>I thought I was just going to have to "run" the programs I need to interface with, so I gave up on DDE when I found out how complicated it was. Turns out what I need to run isn't an executable, though.
>
>I need my VFP program to activate MapInfo and run a MapBasic program from there. Then I need it to return to my VFP program when it's done.
>
>Does anybody have a clue how I would go about doing this?
>
>Thanks,

MapInfo has a documentation site that may help you. Check out

http://www.mapinfo.com/software/library/library.html

Hope this helps.