C / C++ / MFC

Return Values

Returns a value greater than 32 if successful, or an error value that is less than or equal to 32 otherwise. The following table lists the error values. The return value is cast as an HINSTANCE for backward compatibility with 16-bit Microsoft® Windows® applications. It is not a true HINSTANCE,
however. The only thing that can be done with the returned HINSTANCE is
to cast it to an integer and compare it with the value 32 or one of the
error codes below.

Remarks

This method allows you to execute any commands in a folder's context menu or stored in the registry.

To open a folder, use either of the following calls:

ShellExecute(handle, NULL, path_to_folder, NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL);

or

ShellExecute(handle, "open", path_to_folder, NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL);

To explore a folder, use:

ShellExecute(handle, "explore", path_to_folder, NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL);

To launch the shell's Find utility for a directory, use:

ShellExecute(handle, "find", path_to_folder, NULL, NULL, 0);

If lpOperation is NULL, the function opens the file specified by lpFile. If lpOperation is "open" or "explore", the function will attempt to open or explore the folder.

With multiple monitors, if you specify the window handle and set lpOperation to "Properties", any windows created by ShellExecute may not appear in the correct position.

To obtain information about the application that is launched as a result of calling ShellExecute, use ShellExecuteEx.

See Also

IShellExecuteHook

Requirements

  Windows NT/2000: Requires Windows NT 3.1 or later.

  Windows 95/98: Requires Windows 95 or later.

  Windows CE: Unsupported.

  Header: Declared in shellapi.h.

  Import Library: shell32.lib.