Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram

Calls and executes an external program through a specified command line. The program's execution will be directed by the appropriate flags specified as this method's parameters.

It returns the exit code of the program it executed (i.e. the %ERRORLEVEL% OS value).

In general, an exit code of 0 means success, while other exit codes may have various meanings, depending on the program called.

Syntax

Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram(CommandLine: WideString; WorkingDir: WideString; ShowFlags: Integer; WaitForTerminate: WordBool) ReturnValue: integer

CommandLine

The command line to execute as a widestring.

WorkingDir

The working directory for the execution of the command line as a widestring.

ShowFlags

Integer value representing the flag to use during the execution of the command line. These flags have an effect on the execution window opened by the ExecuteExternalProgram procedure.

Flag	Effect
0	Hide the execution window.
1	Display the window normally.
2	Display the window minimized.
3	Display the window maximized.
4	Makes the window visible and brings it to the top, but does not make it the active window.

WaitForTerminate

A Boolean value that, if true, pauses the script until the command line has been fully executed.

ReturnValue

An integer value that contains the exit code of the program the function executed.

Examples

JavaScript

Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram("lpr -S 192.168.100.001 -P auto c:\\myfile.ps","c:\\",0,true);

var returnValue; 
returnValue = Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram("cmd /c dir *.pdf",".",0,true);
// returnValue contains 0 (successful, even when no PDFs are found) 
returnValue = Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram("cmd /c blablabla",".",0,true);
// returnValue contains 1 (error … unless you actually have an app called blablabla!)

VBScript

Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram("lpr -S 192.168.100.001 -P auto c:\myfile.ps", "c:\", 0, true)

Dim returnValue
returnValue = Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram("cmd /c dir *.pdf",".",0,true)
; returnValue contains 0 (successful, even when no PDFs are found) 
var returnValue = Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram("cmd /c blablabla",".",0,true)
; returnValue contains 1 (error … unless you actually have an app called blablabla!)

Python

Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram("lpr -S 192.168.100.001 -P auto c:\\myfile.ps", "c:\\", 0, true)

returnValue = Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram("cmd /c dir *.pdf",".",0,true)
# returnValue contains 0 (successful, even when no PDFs are found) 
returnValue = Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram("cmd /c blablabla",".",0,true)
# returnValue contains 1 (error … unless you actually have an app called blablabla!)

Perl

$Watch->ExecuteExternalProgram("lpr -S 192.168.100.001 -P auto c:\\myfile.ps", "c:\\", 0, true);

$returnValue = $Watch->ExecuteExternalProgram("cmd /c dir *.pdf",".",0,true);
# returnValue contains 0 (successful, even when no PDFs are found) 
$returnValue = $Watch->ExecuteExternalProgram("cmd /c blablabla",".",0,true)
# returnValue contains 1 (error … unless you actually have an app called blablabla!);