System
System (Statement)
Format
system expression
system ( expression )
Description
Run a command or another program and wait until it has finished. WARNING: This can be a very dangerous statement. Only use it if you know what you are doing.
The program named first in the string is started directly, with the rest of the string as its arguments. No terminal window is opened and no command shell is used, and whatever the command prints is thrown away. Commands that are built into a shell rather than being programs of their own -- dir, copy and del on Windows -- need the shell to be named: system "cmd /c dir > files.txt" writes the list of files to files.txt, while system "dir" silently does nothing.
The statement is switched off unless Preferences/Advanced/"Allow SYSTEM statement" allows it. With Do not allow, the default, it stops the program with the error "You do not have permission to use this statement/function." With Ask confirmation from user, BASIC256 shows the command and asks first; a program run with --silent cannot be asked and is refused. Allow runs every command without asking.
Example
system "notepad"
print "Notepad has been closed."
On Windows, opens Notepad and prints the message once Notepad is closed again.
See Also
EditVisible, GraphToolBarVisible, GraphVisible, Include,MainToolbarVisible, Maximize, OutputToolBarVisible, OutputVisible, RegexMinimal, Ostype, System, Version
History
| 0.9.5h | New To Version |