I have an old Win98PC running Access97 and I want to control an external application.
I know about SendKeys, but I was wondering if there is a way in VBA to find existing running
applications (that haven't been started via SendKeys), either by finding their process ID or similar
way of identifying them.

I want to find the external application, capture/activate it to gain control and then probably use
SendKeys.

Is there a way to do this?

See whether http://access.mvps.org/access/api/api0013.htm at "The Access
Web" helps at all.


"gargoyle60" wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...

I have an old Win98PC running Access97 and I want to control an external
application.
I know about SendKeys, but I was wondering if there is a way in VBA to find
existing running
applications (that haven't been started via SendKeys), either by finding
their process ID or similar
way of identifying them.

I want to find the external application, capture/activate it to gain control
and then probably use
SendKeys.

Is there a way to do this?

On Tue, 3 Jan 2012 06:50:18 -0500, "Douglas J Steele" <NOSPAM_djsteele@NOSPAM_gmail.com> wrote:

>See whether http://access.mvps.org/access/api/api0013.htm at "The Access
>Web" helps at all.
>

Thanks for the link, but it doesn't help. It shows the name of the application but not its process
ID or task ID, which is what I need to stop/kill it later on.

Incidentally, the application (MBProbe) that I am starting via the Shell gets minimized to the
systray and so I can't use AppActivate to get its focus, so I might not be able to control it via
Access97 anyway.
All I wanted to do was start it at midnight and then shutdown (or kill it) one minute before
midnight on the following day, then manipulate its output logs before starting it again.
Doesn't look as if I can do that programmatically. Shame.

That gives you the Classname. You should be able to use the Classname in
conjunction with the FindWindow API call to get its process. See
http://access.mvps.org/access/api/api0007.htm or
http://access.mvps.org/access/api/api0025.htm for examples.

"gargoyle60" wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...

On Tue, 3 Jan 2012 06:50:18 -0500, "Douglas J Steele"
<NOSPAM_djsteele@NOSPAM_gmail.com> wrote:

>See whether http://access.mvps.org/access/api/api0013.htm at "The Access
>Web" helps at all.
>

Thanks for the link, but it doesn't help. It shows the name of the
application but not its process
ID or task ID, which is what I need to stop/kill it later on.

Incidentally, the application (MBProbe) that I am starting via the Shell
gets minimized to the
systray and so I can't use AppActivate to get its focus, so I might not be
able to control it via
Access97 anyway.
All I wanted to do was start it at midnight and then shutdown (or kill it)
one minute before
midnight on the following day, then manipulate its output logs before
starting it again.
Doesn't look as if I can do that programmatically. Shame.

On Tue, 3 Jan 2012 10:52:11 -0500, "Douglas J Steele" <NOSPAM_djsteele@NOSPAM_gmail.com> wrote:

>That gives you the Classname. You should be able to use the Classname in
>conjunction with the FindWindow API call to get its process. See
>http://access.mvps.org/access/api/api0007.htm or
>http://access.mvps.org/access/api/api0025.htm for examples.

Wonderful, those did the trick.
Many thanks.