How can I make my .dll execute a .bat file on the server?

Hello,
I would like the ActiveX component (.dll) that I write to be able to execute a batch file on the server where the component resides.
Can anybody tell me how to do this.
Thanks a lot in advance!

Mike

first question before this gets messy, do you want to return anything from the result of the batch file execution to the DLL(makes it a lot more complex) if not then its a one liner:

Code:

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Dim dRet As Double
dRet = Shell("c:\KillBill.Bat", vbMaximizedFocus)

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Thanx Crispin,
I need my component to wait for the batch job to terminate, before it continues the program. There must be a more elegant solution to that than making the batch file produce a control file and have the DLL look for that one to appear :-)

I won't steal Karls code, I use it a lot though, and have different versions, so lemme know if this doesn't do quite what youre after,

www.mvps.org/vb

go to the samples page and look for shell32.zip

This may help also:

From MSDN:

Code:

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Private Type STARTUPINFO
      cb As Long
      lpReserved As String
      lpDesktop As String
      lpTitle As String
      dwX As Long
      dwY As Long
      dwXSize As Long
      dwYSize As Long
      dwXCountChars As Long
      dwYCountChars As Long
      dwFillAttribute As Long
      dwFlags As Long
      wShowWindow As Integer
      cbReserved2 As Integer
      lpReserved2 As Long
      hStdInput As Long
      hStdOutput As Long
      hStdError As Long
  End Type

  Private Type PROCESS_INFORMATION
      hProcess As Long
      hThread As Long
      dwProcessID As Long
      dwThreadID As Long
  End Type

  Private Declare Function WaitForSingleObject Lib "kernel32" (ByVal _
      hHandle As Long, ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long) As Long

  Private Declare Function CreateProcessA Lib "kernel32" (ByVal _
      lpApplicationName As String, ByVal lpCommandLine As String, ByVal _
      lpProcessAttributes As Long, ByVal lpThreadAttributes As Long, _
      ByVal bInheritHandles As Long, ByVal dwCreationFlags As Long, _
      ByVal lpEnvironment As Long, ByVal lpCurrentDirectory As String, _
      lpStartupInfo As STARTUPINFO, lpProcessInformation As _
      PROCESS_INFORMATION) As Long

  Private Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" _
      (ByVal hObject As Long) As Long

  Private Declare Function GetExitCodeProcess Lib "kernel32" _
      (ByVal hProcess As Long, lpExitCode As Long) As Long

  Private Const NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS = &H20&
  Private Const INFINITE = -1&

  Public Function ExecCmd(cmdline$)
      Dim proc As PROCESS_INFORMATION
      Dim start As STARTUPINFO

      ' Initialize the STARTUPINFO structure:
      start.cb = Len(start)

      ' Start the shelled application:
      ret& = CreateProcessA(vbNullString, cmdline$, 0&, 0&, 1&, _
        NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS, 0&, vbNullString, start, proc)

      ' Wait For the shelled application To finish:
        ret& = WaitForSingleObject(proc.hProcess, INFINITE)
        Call GetExitCodeProcess(proc.hProcess, ret&)
        Call CloseHandle(proc.hThread)
        Call CloseHandle(proc.hProcess)
        ExecCmd = ret&
  End Function

  Sub Form_Click()
      Dim retval As Long
      retval = ExecCmd("notepad.exe")
      MsgBox "Process Finished, Exit Code " & retval
  End Sub

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