[vb.net] Opening files in notepad

[Patrick_]

Hey guys. How would I open a text file with Notepad in visual basic? I want to show the user the hosts file...

Thanks!

[Ianmac45]

shell("c:\windows\notepad.exe FILENAME")

[Menge]

i believe it'd be more correct to do

shell("notepad.exe filename")

since the windows dir in in the PATH environment variable and the win install dir may vary :)

[Winston]

  Menge said:

i believe it'd be more correct to do

shell("notepad.exe filename")

since the windows dir in in the PATH environment variable and the win install dir may vary :)

585495784[/snapback]

I agree, try not to hardcode, avoid it at most times.

[James Rose]

another option is the ShellExecute function. This executes the associated program. (ie Notepad, IE, Netscape) Whatever is the default association with the extention you are working with.

Be aware, it will not SPECIFICALLY open NOTEPAD, but whatever application the user has associated with the file type. This can be good or bad depending on your needs.

Example

'Constant for Shell Exec

Public Declare Function ShellExecute Lib "shell32.dll" Alias "ShellExecuteA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal lpOperation As String, ByVal lpFile As String, ByVal lpParameters As String, ByVal lpDirectory As String, ByVal nShowCmd As Long) As Long

Global Const SW_SHOWNORMAL = 1

Dim sValue As String

Dim lRet As Long

sValue = "c:\temp\information.txt"

lRet = ShellExecute(Me.hwnd, vbNullString, sValue, vbNullString, Left$(sValue, 3), SW_SHOWNORMAL)

Edited February 19, 2005 by jameswjrose

[smurfiness]

Err... the subject line for this thread says VB.NET, so the correct way to do this would be:

System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("notepad.exeffilename.txt")