Shortcut to a shortcut

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

Paul Vermeulen wrote:
> Hi all
>
> For version control reasons, I want to issue different
> Excel spreadsheets to users, e.g. v3.29.xls, v3.30.xls,
> etc.
>
> I have created a shortcut to the latest version in the
> directory, with a common name. I wanted to link to this
> shortcut from the Start menu, but of course, a shortcut
> to a shortcut is not allowed.
>
> How do I create a file that I can refer to from the start
> menu, that I can replace on a user's hard drive, together
> with a new Excel workbook version?
>
> The alternative is to standardise on the workbook name,
> but because this is a work-in-progress still, I would
> prefer that the user can see by the filename what version
> he is using, not just from text within the workbook.

Create a small vbsript or simple batch program that launches the correct
excel spreadsheet. If using a batch file it need only contain a single
command:

@start v3.30.xls

I would recommend that you set the properties on the shortcut to start
minimized, otherwise they will see the command window pop up on their
screen before the spreadsheet appears. As soon as Excel is launched the
command window should close automatically.
--
Tom Porterfield
MS-MVP MCE
http://support.telop.org

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

Hi Tom

Thank you very much for your reply. I am not a VB man,
but DOS and batch files I do understand (giving away my
age here!). One more question for you: The directory name
and file name both contain spaces, so here is what I have
tried:
1) @START Model v3.30.xls
2) @START "Model v3.30.xls"
3) @START "c:\Program Files\Model Files\Model v3.30.xls"
4) START "c:\Program Files\Model Files\Model v3.30.xls"

All of these result in a DOS window being opened, with
the name that I gave after the START command, the
directory in the DOS window is c:\Program Files\Model
Files\, but nothing else happens.

The reason without the "@" in number 4 is because I
searched for batchfile commands, and found two sites
suggesting the use of "START" without "@".

Any more ideas? We are close, I believe!

Regards



Paul
SNIP
>Create a small vbsript or simple batch program that
launches the correct
>excel spreadsheet. If using a batch file it need only
contain a single
>command:
>
>@start v3.30.xls
>
SNIP

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

Paul Vermeulen wrote:
> Hi Tom
>
> Thank you very much for your reply. I am not a VB man,
> but DOS and batch files I do understand (giving away my
> age here!). One more question for you: The directory name
> and file name both contain spaces, so here is what I have
> tried:
> 1) @START Model v3.30.xls
> 2) @START "Model v3.30.xls"
> 3) @START "c:\Program Files\Model Files\Model v3.30.xls"
> 4) START "c:\Program Files\Model Files\Model v3.30.xls"
>
> All of these result in a DOS window being opened, with
> the name that I gave after the START command, the
> directory in the DOS window is c:\Program Files\Model
> Files\, but nothing else happens.
>
> The reason without the "@" in number 4 is because I
> searched for batchfile commands, and found two sites
> suggesting the use of "START" without "@".
>
> Any more ideas? We are close, I believe!

The @ sign simply tells the command processor not to echo the command
back. With the spaces and all, using start may not work for you.
Instead, you can just enter the full path to the file. Ex:

@"C:\Program Files\Model Files\Model v3.30.xls"

That will open the file by its default association, in this case Excel
if installed.
--
Tom Porterfield
MS-MVP MCE
http://support.telop.org

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

Thank you Tom. Works like a charm.

Regards




Paul
>Instead, you can just enter the full path to the file.
Ex:
>
>@"C:\Program Files\Model Files\Model v3.30.xls"
>
>That will open the file by its default association, in
this case Excel
>if installed.
>--
>Tom Porterfield