[RESOLVED] Need to grab output from the command line

[BrianPaul]

I have a VB6 program that needs info that I could find by running a command line command. Is there a way I could shell the command, then grab the output (other than writing the output to a file)?

[jmsrickland]

Shell the program like this:

  '
  '
 Shell "path-to-program\program.exe data" '<-- space between .exe and the data
  '
  '

Then have the other program get the data like this:

Private Form_Load()
 Dim InputData As String

 InputData = Command()

 If InputData <> "" Then
   '
   ' Process the data
   '
 End If
End Sub

[BrianPaul]

Ok, I think I need to clarify. First of all, I'm not looking to pass data from one executable to another. What I have is a command (command line command) that produces output. For example, if I type "date /t" at the command line, the date is outputted at the command line. How can I do this within a vb6 program and grab the output?

[westconn1]

there are examples posted in code bank for doing this, using named pipe, but the code is quite complex, i have a simple example using scripting that also works,

are you sure you can not get the information using a windows function or api?

[Jim Davis]

http://planetsourcecode.com/vb/scrip...38590&lngWId=1

[BrianPaul]

I would be very much willing to use an API. There seems to be an API called ReadConsoleOutput, but I can't find any good VB6 examples of how to use it. I see examples done in C++. Any help would be appreciated. I also found this...

http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?t=364219

But I can't seem to make the code work for me. Also, I have only one line of code to grab. In fact, the command only produces a one word output on the command line. I'm sure there is an easy way to grab it, but I can't figure out how.

[westconn1]

i meant an api to get the value, instead of a commandline program or command, but as you have not specified what you are trying to return, it is hard to suggest a method

[westconn1]

you can test this to see if it will work for you

Dim myobj As Object, strtxt As String
Set myobj = CreateObject("wscript.shell")
Set myobj = myobj.exec("ping www.google.com")  'your shell command
Do
    With myobj
        With .StdOut
            If Not .AtEndOfStream Then
                strtxt = strtxt & .readall()
            End If
        End With
    End With
DoEvents
Loop While myobj.Status = "WshRunning"
Set myobj = Nothing
MsgBox strtxt  ' ping results displayed in messagebox

[BrianPaul]

you can test this to see if it will work for you

Westconn1, that is awesome! It works great! I did have to add "cmd /c" before listing my executable... like this:

Set myobj = myobj.exec("cmd /c c:\myDosProgram.exe")

Thank you so much for your help!

[BrianPaul]

Westconn1, is there a way to hide the command window? If not, it's not a big deal, but if it's doable, please let me know.

Thanks!

[westconn1]

dunno you could set your form to topmost or appactivte may be hide the dos box, immediately after myob.exec, never really tried