INITIATE

Macro Sheets Only

Opens a dynamic data exchange (DDE) channel to an application and returns the number of the open channel. Once you have opened a channel to another application with INITIATE, you can use EXECUTE and SEND.KEYS to control the other application from a Microsoft Excel macro. (SEND.KEYS is available only with Microsoft Excel for Windows.) If INITIATE is successful, it returns the number of the open channel. All the subsequent DDE macro functions use this number to specify the channel. If INITIATE is unsuccessful, FALSE is returned.

Important Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh requires system software version 7.0 or later for this function.

Syntax

INITIATE(app_text, topic_text)

App_text is the DDE name of the application with which you want to begin a DDE session, in text form. The form of app_text depends on the application you are accessing. The DDE name of Microsoft Excel, for example, is "Excel".

Topic_text describes something, such as a document or a record in a database, in the application that you are accessing; the form of topic_text depends on the application you are accessing. Microsoft Excel accepts the names of the current documents as topic_text, as well as the name "System".

Remarks

• You can specify an instance of an application by appending the application's task ID number to the app_text argument. If you start an application by using the EXEC function, EXEC returns the task ID number for that instance of the application.
• If more than one instance of an application is running and you do not specify which instance you would like to open a channel to, INITIATE displays a dialog box from which you can choose the instance you want. You can prevent this dialog box from appearing by disabling or redirecting errors with the ERROR function.

Example

The following macro formula opens a channel to the document named MEMO in the application named WORD:

INITIATE("WORD", "MEMO")

Related Functions

POKE Sends data to another application

REQUEST Returns data from another application

TERMINATE Closes a channel to another application

EXECUTE Carries out a command in another application

EXEC Starts a separate program

List of DDE/External Functions