In a macro for Visual Studio 6, I wanted to run an external program, so I typed:
shell("p4 open " + ActiveDocument.FullName)
Which gave me a type mismatch runtime error. What I ended up having to type was this:
Dim wshShell
Set wshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
strResult = wshShell.Run("p4 open " + ActiveDocument.FullName)
What is going on here? Is that nonsense really necessary or have I missed something?
As lassevk pointed out, VBScript is not Visual Basic.
I believe the only built in object in VBScript is the WScript object.
WScript.Echo "Hello, World!"
From the docs
The WScript object is the root object of the Windows Script Host
object model hierarchy. It never needs to be instantiated before invoking its
properties and methods, and it is always available from any script file.
Everything else must be created via the CreateObject call. Some of those objects are listed here.
The Shell object is one of the other objects that you need to create if you want to call methods on it.
One caveat, is that RegExp is sort of built in, in that you can instantiate a RegExp object like so in VBScript:
Dim r as New RegExp
VBScript isn't Visual Basic.
Give this a try:
Shell "p4 open" & ActiveDocument.FullName
VB6 uses & to concatenate strings rather than +, and you'll want to make sure the file name is encased in quotes in case of spaces. Try it like this:
Shell "p4 open """ & ActiveDocument.FullName & """"
Related
I'm trying this:
Dim oApp
Dim iReturnedResult
Set oApp = CreateObject("Some.Application")
Set F_Ord = oApp.Documents.Open("Window 1", VarPtr(iReturnedResult))
The ActiveX control expects the second parameter to be a Long by reference.
This works perfectly well inside Excel VBA.
I can run this step by step, and see the result is returned like it should.
But, when I move this code to a VBS file and run it from the command line (CScript.exe), I get an error 800A000D, meaning it's the wrong type.
I have also tried creating an array instead, and tested with these commands, without any luck:
Set F_Ord = oApp.Documents.Open("Window 1", VarPtr(iReturnedResult(0)))
Set F_Ord = oApp.Documents.Open("Window 1", iReturnedResult(0))
Does anyone know how to pass a long variable by reference to an ActiveX control from VBScript?
The simple answer is VarPtr() is not supported by VBScript.
To my knowledge, there is no equivalent that allows you to pass a pointer to a variables memory address.
Useful Links
Visual Basic for Applications Features Not In VBScript
I am writing an HTA file with VBScript as the scripting language. I have a function where the user is prompted to choose the folder in which they would like to save a document. I didn't write this code myself, but instead borrowed it from here.
Function SelectFolder(myStartFolder)
Dim objFolder, objItem, objShell
Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Set objFolder = objShell.BrowseForFolder(0, "Select Folder to Save New File", 0, myStartFolder)
If IsObject(objFolder) Then SelectFolder = objFolder.Self.Path
End Function
I call this function in another one in order when I make the file and prompt the user to choose where to save it:
Sub Example()
Dim destPath, destFile, objWorkbook
destPath = SelectFolder(libPath)
destPath = destPath & "\Sample Export"
Set destFile = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
Set objWorkbook = destFile.Workbooks.Add()
objWorkbook.SaveAs(destPath)
(code to edit excel file)
End Sub
Example() works fine except when someone chooses to save their document in one of the four default libraries in Windows (Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos). In that case, I receive an error saying "The file could not be accessed" and indicating the error is at the line that says "objWorkbook.SaveAs(destPath)". The error box then gives me the following suggestions:
Make sure the specified folder exists
Make sure the folder that contains the file is not read-only
Make sure the file name does not contain any of the following characters: < > ? { } : | or *
Make sure the file/path name doesn't contain more than 218 characters.
The error occurs when I open the HTA file and click a button calling Example(), which then opens a dialog box to ask the user to choose the file location. When Documents, Music, Pictures, or Videos is chosen, a "Script Error" box pops up with the error message listed above. I am not familiar enough with VBScript to know what the problem is exactly. I would appreciate any suggestions as to what to do.
