Launcher is a small utility for launching programs that require DDE from applications that provide only a command line by which to invoke external modules. You can also use Launcher to specify a working directory where the option to do so is not provided (for example, in a file-type association in the registry) or, in the Win32 version, to use environment variables to change the way programs are launched.
If you just read that and didn’t think to yourself, “Oh, Wow! That’s exactly what I need!” you probably have no use for this program.
version 2.0a (.zip archive for Win32; 27KB)
Note: Launcher is in the public domain, but files in the distribution linked above have not been updated to reflect this.
Launcher
========================================================================
LAUNCHER is a simple utility designed to be used when a program provides
only a command line (or even just a module file name) for launching
another program; but either Windows registry associations should be
used, or a DDE command, additional parameters and/or a working directory
need to be specified.
In particular, LAUNCHER was first written to allow more flexibility in
the use of Agent's MIME Types table.
Version 2 of LAUNCHER adds the ability to use environment variables
(such as %UserName%) to control launching.
========================================================================
Release Format: Zip file (lnch200a.zip)
Platform: Windows NT/95 and up
Author/contact: Software@Coises.com (Randy Fellmy)
Distribution: FREEWARE: This program (with all original files
included and unmodified, and without charge) may be
freely distributed and used.
FileVersion: 2.0.0
FileDescription: Launcher: program and document launch interface
InternalName: Launcher
LegalCopyright: © Copyright 1999-2002 by Randy Fellmy
OriginalFilename: launcher.exe
ProductName: Launcher
ProductVersion: 2.0.0
Compiler: Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 (Win32 API)
========================================================================
Changes in Launcher version 2.0.0
---------------------------------
1. Launcher is now a native 32-bit application.
A. This appears to have fixed a problem of unknown origin which caused
the "directory" parameter to be unreliable when running in Windows NT.
(Whether the problem occurs in either 1.1b or 2.0.0 on other 32-bit
versions of Windows is unknown.) Of course, this also means it will no
longer run under Windows 3.x (with or without Win32S).
B. This also appears to have fixed another problem of unknown origin,
in which Microsoft Word 6 would hang on exit after Launcher had
launched a document into it by Windows associations. I haven't
observed that behavior with this version of Launcher, running under
Windows 2000.
2. The interpretation of the "ifexec" parameter was changed so that
if a null value is specified, no DDE conversation is initiated if the
application must be started.
3. The processing of the "delay" parameter has changed significantly.
Formerly, "delay" specified the minimum length of time, in milliseconds,
that should elapse between launching the application and initiating a
DDE conversation. Launcher now waits for the application to be ready for
input, for a maximum of "delay" milliseconds, before attempting to
initiate DDE. The default value for "delay" is now 32767 instead of 0.
4. Environment variables are now recognized in the "directory" parameter
and in the first token in the "command" parameter (the file name of the
application or document to be launched).
5. The "override" parameter has been added to allow substitution of an
alternate initialization file based on environment variables (such as
%UserName%).
Known problems in Launcher version 2.0.0
----------------------------------------
Launcher recognizes the appearance of a leading double-quote mark in its
calling parameters as indicative that a file name has been specified
without a preceding section name; also, a double-quote at the beginning
of the "command" parameter is recognized as the beginning of a "long
file name" which extends to the next double-quote mark. Aside from this,
LAUNCHER does not interpret double-quote marks. It is thus necessary in
some cases to know whether double-quote marks will be present in the
LAUNCHER command line when configuring the launch parameters, as they
are not automatically stripped in %1 substitution. If there are
applications which sometimes include double-quote marks around file
names when calling an external program and other times do not, it may be
impossible to code parameters that will launch both cases correctly.
========================================================================
Changes in Launcher version 1.1b
--------------------------------
1. Corrected (hopefully) mishandling of long file names containing
blanks when launched by Windows associations or entered (enclosed in
double quotes) as the first token in the command parameter.
2. Added note in this Read Me file regarding double quotes in Windows
initialization files, and revised known problems statement.
