How to set get path to run exe?

Alphaprotocol 1

Im developing an app to run an exe file on button click, but how do I set the path to run the exe regardless of the drive its copied on or moved to.

Anonymous

2020-12-04T23:24:23.24+00:00

Hi

A very difficult thing to achive I would say. There may be an awful lot of possible locations the file could be moved to - it would need a very powerful search algorithm and plenty of time and a whole bunch of exception handling to do this.

Are you sure you have worded your question correctly? Maybe, it might be possible to set up a FileSystemWatcher to track those changes and perhaps write to the Registry, but not something I would tackle.
WayneAKing 4,921 Reputation points

2020-12-05T04:08:13.593+00:00
Even assuming that you decide to search all drives and directories to find
the file, you will need to decide how you are going to ensure that the file(s)
you locate are the exact same file you want. What about other versions of the
file? Or other completely unrelated files that just happen to have the same
name? At the very least you would need to check the file hash to ensure that
any file(s) you find is/are the exact one you want.

Wayne
Alphaprotocol 1 Reputation point

2020-12-06T21:30:17.153+00:00

In other words, an example of what I want is like setup applications, regardless of if they are ran from usb, cd or internal hdd, their setup executes. if i code an exact path and the location is changed the setup will return an error code stating that the file cant be found. like windows setup, if its on dvd or usb it still runs as it should regardless of location.
Alphaprotocol 1 Reputation point

2020-12-06T21:34:15.633+00:00

heres where im stuck:

shell ("c:\App\data\setup.exe")
how can i not make that c: constant but rather like
drive$ so that the app runs from any drive...
WayneAKing 4,921 Reputation points

2020-12-06T22:23:23.807+00:00
Then you want to run it from the directory your currently running app is in,
the current directory, or a relative path off of that directory.

Setup programs don't execute some arbitrary program from some arbitrary path. They all have to have a reference point. That can be the current
directory, or a directory specified as part of the setup options, or in a config file, etc.

Wayne
Alphaprotocol 1 Reputation point

2020-12-07T04:06:54.6+00:00

Simply put, I want to create a form with a single button, when i click the button it should execute a setup file thats in the same directory.

code I've tried on button click but fail with either
runtime error 424 or 5

Shell ("c:\programname\setup.exe")
Alphaprotocol 1 Reputation point

2020-12-07T04:21:16.233+00:00

Or can i write a code that call the run command from windows to execute the exe file?
Alphaprotocol 1 Reputation point

2020-12-07T04:22:21.403+00:00

Simply put, I want to create a form with a single button, when i click the button it should execute a setup file thats in the same directory.

code I've tried on button click but fail with either
runtime error 424 or 5

Shell ("c:\programname\setup.exe")

2 answers

WayneAKing 4,921 Reputation points

2020-12-07T04:29:53.793+00:00
If the program you want to run is in the same folder as the currently running
program - e.g. ...\bin\Debug - then it should start if you just use the
program filename:

Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click Process.Start("setup.exe") End Sub

Wayne
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WayneAKing 4,921 Reputation points

2020-12-07T09:13:08.56+00:00
A more robust method, that should work regardless of how the user starts your
program. i.e. - Should work even if the user starts your program from some
directory other than the one which holds the exe.

Dim MyPath As String = Application.ExecutablePath MyPath = MyPath.Remove(MyPath.LastIndexOf("\") + 1) & "setup.exe" Process.Start(MyPath)

Wayne
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Alphaprotocol 1 Reputation point

2020-12-11T22:29:32.007+00:00

Mr Wayne sir thanks for helping me. Can i send the project file to you to see if you can have it working. I tried but still not working.

WayneAKing 4,921 Reputation points

2020-12-11T22:56:05.937+00:00

You need to be more specific. Exactly what isn't "working"?

What are you trying to do that you can't?

What is it doing that it shouldn't do?

What isn't it doing that it should?

What code exactly "doesn't work"?

For help with the actual project code, you should upload it to a file
sharing service, such as Microsoft's OneDrive (which is free). Then post
a link to the project here so we can examine it. You can remove the link
and/or the file after we have seen it.

Wayne

Alphaprotocol 1 Reputation point

2020-12-12T01:31:50.687+00:00

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AlfbBdHi5hI-sSXMcSXevSFUB4_v?e=MR4qmg

That is the Link.

WayneAKing 4,921 Reputation points

2020-12-12T03:04:57.727+00:00

You don't seem to have been paying attention to what I have
been telling you.

To repeat:

(1) The setup file to be started must be in the same directory as the
executable (.exe) that you are running. The VB WinForms application.

As I suggested before, during a build that means the ..\bin\debug
or ..\bin\release directory. (Or both.)

(2) What good does it do to use the code exactly as my example,
which used setup.exe as the program to be started, when you
appear to be using a file called setup.msi? You should be able to figure out that the code must be altered to reflect that difference.

Wayne
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How to set get path to run exe?

2 answers