Getting the return code of an exec-called program

[ritter]

I'm trying to simply call an .EXE (Win32 console-) application from LabView 5, which works fine with EXEC. The problem is, that I cannot query the return code of the program afterwards. (The error output is always 0, no matter what the program has returned.) Anyone knows a nice short solution to that? Thanks!

[Labviewguru]

ritter,

What exactly are you trying to do.

I believe that the outputs of the system exec are strictly for dataflow purposes.

Try looking at the help file for the system exec function for more information.

Good luck.

[ritter]

I call an .EXE that returns with 0 when everything is ok and exits with an error code != 0 when there was an error. And I would like to get this error code (that can be queried with errorlevel in DOS) into LabView. (The info about exec didn't help me with that.)

[Ben]

Hi ritter,

I'll take a try at this one (as I cover my head).
1)How about wiring to the standard output?

2)How about redirecting(piping) the output to a text file and checking it there?

Let us know if these are not appropriate ideas,

Ben

[ritter]

Hi Ben,
The problems in the called .EXE arise (usually) from the file system. Thats why I would not like to make the communication to LabView also file system dependent.
Taking the standard output of the .EXE directly into LabView would be a solution. But how do I do that? Can I get the output of the program right into LabView? Into a string?
Thanks anyways!

[Ben]

Hi Ritter,

Somehow I think I may be missing something.
(after looking around)
What version of LV are you using?
I am guessing 5.1 or earlier.
LV 6 EXEC has standard output available.

If you are using LV 5.1.1 or so, I can only recomend the the re-directed solution.
If file system is issue how about using a complete file spec starting with "c:"? Do you expect to be running on a machine that does not have a c drive?

Ben

[ritter]

You're right, we're using LV 5.1. And I guess there's really no more soffisticated solution than using some temp file... 😞

[Enrique]

Well, in that same line, you may want to look at the following examples:

How to Run an Executable with Options from LabVIEW

Programmatic ping Implementation

At least, they can provide you with some guidance.

Best regards;
Enrique