========================================================================
Changes in Launcher version 1.1a
--------------------------------
1. Launcher now supports request as well as execute method DDE.
2. Launcher now supports the "ifexec" key.
3. Launcher can now send a second DDE message to activate (give focus
to) an application that was already running.
4. A [*] section can be defined in the initialization file to control
launching of files from programs that do not permit the definition of
command parameters (but do allow the specification of an application).
========================================================================
Installation
------------
The Zip file contains both source and executable files. The only files
needed to run the program are LAUNCHER.EXE and LAUNCHER.INI; both files
MUST be placed in the same directory. The LAUNCHER.INI file must be
customized using a text editor: the program does not alter this file in
any way. Then command lines in application settings or in the registry
can be changed to use LAUNCHER when the additional flexibility of this
program is desired.
INI file
--------
For each different set of special launching instructions, create a
section in the INI file. You can name the sections whatever you like, so
long as each name contains letters and numbers only (NO BLANKS!) and is
less than 64 characters in length. (These names are not case sensitive.)
It is also possible to define a [*] section, which is used when LAUNCHER
is passed a file name without a section name.
(Note: Launcher uses standard Windows routines to process its
initialization file. If the value for a parameter both begins and ends
with a double quote ["], these routines remove the beginning and ending
quotes. Other double quote characters within the value are not affected.
For example, to specify that the "command" parameter is to be:
"%1"
it is necessary to write:
command=""%1""
in the initialization file.)
In each section, these parameters can be used:
command=
specifies the command line used to start the application.
This parameter is scanned for the string %1: if present, it is
replaced by the trailing part of the LAUNCHER command. (Only the
first occurrence, if any, of %1 is replaced.)
After %1 replacement, the first token of the command line is
identified as the file name to be launched. Environment variables
(e.g., %UserName%) are recognized in the file name (but not in any
argument string that follows).
In a [*] section, if this parameter is omitted (or null) the
trailing part of the command line is taken to be a file name to be
launched according to Windows file type associations; if this
parameter is omitted in any other section, the launch will fail
unless DDE parameters are specified and the target application is
already running.
If DDE parameters are specified, the command is issued only if
the application is not already running.
directory=
specifies a working directory (or "Start In" property) for the
command. Environment variables are recognized in this parameter.
ddeexec= (required if application or topic is specified)
specifies the data to be passed to the application via DDE. This
parameter is scanned for the string %1: if present, it is replaced
by the trailing part of the LAUNCHER command. (Only the first
occurrence, if any, of %1 is replaced.)
application= (required if ddeexec or topic is specified)
topic= (required if ddeexec or application is specified)
specify the application and topic names under which the application
will process the command specified in the ddeexec parameter.
ifexec= (allowed only if ddeexec is specified)
specifies the data to be passed via DDE to the application if it
was not already running, after the application has been launched.
This parameter is scanned for the string %1: if present, it is
replaced by the trailing part of the LAUNCHER command. (Only the
first occurrence, if any, of %1 is replaced.)
If this parameter is omitted, the data specified in "ddeexec" is
used whether the application was already running or not. If this
parameter is specified but is null (after %1 substitution), a DDE
message is not sent if the application was not already running.
request= (allowed only if ddeexec is specified)
any non-zero numeric value specifies that "request method" DDE,
rather than "execute method DDE," will be used. Request method is
typically used by web browsers.
timeout= (allowed only if ddeexec is specified)
specifies the length of time, in milliseconds, the system will
allow for the application to accept the DDE transaction. (This
parameter defaults to 2500.)
delay= (allowed only if ddeexec is specified)
specifies the maximum length of time, in milliseconds, that should
elapse between launching the application and initiating a DDE
conversation. After launching an application, LAUNCHER waits for it
to be ready for user input before attempting to start a DDE
conversation. The waiting time is limited by this parameter, which
defaults to 32767.
