Run Method (Windows Script Host)

 

Runs a program in a new process.

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object
.Run(strCommand, [intWindowStyle], [bWaitOnReturn])

Arguments

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object

WshShell object.

strCommand

String value indicating the command line you want to run. You must include any parameters you want to pass to the executable file.

intWindowStyle

Optional. Integer value indicating the appearance of the program’s window. Note that not all programs make use of this information.

bWaitOnReturn

Optional. Boolean value indicating whether the script should wait for the program to finish executing before continuing to the next statement in your script. If set to true, script execution halts until the program finishes, and Run returns any error code returned by the program. If set to false (the default), the Run method returns immediately after starting the program, automatically returning 0 (not to be interpreted as an error code).

Remarks

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The Run method returns an integer. The Run method starts a program running in a new Windows process. You can have your script wait for the program to finish execution before continuing. This allows you to run scripts and programs synchronously. Environment variables within the argument strCommand are automatically expanded. If a file type has been properly registered to a particular program, calling run on a file of that type executes the program. For example, if Word is installed on your computer system, calling Run on a *.doc file starts Word and loads the document. The following table lists the available settings for intWindowStyle.

intWindowStyle

Description

0

Hides the window and activates another window.

1

Activates and displays a window. If the window is minimized or maximized, the system restores it to its original size and position. An application should specify this flag when displaying the window for the first time.

2

Activates the window and displays it as a minimized window.

3

Activates the window and displays it as a maximized window.

4

Displays a window in its most recent size and position. The active window remains active.

5

Activates the window and displays it in its current size and position.

6

Minimizes the specified window and activates the next top-level window in the Z order.

7

Displays the window as a minimized window. The active window remains active.

8

Displays the window in its current state. The active window remains active.

9

Activates and displays the window. If the window is minimized or maximized, the system restores it to its original size and position. An application should specify this flag when restoring a minimized window.

10

Sets the show-state based on the state of the program that started the application.

 

Example 1

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The following VBScript code opens a copy of the currently running script with Notepad.

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Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.Run "%windir%notepad " & WScript.ScriptFullName

The following VBScript code does the same thing, except it specifies the window type, waits for Notepad to be shut down by the user, and saves the error code returned from Notepad when it is shut down.

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Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Return = WshShell.Run("notepad " & WScript.ScriptFullName, 1, true)

Example 2

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The following VBScript code opens a command window, changes to the path to C: , and executes the DIR command.

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Dim oShell
Set oShell = WScript.CreateObject ("WScript.Shell")
oShell.run "cmd /K CD C: & Dir"
Set oShell = Nothing