell.
--
Dave Peterson
Just Another Yahoo!
--
Toby Erkson
Excel 2003, WinXP
"Rick Rothstein" <rick.new...@NO.SPAMverizon.net> wrote in message
news:uHLvK8hP...@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> As a follow up... the following is a compilation of several posts I've
> given in the past regarding the Shell command (over in the compiled VB
> newsgroups, but applicable to the VBA world) which may prove useful.
>
> --
> Rick (MVP - Excel)
>
> You can use the Shell command. To execute internal DOS command (Dir, Copy,
> etc. as well as redirection of screen output), the command processor must
> be specified (using the Environ$ function and "comspec" as its argument
> returns the correct command processor path on NT and non-NT systems) .
> Specifying the command processor is safe & generic and will work with
> non-internal commands also. That syntax, using an XCopy command as an
> example is:
>
> Shell Environ$("comspec") & " /c xcopy """ & _
> Source & """ """ & Destination & """ " & Option, vbHide
>
> You set the Source and Destination (string variables) to the appropriate
> paths and the Option (string variable), if any, which can be found by
> opening an MSDOS Prompt window and typing xcopy /?. (Note: You can type /?
> after any DOS command at a DOS prompt to list the available options for
> that command.) ...
juanpedro
I am new to the forum and I agree , this is a great post. I do have a
related question.
I use vba to open an SSH tunnel using plink.exe the code I use is:
Shell Environ$("COMSPEC") & " /k c:\plink -ssh -l 'username' -pw
'password' -4 -L 3306:localhost:'IP address' """
I run it using the 'on open' function for the switchboard form in
Access. i can then access mysql tables from access.
THE QUESTION (finally !!) Is there a way I can close the shell window
using VBA at some later point (when I close access)?
It would be great if it would type "EXIT" first , but I suspect that is
not essential.
Thanks!!
Rick Rothstein;503270 Wrote:
>
As a follow up... the following is a compilation of several posts I've
given
> in the past regarding the Shell command (over in the compiled VB
newsgroups,
> but applicable to the VBA world) which may prove useful.
--
juanpedro
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Mike S
> I am new to the forum and I agree , this is a great post. I do have a
> related question.
> I use vba to open an SSH tunnel using plink.exe the code I use is:
> 'password' -4 -L 3306:localhost:'IP address' """
> I run it using the 'on open' function for the switchboard form in
> Access. i can then access mysql tables from access.
> THE QUESTION (finally !!) Is there a way I can close the shell window
> using VBA at some later point (when I close access)?
> It would be great if it would type "EXIT" first , but I suspect that is
> not essential.
> Thanks!!
>
> Rick Rothstein;503270 Wrote:
> As a follow up... the following is a compilation of several posts I've
> given in the past regarding the Shell command (over in the compiled VB
> newsgroups, but applicable to the VBA world) which may prove useful.
If VBA works similarly enough to VB6 you might be able to use a
combination of these two posts to get the handle of the window when you
first create it, then send it a message to close it:
http://www.vb-helper.com/howto_shell_get_hwnd.html
Dim task_id As Variant, task_hWnd As Long
task_id = Shell(Shell Environ$("COMSPEC")& " /k c:\plink -ssh -l
'username' -pw 'password' -4 -L 3306:localhost:'IP address' """)
task_hWnd = InstanceToWnd(task_id)
Private Function InstanceToWnd(ByVal target_pid As Long) As Long
' Return window handle for an instance handle
Dim test_hwnd As Long, test_pid As Long, test_thread_id As Long
' Get the first window handle
test_hwnd = FindWindow()
' Loop until we find the target or we run out of windows.
Do While test_hwnd <> 0
'See if window has a parent. If not it's a top-level window
If GetParent(test_hwnd) = 0 Then
'This is a top-level window.
'See if it has the target instance handle.
test_thread_id = _
GetWindowThreadProcessId(test_hwnd, test_pid)
If test_pid = target_pid Then
'This is the target
InstanceToWnd = test_hwnd
Exit Do
End If
End If
' Examine the next window
test_hwnd = GetWindow(test_hwnd, GW_HWNDNEXT)
Loop
End Function
''--------------------------------------------------------
http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=6073
Private Const WM_CLOSE = &H10
Private Declare Function PostMessage Lib "user32" _
Alias "PostMessageA" _
(ByVal hwnd As Long, _
ByVal wMsg As Long, _
ByVal wParam As Long, _
lParam As Any) As Long
'Post a message to the window to close itself
'using the handle found with above code section
PostMessage task_hWnd, WM_CLOSE, 0&, 0&
''--------------------------------------------------------
Will that work? There is a note about Access VBA but nothing about Excel:
"Note that in VBA with Access 2002, Shell() no longer returns a task
handle as described in examples and the Access 2002 documentation, but
rather returns True or False. Go figure."
Mike
Simon Lloyd
juanpedro;740349 Wrote:
>
I am new to the forum and I agree , this is a great post. I do have a
related question.
I use vba to open an SSH tunnel using plink.exe the code I use is:
Shell Environ$("COMSPEC") & " /k c:\plink -ssh -l 'username' -pw
'password' -4 -L 3306:localhost:'IP address' """
I run it using the 'on open' function for the switchboard form in
Access. i can then access mysql tables from access.
THE QUESTION (finally !!) Is there a way I can close the shell window
using VBA at some later point (when I close access)?
It would be great if it would type "EXIT" first , but I suspect that is
not essential.
Thanks!!
>
Rick Rothstein;503270 Wrote:
> >
As a follow up... the following is a compilation of several posts I've
given
in the past regarding the Shell command (over in the compiled VB
newsgroups,
but applicable to the VBA world) which may prove useful. >
>
Take a look at this code snippet in our upload/download section 'Code
Cage Downloads - The Code Cage Forums'
(http://www.thecodecage.com/forumz/local_links.php?catid=2&linkid=23)
--
Simon Lloyd
Regards,
Simon Lloyd
'Microsoft Office Help' (http://www.thecodecage.com)
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