http://www.blitzbasic.com/toolbox/toolbox.php?tool=151
I included the source with that download, too.
What it does is it runs a program and gives you its Process Handle. With this process handle, you can call a few fun commands in the Windows API if you are interested, and you can check to see if the program is running. (Made nice and easy by my DLL).
If you want to see that in action, I used that DLL in (in fact, I created it for) the Grasshopper Plugin System main program (linked somewhere in my signature) to efficiently, precisely and accurately run 3 different programs one after the other as quickly as possible.
The technique is rather simple and can be used for lots of things, so feel free to take a look at the code and add other functionality of your own!
For example, it is possible to force a program to have a particular title bar text using that technique.
Anyway, there. Don't use the ugly way! :P
Hope this helps :)
I included the source with that download, too.
What it does is it runs a program and gives you its Process Handle. With this process handle, you can call a few fun commands in the Windows API if you are interested, and you can check to see if the program is running. (Made nice and easy by my DLL).
If you want to see that in action, I used that DLL in (in fact, I created it for) the Grasshopper Plugin System main program (linked somewhere in my signature) to efficiently, precisely and accurately run 3 different programs one after the other as quickly as possible.
The technique is rather simple and can be used for lots of things, so feel free to take a look at the code and add other functionality of your own!
For example, it is possible to force a program to have a particular title bar text using that technique.
Anyway, there. Don't use the ugly way! :P
Hope this helps :)