>>>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().

I did find a solution which works fine. Using sergey's code to determine if outlook is open - if it is open I use the send() directly so the email never shows before the operator - if outlook is closed I display() the generated email at which point the operator merely presses send so that outlook program never actually has to open.
I can live with this. (It was a pretty obscure issue)

K