I don't know exactly what the solution to the above issue was. However, I noticed that the path I pass to SelectFolder had a typo in it. libPath was supposed to be to the %userprofile% from the environment variable. However, I had pluralized "userprofiles" so that it was %userprofiles% instead. This took me to somewhere that looked right but wasn't. I fixed the typo and now BrowseForFolder takes me to C:/Users/*username* like it's supposed to. It turns out that I was being sent to the Desktop location because of the fourth argument in BrowseForFolder, instead of the user profile like I wanted.
I have a script below:
Dim g_oWShell
Set g_oWShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
But when I validate the value of g_oWShell first, that object is null (nothing). Below are the codes I'm debugging:
If g_oWShell Is Nothing Then
'display an error.
Else
'run Something... (Ex. g_oWShell.Run("...")
End If
I'm new to VBS and I'm not sure why is that the case. I have read a short definition of CreateObject method here: VBA CreateObject
Advance thanks for explaining what might I have missed.
EDIT:
I'm creating an MSI installer using Visual Studio.
I have a problem: I want to run a file from lotusscript code:
Dim result As Integer
result = Shell("D:\testF.dsx", 1)
And I get the following error: Illegal function call.
If I want to execute it from formula it works:
#Command([Execute]; "D:\\testF.dsx")
Thanks a lot!
I had the same problem with the shell function in lotus script with PDF files. And my workaround is to use the windows scripting host to launch the file. I am pretty sure this will solve your problem too.
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
returnValue = objShell.Run("d:\testF.dsx", 3, false)enter code here
It is not possible to "Execute" a Textfile. usually there is no "run" function defined for dsx- files.
You could do it like:
Dim result as Integer
result = Shell("notepad.exe D:\testF.dsx", 1)
Or find out, which program is linked to dsx (via registry) and execute the corresponding exe with filename as Parameter. If the filename contains spaces, then it has to be enclosed:
Dim result as Integer
result = Shell({notepad.exe "D:\testF.dsx"}, 1)
And reading your last question this approach for sure is NOT the right for your request. You have to use "open" in order to process files... Like Per Hendrik told you in his response.
I had similar problems passing parameters to Outlook.
On some windows machines, this #Formula worked perfectly:
#Command([Execute]; "Outlook.exe"; "/recycle")
On Windows Terminal Servers, it caused Outlook to be unable to parse the "/recycle"
The Shell-command from LotusScript wasn't even able to locate the Outlook.exe, as it was not in the PATH.
Ralf's code helped me in this respect. The "WScript.Shell" seems able to interact with Windows registry settings. Anyway, here is the code that works for activating an open Outlook window.
Dim objShell, returnValue
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
returnValue = objShell.Run("outlook.exe /recycle", 3, False)
I have a Setup and Deployment project in Visual Studio 2010.
I would like the installer to create two shortcuts to the executable of another project in my solution. One normal shortcut that simply runs the application using current credentials and another which has the Run as administrator flag set, thereby ensuring that the user is asked for credentials with administrative rights when clicking the shortcut.
Running the application with administrative rights enables certain features that are otherwise not available.
Setting this flag doesn't seem to be possible at first glance. Can this be done directly in Visual Studio? If not, are there any other options?
Edit: If not, is it possible to modify the shortcut programmatically using a custom installer class?
I know this is quite an old question, but I needed to find an answer and I thought I could help other searchers. I wrote a small function to perform this task in VBScript (pasted below). It is easily adapted to VB.net / VB6.
Return codes from function:
0 - success, changed the shortcut.
99 - shortcut flag already set to run as administrator.
114017 - file not found
114038 - Data file format not valid (specifically the file is way too small)
All other non-zero = unexpected errors.
As mentioned by Chada in a later post, this script will not work on msi Advertised shortcuts. If you use this method to manipulate the bits in the shortcut, it must be a standard, non-advertised shortcut.
References:
MS Shortcut LNK format: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd871305
Some inspiration: Read and write binary file in VBscript
Please note that the function does not check for a valid LNK shortcut. In fact you can feed it ANY file and it will alter Hex byte 15h in the file to set bit 32 to on.
If copies the original shortcut to %TEMP% before amending it.
Daz.
