yes exactly what i'm looking for Yousfi. I would also like to control the size of the window itself.
the run/N explorer command you suggest which I just tried is a nice shortcut. can you modify that to direct to a specific directory however. call it c:\mydir
thanks for your help. much appreciated.

Karen

>your scripting code dont run at all ! even for "c:\" folder or .( or program files) even with administrator privelege
>you use a slash char as web notation (its "\" and not "/")...note it can be accepted with explorer
>
>instead you can use shellexecute API. for opening a file.
>

>&&shellexecute
>DECLARE INTEGER ShellExecute IN SHELL32.DLL INTEGER nWinHandle,;
>                                            STRING cOperation,;
>                                            STRING cFileName,;
>                                            STRING cParameters,;
>                                            STRING cDirectory,;
>                                            INTEGER nShowWindow
>
>result = ShellExecute(0, "open", "full path to your PCL file","","",1)
>

>
>can use getDir for browsing a folder and returning its name.
>
> i suppose you want to execute the explorer.exe and position it on the desktop ?
>1.running explorer is simple with vfp:
>

>run/N explorer
>

>
>2. positionning the explore window (or any window) on desktop :i can give you a code for that...please confirm me first is that what you want ?.