Question Starting one application from within another

[AutomationGuy]

Hello,

Probably an easy one this, but try as I might, I can't find any examples of how to do it...

Basically I've written two Apps (A and B) and all I want to do is put a link on the menu of App A which when clicked will fire-up App B.

Normally what I'd do is something along the lines of...

Shell("C:\Path\AppName.exe")

However, both of my apps are installed on the target machines via a Setup-Kit generated by the Publish Wizard in VB.NET. As far as I know, after you've run the Setup you don't get an EXE file for the actual application - you just get an 'Application Reference' on the Start Menu and/or Desktop.

My problem is that I don't really understand what the Application Reference is and how my application is actually deployed onto the target machine after setup has finished...

Given that I don't seem to have an EXE file after running Setup, I need another way of telling App A to fire App B, because I'm guessing I can't use my Shell command anymore?

Hope that makes sense.

Cheers!

 

[jmcilhinney]

First up, don't use Shell in VB.NET. Use Process.Start to start a process.

As for the question, ClickOnce has advantages and limitations. If its limitations prevent your application working as it should then you can't use ClickOnce, plain and simple. If your applications are simple then you don't need an installer at all. You can simply copy them by hand to a folder on the target. You'd then have to install the Framework manually if it wasn't already installed.

Alternatively you can use Windows Installer, which would mean a Setup project in a non-Express IDE or a third-party tool, e.g. Inno.

 

[JohnH]

You can also store the path at some known location in a file or registry setting at runtime with app A, when app B finds this it can start the process.