SAMPLE: DDEEXEC Demonstrates DDE Execute Strings

ID: Q97408

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows version 3.1

SUMMARY

The dynamic data exchange (DDE) protocol includes a feature designed to allow a DDE client application to send commands to a DDE server. The syntax of these execute requests and the way they should be handled by servers is not well documented and, consequently, varies slightly with different implementations.

The current DDE protocol has no provision for returning result information from an execute request, so a client application can only tell that the request failed, not why it failed.

This article proposes a consistent way to handle DDE execute command requests and a mechanism that allows result information to be returned. This article covers the following points:

DDE execute command syntax
Special characters in command arguments
Unicode considerations for Microsoft Windows NT
The returning of result information

DDEEXEC is a dynamic data exchange (DDE) server that supports an Execute command set. The commands allow DDE client applications to draw pictures in the main window of the server. The following sample client applications use the DDEExec server and are included with this application:

EXEC is a Visual Basic(TM) version 2.0 application that allows any Execute command to be sent to a given topic of a DDE server. This sample client application tests the basic command set of a DDE server and ensures that the server reports command errors correctly.
BUNNY is a Visual Basic 2.0 application that uses the server to draw a picture of a bunny rabbit.
WBUNNY.DOC is a Word for Windows(TM) document based on the WBUNNY.DOT template that uses Word's embedded Basic language to draw yet another bunny picture.
XLART.XLM is a sample Microsoft Excel macro sheet that shows how you can use Microsoft Excel as a DDE client to draw fascinatingly complex pictures.

MORE INFORMATION

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Software Library:

 ~ ddeexec.exe (size: 304572 bytes)

For more information about downloading files from the Microsoft Software Library, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q119591
   TITLE : How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services

Additional query words: softlib DDEEXEC.EXE

Keywords          : kbDDE kbGrpUser kbUser 
Version           : 3.10
Platform          : WINDOWS

Last Reviewed: December 12, 1998