Shell Execute

[Zath]

How do I allow the exe to see the ritem.dat file in the shell execute statement ?

Code: [Select]

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  if ShellExecute(0,nil, PChar('"D:\SomeDir\abc.exe"'),PChar('"D:\SomeDir\Data\ritem.dat"'),nil,1) =0 then;
end;
Doubleclicking the abc.exe on its own and it runs fine, calling it with this method and it shows Data\ritem.dat can't be found.

I must say the error is called by abc.exe and not Lazarus.

Thanks

[BigChimp]

No idea, but you might need to escape the \ with another \\

Code: [Select]

"D:\\SomeDir\\Data\\ritem.dat"
Just a wild guess.
Or you don't need the " marks

It's presumably documented in the shellexecute reference on MSDN...

[marcov]

No, certainly not. \\ is a Unix disease, not windows.

Maybe give up a working directory, but I think it is best to try to characterize abc.exe's behaviour first, by running it in various circumstances.

[Zath]

No idea, but you might need to escape the \ with another \\

Code: [Select]

"D:\\SomeDir\\Data\\ritem.dat"
Just a wild guess.
Or you don't need the " marks

It's presumably documented in the shellexecute reference on MSDN...

Thanks but no joy. Extra \ and single quotes etc. all to no avail.
I'm using the example off the Wiki.
The MSDN site didn't help me much but I'll look again.

[mangakissa]

try to use without double quotes.

[Zath]

try to use without double quotes.

I've tried all that thanks, no joy.

[Basile B.]

Hi, you can try with a TProcess, it'll work fine:

Code: [Select]

MyProcess.Executable := 'D:\SomeDir\abc.exe';
MyProcess.Parameters.Add('D:\SomeDir\Data\ritem.dat');
MyProcess.Execute;
while MyProcess.Running do (*nothing*);
if MyProcess.ExitCode <> 0 then
begin
 // bla bla error this error that...
end;

You don't need to double quote the filename, TProcess internally do the job if there is some spaces in a parameter.

[eny]

Fiercely stroking my magic orb... waving my magic wand and keeping my tongue at the right angle....

The problem is with abc.exe obviously.
It tries to search for a folder Data in the current directory; it ignores the full path of the parameter you are giving.
You should include the run-directory in your call to shellexecute to circumvent the error in abc.exe:

Code: [Select]

if ShellExecute(0,nil, PChar('D:\SomeDir\abc.exe'),
                       PChar('D:\SomeDir\Data\ritem.dat'),
                       PChar('D:\SomeDir'),
                       1) = 0 then     

[Zath]

Thanks Basile B but I didn't try yours as I was a little unsure how to proceed with TProcess and eny's was close to what I had established.

Running my project in the same directory worked without any problem so I was thinking back in DOS days of CHDIR / CD.

Eny's solution was spot on.

Thanks everyone for all the input.