Real Software Forums

Code snippet:
Dim s As Shell
s = New Shell
s.Execute "DIR C:\*.wmv /s /n /b"

(meaning: list the names of all files on the hard drive having the .wmv file extension.
"/s" means search subfolders; "/b" means omit headers and summaries; "/n" asks for the output in a particular format.)

It returns error code -2, which means file not found.

I have tried it without the /b and /n switches -- it still fails. The "/z" is necessary,
unless I want to crawl the directory tree myself -- which I have coded, in order to
get around this problem.

The same command executes perfectly in a Command window.

Am I doing something wrong, or is Shell at fault?

You probably need to increase the shell's TimeOut period; by default the timeout is 2 seconds, which is far too short to expect that command to have finished.

Thanks very much! That was the problem.
One wonders, though, why there isn't an error code that says "Timed out."
Anyway, I'll remember it next time.
Thanks again.

Most likely, -2 means "timed out". The Shell doesn't return an actual error code on Windows. Just zero (success) or -1 (failure).