Open .lnk shortcut files using EXCEL VBA

[craig159753]

Hi all,

I am trying to open a SAS.EXE application through a .lnk file (i.e. a shortcut). The code I have so far is as follows

First bit declares a new function:

Public Declare Function ShellExecute _
Lib "shell32.dll" _
Alias "ShellExecuteA" ( _
ByVal hwnd As Long, _
ByVal lpOperation As String, _
ByVal lpFile As String, _
ByVal lpParameters As String, _
ByVal lpDirectory As String, _
ByVal nShowCmd As Long) _
As Long

This bit is my VBA call to open said .lnk file.

Sub mymacro()
    
    ShellExecute 0, "OPEN", "C:\Docs\myshortcut.lnk", "", "", 1
    
End Sub

The code does not fail, when i run it the mouse icon loads for one second then nothing, any ideas?

Thanks

 

[Sektor]

Use "Shell" method of VBA library:

Shell "C:\myprog.exe", vbNormalFocus

 

[craig159753]

I did originally try this and I got the following error,

SYNTAX ERROR

I shoukd note that my shortcut file has a space in it, not sure if this matters

Shell ("[COLOR=#333333]C:\Docs\my shortcut.lnk[/COLOR]", vbNormalFocus)

 

[Sektor]

I tried your code. It works well. The only difference is that I had to add "PtrSafe" keyword as I have 64-bit Office.

 

[craig159753]

I tried your code. It works well. The only difference is that I had to add "PtrSafe" keyword as I have 64-bit Office.

Hi Sektor, could you possibly paste your code?

 

[Sektor]

As you see, I just added PtrSafe keyword.

Public Declare PtrSafe Function ShellExecute _
    Lib "shell32.dll" _
    Alias "ShellExecuteA" ( _
    ByVal hwnd As Long, _
    ByVal lpOperation As String, _
    ByVal lpFile As String, _
    ByVal lpParameters As String, _
    ByVal lpDirectory As String, _
    ByVal nShowCmd As Long) _
As Long


Sub FFF()
    ShellExecute 0, "OPEN", "C:\Users\User\Desktop\MyLink.lnk", "", "", 1
End Sub