Programmatically Launching Related Documents

Manage 2000 includes support for attaching documents and other objects to records in the ERP database and having them available for users to render.  This is normally implemented through links defined in the OBJECT.IDX file and that is a good way to go, whether you attach objects manually or generate entries in OBJECTS and OBJECT.IDX files programmatically.

But sometimes you may want a more dynamic mechanism that lets the user drill from Manage 2000 screens into external documents without building a permanent link in OBJECTS.IDX. Here is one approach:

PC.EXECUTE.MSO is an MSO subroutine that requests PWS to perform a DDE.START.  It is meant to be wrapped by an MSO like 15S which launches Notepad.

You can copy 15S in MSO.BUILD to make a custom MSO that will launch whatever program or document you want on the user's PC.

To make an MSO for launching PDFs set PC_Execute_Name to a PDF viewer execute-able. (This depends on all PC's using this MSO having the same PDF viewer installed at the same location.)

To run any MSO out of basic code you can call

CALL SUB.EXECUTE.MSO(OBJECT.LIST, CAPTION, CLOSE.OPTIONS, PROPERTIES)

So in your program (perhaps a PWS button subroutine) concatenate together the file path for the currently selected external document and tuck it into the last keys for IO.SCRATCH (just using this as work space to pass the variable into the MSO).

DMY = SetLastKey("IO.SCRATCH", "C:\Temp\redpages_net.pdf");*  (this is 7.3 code for update last keys)

CALL SUB.EXECUTE.MSO('2324C', '', '', '')

If you find hijacking the IO.SCRATCH last key distasteful there is a more legitemate mechanism for passing program variables into MSOs:

In your program you can store attributes in the MSO.USER.VARS variable (delcared in  STANDARD.COMMON.VARIABLES)

MSO.USER.VARS = "C:\Temp\redpages_net.pdf"

CALL SUB.EXECUTE.MSO('2324C', '', '', '')

 and then in your MSO properties refer to them using the ampersand reference &USR<1>&, &USR<2>&...

If you want a more general approach you can use LAUNCH.URL.MSO in place of PC.EXECUTE.MSO.  LAUNCH.URL.MSO starts a document rather than a program and allows Windows to decide which application should be used to open that document.  The "Address" property of LAUNCH.URL.MSO can be a URL or it can be a disk location preceded by "FILE://" in which case Windows will lookup an application from the file extension.

    MSO.USER.VARS = "C:\TEMP\redpages_net.pdf"

    CALL SUB.EXECUTE.MSO('2324C', '', '', '')