problems with shellExecute

[Waldo2k2]

I have the following code:

void CAboutDlg::OnHelp() 
{
	//run shellExecute() on your html help 
	HINSTANCE ShellExecute(CAboutDlg, NULL,"c:\\drew\\ElectronicPortfolioFiles\\help.html",NULL,0);
	
}

but when i compile, i get the syntax error: 'constant'
what am i doing wrong?

[nvoigt]

HINSTANCE

What is this doing here ? If you need a returnvalue, give it a name.

[Waldo2k2]

heres the revised code as you recommended...

void CAboutDlg::OnHelp() 
{
	//run shellExecute() on your html help 
	/*note:don't need to escape backslashes,still works without them*/
 
ShellExecute(CAboutDlg, NULL,"c:\drew\ElectronicPortfolioFiles\help.html",NULL,0);
	
}

but now i get this error:
'CAboutDlg':illegal use of this type as an expression
the reason i threw HINSTANCE in was because the MFC help example showed it there. this thing is really annoying me...

[SyntaxBubble]

I thought the first arg. of ShellExecute() was an HINSTANCE...Not sure though

[Okiesmokie]

thats not an arg, that is the function type,
if you went:

HINSTANCE hInstance;
hInstance = ShellExecute();

then it would be fine, the HINSTANCE is used for error checking and such.

[Davros]

The first argument needs to be of type HWND, i.e. the handle of the window associated with you class.

By calling:

ShellExecute(CAboutDlg, NULL,"c:\drew\ElectronicPortfolioFiles\help.html", NULL,0);

You seem to be trying to pass the CAboutDlg class itself, rather than a handle.

[Okiesmokie]

Sorry, i was giving an example of the HINSTANCE thing, wasnt worrying about parameters.

[Waldo2k2]

thanks everyone, im slowly working it out...this seems stupid, but where do i look to find the dialogs window handle?? i knew i should have just used api......oh well

[Okiesmokie]

do you have a DialogProc of some sort?

if you do, one of the params will be: HWND hDlg
hDlg would be the handle of ur dialog