startapp (AutoLISP)

Starts an external application

Supported Platforms: Windows and Mac OS

Signature

(startapp appcmd [file])

appcmd

Type: String

Application to execute. If appcmd does not include a full path name, startapp searches the directories in the PATH environment variable on Windows for the application and the equivalent on Mac OS.

file

Type: String

File name to be opened.

Return Values

Type: Integer or nil

A numeric value greater than 0, if successful; otherwise nil.

Examples

Windows

The following code starts Notepad and opens the acad.lsp file.

(startapp "notepad" "acad.lsp")
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If an argument has embedded spaces, it must be surrounded by literal double quotes. For example, to edit the file my stuff.txt with Notepad, use the following syntax:

(startapp "notepad.exe" "\"my stuff.txt\"")
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Mac OS

The following code starts TextEdit and opens the acad.lsp file.

(startapp "textedit" "acad.lsp")
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If an argument has embedded spaces, it must be surrounded by literal double quotes. For example, to edit the file my stuff.txt with TextEdit, use the following syntax:

(startapp "textedit.app" "\"my stuff.txt\"")
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