WD2000: Shell Command Does Not Wait for Application to Finish

ID: Q212547

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word 2000

SUMMARY

When you use the Shell command to start another program from a Visual Basic for Applications macro, Word does not wait for the started program to finish before running the rest of the macro. This article contains a sample macro that can determine whether a started program is still running.

MORE INFORMATION

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http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/overview/overview.asp

Visual Basic for Applications processes macro commands asynchronously. This means that each command runs independently of any timing process, such as a clock.

Because macros do not wait for the started program to finish before running the next command, this can cause problems, particularly if subsequent commands rely on results from the started program.

This Visual Basic for Applications macro sample uses a combination of a Do Loop with the Exists method to determine whether the started program is still running.


Sub IsTaskRunning()
   ' If file does not exist, GoTo error trap.
   On Error GoTo itrErrTrap
   ' Run sample batch file in MS-DOS window.
   Shell "c:\test.bat"
   Do
      ' Note: When specifying the Application name
      ' with the Exists(Name) argument, omit the
      ' Application extension.
      test = Tasks.Exists("test")
   Loop Until  test = 0
   MsgBox "The application has quit."
itrErrTrap: ' Note: This line must be left aligned.
   If Err > 0 then MsgBox Err.Description
End Sub

For more information about the Exists method, in the Visual Basic Editor, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type Exists method in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

For more information about using the sample code in this article, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q212536 OFF2000: How to Run Sample Code from Knowledge Base Articles

REFERENCES

For more information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q226118 OFF2000: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

Additional query words: vba vbe vb

Keywords : kbcode kbinterop kbmacro kbprg kbmacroexample wd2000
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto