>I am helping someone using VFP 5.0 with NT 4.0 and need to download some data from a BBS using ProComm. The present method is to RUN procomm.exe and wait for the data to download.
>
>Would he be better off to use the Windows API ShellExecute and if so
>why? I am not up to speed on using APIs so an example would certainly be helpful. My concern with the present method is that
>Procomm will go off and do its thing on a seperate NT thread and
>control will be returned to VFP too soon for this application.
>

You would be better off using CreateProcess(), since it returns a usable process handle; you can use it to monitor program termination and retreive an error code if one is given at termination. I posted a class in the FAQ last week that makes it usable. You can also easily control the initial window mode for DOS and WinApps launched via CreateProcess(), so that no DOS window need appear if you don't want it to. There are methods in the class that will either launch the app and return control immediately, or launch the app and wait on the program to terminate before returning control to VFP. Since it uses a process handle to minitor status, you don't have to worry about FindWindow(), and can check termination status without knwing the window (or if you launch it hidden, without any window at all being present on the system.

I've used this to run a DOS credit card clear app for one of my clients; it works quite well.

>Anyone done this type of thing before?