Hi [C], > [what Ian said] ...will work fine if you don't mind compiling it all into one program.
If you make updates randomly to the child apps, though, its painful to have to redistribute the entire set of apps just for one change. Something I've done before is build the 'main' application as a simple form with a single button (as a commandbutton array). It looks in a prespecified folder (specified in the registry) and generates a list of all the applications in that folder, obtaining profile data from the exe itself. Then it uses that profile data to label and activate/create buttons on the form. It ShellExecute's out to the client application and hides itself, then waits for that handle to close. When it closes it unhides itself. This way you can avoid the extra baggage of recompiling all the forms when they don't really all need to be updated. Another thing I've done is create my forms as ActiveX EXE's with a vanilla form and a UserControl. When the client apps are loaded on their own they use a sub main to create the vanilla form with a single instance of the usercontrol on it. It also registers its userclass name within a branch in the registry under a given vendor suite (like [EMAIL PROTECTED]"myapps.acct"). When the "main" app is run it enumerates that registry tree and provides each usercontrol as an optional object on a button and menu list. When a button or menu is selected it swaps out the current 'major' region of the form, which is an empty picturebox that is used as a container for the usercontrols, with the 'new' usercontrol. This way is 'cooler' and gives you more abilities (usercontrols can interact with their parent objects and thus, with the rest of the usercontrols and objects on the main form), so I'd recommend this - if you feel up to it. It's not a simple way to do something, but it's a very thorough method that can be extensively expanded upon. Regards, Shawn K. Hall http://12PointDesign.com/ http://ReliableAnswers.com/ '// ======================================================== If love is blind, lingerie makes great braille. '// ======================================================= Rules : http://ReliableAnswers.com/List/Rules.asp Home : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vbHelp/ ======================================================= Post : [email protected] Join : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Leave : [EMAIL PROTECTED] '// ======================================================= Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vbhelp/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
