Launching Executables Via Max

Is there a command for launching outside executables in Blitz Max similar to the ExecFile command in Blitz3D? I searched the excellent documentation for 10 minutes but was left wondering if there was a command for this or if I just couldn’t find it.

Any of...

OpenURL()
CreateProcess()
System_()

Use 'execfile' as a search argument in the forum search function and you'll get lots of good information on the available alternatives plus how to use them

Sorry to dig this up. But...

OpenURL cannot take parameters, in other words, you can't do this:

OpenURL("Notepad.exe myfile.txt")

It will try to open a browser window because it converts the space to a %20.

CreateProcess() can't leave an application running after you quit your BlitzMax program that called it. If you close your blitz program, the notepad window will also close.

System_() makes the exe you called modal. Your calling Blitz program will not be able to do anything until the program you opened is closed.

Is there another way? I need to call an exe with parameters and leave it running after my calling Blitz program is closed.

Thanks for any help.

If you don't need it to be multi-platform, you can use System_ to call cmd on Windows. Similar options are available on Linux (call bash?) and Mac I imagine.

Edit: eg. System_("cmd /c start notepad.exe blah.txt")

What I did was make a change to freeprocess.bmx. I added a Const LIVE. Then the Create function checks the flag and sets a variable 'bLive" to true. Then, when TerinateAll is called, I check bLive and if it is true, I do not terminate the process.

Works like a charm.

So, now when I call CreateProcess, if I set the flags parameter equal to LIVE (value of 2), the process will remain even after my calling app quits.

One side effect is, if I were to manually call TemrinateAll, the process I started with LIVE won't die. I would need to kill it manually with a Terminate call to it specifically.