Opening a file from the a console program

**pritin** · 08-30-2005

Is it possible? If so someone please tell me how to open a file... eg. i want to the user to view a shockwave movie or i want to open word thru c++(console) ...
Plz someonle help me out...
Im a newbie..

Pritin

**publikum** · 08-30-2005

Do you mean executing an executable file (.exe) or you mean how to open and read file with ASCII content (.txt for example) ?

**Dweia** · 08-30-2005

From the mention of shockwave movie and all that, I'd guess running an executable.

Umm, there's system(), but everyone hates using that.

Umm, here's some stuff from MSDN, http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...e_handling.asp, specifically you'd want _execl to wexecvpe, then all the _spawn ones

Then you can pass stuff like the file to open via command line arguments for a bunch of programs. Passing IE a website as a param makes it open up and go to that website for example.

**pritin** · 08-30-2005

Sorry i forgot to mention i was using Borland c++ Builder...

The site you provided me above were related to Visual C++...
Does it make a difference? or are the commands the same...

If the commands are same, could someone please please post a sample snippet?

Thanx a lot for helping though..
..
..
Pritin

P.S :: I did not mean files with ASCII value, i meant executables...

I just started C++... hardly a month...

**publikum** · 08-30-2005

ShellExecute is also a good way....

**pritin** · 08-30-2005

Sorry to be such a pain in the neck, but isnt the previous post by "publikum" a Windows application? Or is it for the console and has a particular header file...

If im wrong please correct me...

Just in case my query still isnt clear,...
------------
Say for example im making a tutorial comprising of several separate shockwave or flash movies... I want to let the user open and view the movies, and when the user quits, i want to have stored the last movie viewed, and continue from there next time.
Please note :: Ive just started C++

-------------

Thanx people,

Pritin.
[email protected]

**Narf** · 08-30-2005

If im wrong please correct me...

At the bottom of the page it tells you what header to use and what library to import. You can use ShellExecute in a console program, it's not restricted to Win32 applications.

**linkofazeroth** · 08-30-2005

EDIT: Minute late.

I believe (from the content of the afore-linked webpage) that ShellExecute is a premade function with the header file "shellapi.h" Info on this function (well, other than syntax details and use) is at the bottom of the link publikum mentioned.

**dwks** · 08-30-2005

This is in the FAQ.

**pritin** · 08-31-2005

My compiler does not have shellapi.h -- it's turbo c++ ... very primitive... is there any other way..?

Could someone tell me how exactly it can be done using system("...")?

I saw it in FAQ, but it dint really work... it just took a lot of time compiling... screen turned black...(on execution) and returned back to normal... no exe was executed...

**Stoned_Coder** · 08-31-2005

its a better idea to get a new compiler. try dev-c++

**pritin** · 09-01-2005

The reason i try to avoid using dev c++ even though i have it, is because it gives lots of erreors... so i only use it to print the prog.

eg.

Code:

#include<iostream.h>

void main()
{
cout << "Hello";
}

Gives me so many errors :: Something about using an inappropriate header file... void must return int.. and so on...

Someone plz help...

**ZuK** · 09-01-2005

Gives me so many errors :: Something about using an inappropriate header file... void must return int.. and so on...

You should get used to this kind of error-messages. In the near future you won't find any compiler that compiles this kind of wrong code.
Kurt

**linkofazeroth** · 09-01-2005

Well, in C++, headers only contain .h if they are (taking from someone else's post from who I forgot) non-standard or part of the original C library, and if they're part of the C library you add a "c" the beginning of the header file's name. stdio.h would become cstdio. iostream is part of the standard C++ library, and so it just "iostream". Dev-C++ calls files with .h "antiquitated" or "decaprecated". And errors that are fixed both make the program better and give you more knowledge about C++ in how code should be built.

EDIT: And yeah, main MUST return an int. When the program exits, main returns a value automatically to the system. Saying main is void violates the returning of the int, resulting in the error, resulting on more knowledge of how code is built.

**dwks** · 09-01-2005

So, instead of this code

Code:

#include<iostream.h>

void main()
{
cout << "Hello";
}

you should try

Code:

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main() {
    cout << "Hello, World!\n";
}

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