IgnoreNotProcessed= (allowed only if ddeexec is specified)
any non-zero numeric value specifies that the DDE Execute error
code which indicates the server did not process the request should
be treated as indicating success. (That error code occurs when
launching a file into Opera using execute method DDE, even though
the launch is successful; this parameter suppresses the resulting
message. Though LAUNCHER now supports request mode DDE, which is
recommended for Opera and does not result in this error, I saw no
reason to remove the parameter.)
ActivateCommand= (allowed only if ddeexec is specified)
ActivateTopic= (allowed only if ddeexec is specified)
specify a topic and command used to send a second DDE message to
make the application active. If only ActivateCommand is specified,
the topic used will be the same as for the first DDE message; if
only ActivateTopic is specified, "ActivateCommand=-1,0" is assumed.
This message is sent only when the application is not launched. The
same application and method (request or execute) are used as for
the first DDE message.
force= (effective only in an [*] section)
any non-zero numeric value specifies that the entire command line
following LAUNCHER is used as the "%1" substitution string: no
attempt is made to parse a section name.
override=
specifies the full path to an alternate initialization file to be
used instead of the default initialization file. When this
parameter is specified in a named section, LAUNCHER searches for a
"command=" setting in the same section of the indicated file. If
one is found, all the settings are taken from that file; otherwise,
the settings in the original file are used. Environment variables
are recognized in this parameter.
When this parameter is specified in a [*] section, it applies
both to the [*] section and to any named sections in which this
parameter is not specified.
The easiest way to determine the correct command, ddeexec, application,
topic and ifexec parameters is probably to find a key in the registry
for a file type that launches the application: the parameters work the
same way in LAUNCHER (except that if an ifexec key exists in the
registry but is null, you should omit the ifexec parameter in LAUNCHER
rather than specify a null value). The other parameters can usually be
omitted at first: it will be fairly obvious if they're needed. If
ddeexec, application and topic are all omitted, DDE is not used.
You can use environment variables to specify parameters that must be
different for different users. You can use an environment variable in
the override parameter to allow individual users to have entirely
different settings for some or all sections.
The LAUNCHER.INI file provided shows sample parameters for launching a
file into Opera (e.g., from the Agent MIME Types table); for launching a
mailto: link into Agent; for launching into a typical DDE-aware
application; and for launching a non-DDE-aware application with a
working directory. The [*] and [WebBrowser] sections demonstrate how to
establish Internet Explorer as a default browser for all users, while
allowing individual users to override this (for example, to use Opera)
by placing a LAUNCHER.INI file in an appropriate sub-folder of their
profile. To complete this setup, the command line:
"C:\Program Files\Launcher\Launcher.exe" WebBrowser %1
would have to be set as the default value in the registry for the keys:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell\open\command
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http\shell\open\command
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\https\shell\open\command
(with no accompanying ddeexec key).
Command lines
-------------
LAUNCHER is useful when a program that can launch other programs only
provides for a simple command line, but something like the way
File Manager opens documents (using DDE, if defined in the registry, to
launch multiple files into a single instance) is desired.
Normally, the command line takes either of these forms to launch a file
according to the registry association for the file type (that is, as if
the file were double-clicked in File Manager):
path\launcher.exe file\path\and\name
path\launcher.exe * file\path\and\name
however, it is possible to override this behavior by specifying a [*]
section in the initialization file. The parameters in the [*] section,
if it exists, are used when launching by either of the above formats.
The command line to launch according to the parameters specified in a
named section of the INI file is:
path\launcher.exe section file\path\and\name
where "section" is one of the section names defined in LAUNCHER.INI
(without the enclosing square brackets). The trailing part of the
command does not actually have to be a file path and name: the entire
string of characters beginning with the first non-blank character
following the section identifier and extending to the end of the command
line is substituted for any %1 arguments in the initialization file.
If launcher.exe is copied or renamed, the file name constructed by
replacing ".exe" with ".ini" is used to initialize that copy of
LAUNCHER. This may be useful in connection with the [*] section (and
possibly "force=1") to create multiple "instances" of LAUNCHER which can
be used to control opening files from applications that permit only the
entry of the name of an executable module to open a document, rather
than providing for specification of a complete command line.