DDE.OPEN Function
Syntax
Arguments
- Application
The name of an application that is currently running in another window.
- Topic
The name of a topic that the application recognizes.
Description
Open a dde channel with another window on a given topic.
Discussion
The DDE.OPEN() method initiates dynamic data exchange (DDE) with another active Windows application. The Application_Name parameter is a character string containing the name of an application that is currently running in another window. It is usually the name of an .EXE file (without the .EXE extension or path) that can hold a DDE conversation. The contents of the Topic_String should be the name of a topic that the application recognizes. The choice of valid topic names depends on the application. For applications that operate on documents or tables, the topic usually includes the names for those files. Once DDE.OPEN()establishes the DDE conversation, it returns a pointer () to the DDE Channel that other DDE methods can use. The maximum number of channels that can be simultaneously opened is determined by Windows and the amount of system memory and available resources. To conserve resources, close a DDE channel when you no longer need it using the <DDE>.CLOSE() or the DDE.TERMINATE_ALL() methods. To establish a DDE connection, both Alpha Anywhere and the other Windows application must be running at the same time. It is good practice to include the SYS_SHELL() function at the start of a DDE script to automatically start up the other application before trying to initiate the DDE conversation.
See Also