'# D.Collins - 12:58 03/09/2012
'# Sets a shortcut to have the RunAs flag set. Drag an LNK file onto this script to test
Option Explicit
Dim oArgs, ret
Set oArgs = WScript.Arguments
If oArgs.Count > 0 Then
ret = fSetRunAsOnLNK(oArgs(0))
MsgBox "Done, return = " & ret
Else
MsgBox "No Args"
End If
Function fSetRunAsOnLNK(sInputLNK)
Dim fso, wshShell, oFile, iSize, aInput(), ts, i
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set wshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
If Not fso.FileExists(sInputLNK) Then fSetRunAsOnLNK = 114017 : Exit Function
Set oFile = fso.GetFile(sInputLNK)
iSize = oFile.Size
ReDim aInput(iSize)
Set ts = oFile.OpenAsTextStream()
i = 0
Do While Not ts.AtEndOfStream
aInput(i) = ts.Read(1)
i = i + 1
Loop
ts.Close
If UBound(aInput) < 50 Then fSetRunAsOnLNK = 114038 : Exit Function
If (Asc(aInput(21)) And 32) = 0 Then
aInput(21) = Chr(Asc(aInput(21)) + 32)
Else
fSetRunAsOnLNK = 99 : Exit Function
End If
fso.CopyFile sInputLNK, wshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%temp%\" & oFile.Name & "." & Hour(Now()) & "-" & Minute(Now()) & "-" & Second(Now()))
On Error Resume Next
Set ts = fso.CreateTextFile(sInputLNK, True)
If Err.Number <> 0 Then fSetRunAsOnLNK = Err.number : Exit Function
ts.Write(Join(aInput, ""))
If Err.Number <> 0 Then fSetRunAsOnLNK = Err.number : Exit Function
ts.Close
fSetRunAsOnLNK = 0
End Function
This is largely due to the fact that Windows Installer uses 'Advertised shortcuts' for the Windows Installer packages.
There is no way inherently to disable this in Visual Studio, but it is possible to modify the MSI that is produced to make sure that it does not use advertised shortcuts (or uses only one). There are 2 ways of going about this:
If your application uses a single exe or two - Use ORCA to edit the MSI. Under the shortcuts table, change the Target Entry to "[TARGETDIR]\MyExeName.exe" - where MyExeName is the name of your exe - this ensures that that particular shortcut is not advertised.
Add DISABLEADVTSHORTCUTS=1 to the the property Table of the MSI using ORCA or a post build event (using the WiRunSQL.vbs script). If you need more info on this let me know. This disables all advertised shortcuts.
it may be better to use the first approach, create 2 shortcuts and modify only one in ORCA so that you can right click and run as admin.
Hope this helps
This is not supported by Windows Installer. Elevation is usually handled by the application through its manifest.
A solution is to create a wrapper (VBScript or EXE) which uses ShellExecute with runas verb to launch your application as an Administrator. Your shortcut can then point to this wrapper instead of the actual application.
Sorry for the confusion - I now understand what you are after.
There are indeed ways to set the shortcut flag but none that I know of straight in Visual Studio. I have found a number of functions written in C++ that set the SLDF_RUNAS_USER flag on a shortcut.
Some links to such functions include:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2007/12/19/6801084.aspx
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowssecurity/thread/a55aa70e-ae4d-4bf6-b179-2e3df3668989/
Another interesting discussion on the same topic was carried out at NSIS forums, the thread may be of help. There is a function listed that can be built as well as mention of a registry location which stores such shortcut settings (this seems to be the easiest way to go, if it works) - I am unable to test the registry method at the moment, but can do a bit later to see if it works.
This thread can be found here: http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=278764
If you are quite keen to do this programatically, then maybe you could adapt one of the functions above to be run as a post-install task? This would set the flag of the shortcut after your install but this once again needs to be done on Non-Advertised shortcuts so the MSI would have to be fixed as I mentioned earlier.
I'll keep looking and test out the registry setting method to see if it works and report back.
Chada
I needed to make my application to be prompted for Administator's Rights when running from Start Menu or Program Files.
I achieved this behavior after setting in \bin\Debug\my_app.exe 'Run this program as administator' checkbox to true. ( located in Properties\Compatibility section ).
While installing project, this file was copied to the Program Files (and therefore the shortcut in the Start Menu) with needed behavior.
Thanks,
Pavlo