>>I did find an excellent source from sergey for the first part my equation -
>>finding out if exe is open - in my case outlook
>>
>>https://www.berezniker.com/content/pages/visual-foxpro/check-if-exe-running-and-optionally-terminate-it
>>
>>the second stage however is what I want to reverse
>>in sergey's example - if exe open then close it
>>in my case I want: if exe closed open it.
>>
>
>IIRC, Outlook never opens more than one instance. So you can just open it when you need it without checking first.
>
>Tamar
thanks tamar. i think i have misstated my task. i wanted to open outlook programmatically.
my purpose was to send an email out automatically that did not involve operator.
if it's closed, and i issue the send() command - i get an error message.
that's why i need to open it first, then send().