ShellFolderItem.InvokeVerbEx method

Article
01/07/2021

Executes a verb on a Shell item.

Syntax

iRetVal = ShellFolderItem.InvokeVerbEx(
  [ vVerb ],
  [ vArgs ]
)

Parameters

vVerb [in, optional]

Type: Variant

A Variant that contains the verb string that corresponds to the command to be executed. It must be one of the values returned by the item's Name property. If no verb is specified, the default verb is executed.

vArgs [in, optional]

Type: Variant

A Variant that consists of a string with one or more arguments to the command specified by vVerb. The format of this string depends on the particular verb.

Remarks

A verb is a string used to specify a particular action that an item supports. Typically, calling a verb launches a related application. For example, calling the open verb on a .txt file normally opens the file with a text editor, usually Microsoft Notepad. The FolderItemVerbs object represents the collection of verbs associated with the item. For further discussion of verbs, see Launching Applications.

This method is similar to InvokeVerb, but it allows you to specify arguments to the command as well as the command itself.

Examples

The following examples show the proper use of this method in JScript, VBScript, and Visual Basic.

JScript:

<script language="JScript">
    function fnFolderItem2InvokeVerbExJ()
    {
        var objShell = new ActiveXObject("shell.application");
        var objFolder2;
        var ssfWINDOWS = 36;
        
        objFolder2 = objShell.NameSpace(ssfWINDOWS);
        if (objFolder2 != null)
        {
            var objFolderItem;
            
            objFolderItem = objFolder2.ParseName("NOTEPAD.EXE");
            if (objFolderItem != null)
            {
                objFolderItem.InvokeVerbEx("open", "c:\\autoexec.bat");
            }
        }
    }
</script>

VBScript:

<script language="VBScript">
    function fnFolderItemInvokeVerbExVB()
        dim objShell
        
        set objShell = CreateObject("shell.application")
        if (not objShell is nothing) then
            dim objFolder2
            dim ssfWINDOWS
                
            ssfWINDOWS = 36
            set objFolder2 = objShell.NameSpace(ssfWINDOWS)
            if (not objFolder2 is nothing) then
                dim objFolderItem
                        
                set objFolderItem = objFolder2.Self
                if (not objFolderItem is nothing) then
                    objFolderItem.InvokeVerbEx()
                end if
                set objFolderItem = nothing
            end if
            set objFolder2 = nothing
        end if
        set objShell = nothing
    end function
 </script>

Visual Basic:

Private Sub fnFolderItem2InvokeVerbExVB()
    Dim objShell   As Shell
    Dim objFolder2 As Folder2
    Dim ssfWINDOWS As Long
    
    ssfWINDOWS = 36
    Set objShell = New Shell
    Set objFolder2 = objShell.NameSpace(ssfWINDOWS)
        If (Not objFolder2 Is Nothing) Then
            Dim objFolderItem2 As Object
            
            Set objFolderItem2 = objFolder2.ParseName("NOTEPAD.EXE")
                If (Not objFolderItem2 Is Nothing) Then
                    objFolderItem2.InvokeVerbEx ("open")
                Else
                    'FolderItem object returned nothing.
                End If
            Set objFolderItem2 = Nothing
        Else
            'Folder object returned nothing.
        End If
    Set objFolder2 = Nothing
    Set objShell = Nothing
End Sub

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps only]
Header	Shldisp.h
IDL	Shldisp.idl
DLL	Shell32.dll (version 5.0 or later)