Problem using Process class to open MSWord docs

maxl · February 8th, 2007, 07:36 PM

Hey all,

i've got a strange problem that i can't figure out. Im using the process class to create an instance of Process, assign the StartInfo.FileName to a local file (the full path to the file) and then invoke the Start() method to start the process. right after that line i then call the waitforexit() method so my program has to wait for that process to close before it continues. Here is the code:

Code:

Dim fileProcess As New Process

        Try
            Me.Hide()
            fileProcess.StartInfo.FileName = fileOpenPath
            fileProcess.Start()
            fileProcess.WaitForExit()
        Catch ex as Exception
        ...
        End Try
        fileProcess.Dispose()

My problem is that, depending on the system im on, when i open a *.doc file, MS Word 03 opens up and loads the file and right after its finished loading the file and the program execution reaches the line fileProcess.WaitForExit(), the JIT compiler throws an exception stating: "No process is associated with this object." This happends on some systems and works on others (so far). What is happening here? is there something wrong with the code?

maxl · February 8th, 2007, 09:16 PM

I just updated my code a little bit because i've been reading that sometimes the mistake is made because the process object is actually empty, but im not sure how this happends. Here is the updated code, please let me know if i'm on the right track and this is/is not correct:

Code:

        Dim si As New ProcessStartInfo(strTmp)
        Dim proc As Process

        Try

            Me.Hide()

            proc = Process.Start(si)
            proc.WaitForExit()
            MessageBox.Show(proc.ExitCode)
            proc.Dispose()
       Catch ...
       End Try

Thank you.

ef1196 · February 9th, 2007, 08:24 AM

Is Microsoft Outlook running on the machines that give you the error? Often Outlook is configured to use Word as the email editor which would mean that Word is already present in memory (and will most likely begin loading the document before your process fully starts).

I tested your code on my computer and although I did not get the error message, I was unable to make the VB program wait for the exiting of Word. However, after closing Outlook your code worked perfectly.

As for what you will need to do in these cases, that ball I'm afraid is back in your court.

I hope this helps.

Best Regards,
Earl Francis

maxl · February 12th, 2007, 05:36 PM

Thanks for the reply.

at first i ran the program when i knew Outlook was not running, and the code executed fine. i was able to use the WaitForExit() method. after that i started up Outlook then ran the program again, this time it errored out. It didn't give me the exact same error that i have been recieving before which was "No process associated with this object." instead it gave me the error "Ojbect not set to an instance of an object." I guess they kind of mean the same thing but different things are happening here.

Your suggestion however has fixed it for now, thank you! i will update this post if the problem persists.