I have a program the opens a window, reads a config file, then closes the window a fraction of a second later, then continues running in background. I want to be able to start this program one way or another without the window appearing in the first place.
Is there a way for me to launch the program (preferably on PC startup) but suppress any windows it creates?
I do not have the source code for the program in question. In that regard I am an end-user.
use a vbs script to open it:
set obj = createobject("wscript.shell")
obj.run "prog.exe",0,false
call that prog.vbs or whatever, and put it in:
"%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\startup"
Related
So I've done some digging to try and find a way to run a script in the background on startup. The only solution I've found is to use:
Set WinScriptHost = Nothing
Is this a reasonable way to do it? Or could it cause some issues? I mean, from what I can tell, it just stops WinScriptHost from being used to refer to an object. But I feel like that could cause trouble in some scripts. So, should I avoid using this method and do something else?
Thanks!
CScript is for console windows, consoles programs by their definitions have a console. WScript is for GUI programs, unlike console programs, windows are optional (although almost all programs will create a hidden main window if not creating a visible window, as windows are how Windows communicates with a program).
Using WshShell.Run, which has a window style parameter, you can run cmd hidden eg cmd /c cscript script.vbs.
I need to write a huge VBscript to automatically run an application and I'm looking for a way to comfortably monitor what I'm actually doing, in other words, to display the values of some/all variables involved in my script.
I'm used to work with Matlab, where I have a comfortable workspace browser. When I run a Matlab script, all variables, their types and their values are accessible in that workspace and can be checked.
The VBscript I write with Notepad++ (it needs to be a free editor) and the only way I found to display variables was echoing them via wscript and cscript.
I set up the shortcuts.xml with the following line to run my script directly from Notepad++:
<Command name="Run with CScript" Ctrl="yes" Alt="no" Shift="yes" Key="116">cmd /K %windir%\system32\cscript.exe "$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)"</Command>
In case I include commands in my script like
Wscript.Echo myVar
Wscript.Echo "Hello World!"
and run it with the newly introduced shortcut, a cmd window pops up and displays the value of myVar and "Hello World!".
But the next time I run the script a new window pops up. So my question is:
Is it possible get a continuously opened output window, displaying all echoed values everytime I run a script? I actually want to put the window on a second screen and keep the values from previous runs. So I can enter a line Wscript.Echo something, run, check, enter something else and so on, without fiddling around with a bunch of opened windows.
Alternatively, is there any open-source/free editor which offers an accessible workspace like the one in Matlab?
The open-source editor SciTE offers what I was looking for.
The default settings in vb.properties enable a similar behavior like in Notepad++
command.build.$(file.patterns.wscript)=cscript "$(FilePath)"
command.build.subsystem.$(file.patterns.wscript)=1
One can change it as follows to get the output into the integrated console.
command.go.$(file.patterns.wscript)=cscript.exe //nologo "$(FilePath)"
command.go.subsystem.$(file.patterns.wscript)=0
F5 runs the script and Shift+F5 cleans the output.
Another option is the NppExec Plugin for Notepad++ suggested by #Ansgar Wiechers, which adds a console. The script can be run with cscript.exe /nologo "$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)" then.
Use a debugger. Start your script with the (meta)option //X. If you are lucky, you already have installed software (MS Office, Visual Studio (Express)) that provides a debugger for VBScript. If not do a bit of research to find an Express version suitable to your OS.
You can almost write native VBScript in the VBA editor, so if you have Excel or whatever you can use this to debug, then go through some steps to convert back to VBScript. That's what I usually do.
I am new to building apps using simple .vbs coding, whenever I build a .exe file using visual basic script command prompt opens along with the application at the background. so how to hide the command prompt from appearing??
and also how to set a background image in a pop up or input box?
To your first question, it depends on how you are calling the vbs. Windows allow to execute tasks with hidden windows. If you can not create a hidden window and you doesn't need the console, instead of using cscript as the executable for the vbs, use wscript.
Popup and input box from vbscript are standard elements of the system. AFAIK no way of change background of them.
Is there a way to minimize all windows automatically when launching an application?
I tried to call a .vbs file with the content above:
Set shell = wscript.CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Shell.MinimizeAll
But doing this, application is minimized too.
I'm not sure if this minimizes the windows, but it will probably satisfy your requirement:
set objShell = CreateObject("shell.application")
objShell.ToggleDesktop
This is equivalent to clicking the show desktop button.
Or as just extending your code:
shell.ToggleDesktop
Edit: Nevermind... this does the same thing as your code above. But why not just run this and then display your window? For instance, if it is your app... call the vbs and then display the window. Or if you have no control over the app, call it from a .bat file and run this vbs then your program.
What you want to do is first minimize all applications or toggle the desktop; THEN (perhaps even after a delay) open your application.
I have a batch script under Windows. When anyone will click on that script I want the command window to become full screen like we do by keyboard shortcut [Alt+Enter].
Can it be done automatically using any command in batch file?
In Windows XP, you need to start your program maximized (but not full screen) via "start /max" as follows:
start "Winow Title" /MAX "C:\batches\myfile.bat"
This command would be inside your original batch file, and call the real bath file.
I don't think there's a way to change the full screen-ness of an executing "cmd" command from within a batch file absent someone writing a special app to do so by emulating sending Alt+Enter to the parent process.
In Windows 7 (and probably Vista) you must run inside XP virtual machine for full screen mode.
There is none. You can write a small program doing so for you, though. There is the SetConsoleDisplayMode function.