Diane,
If you use the ShellExecute() API call you don't have to worry about the path, just hand it a .xls filename and it'll launch Excel. There are examples on my website.
>I'd like to retrieve the path name for where Excel lives on all computer on which my app runs. I plan to run (/n) excel from VFP but the path might change from PC to PC. How do I pass the parameters to the CREGISTRY object?