Open another program with Excel VBA

To open another program by using Excel VBA, we can use function "shell" to open it.

Syntax
Shell(pathname[,windowstyle])

pathname
Required; Variant (String). Name of the program to execute and any required arguments or command-line switches; may include directory or folder and drive.

The windowstyle named argument has these values:

Constant	Value	Description
vbHide	0	Window is hidden and focus is passed to the hidden window. The vbHide constant is not applicable on Macintosh platforms.
vbNormalFocus	1	Window has focus and is restored to its original size and position.
vbMinimizedFocus	2	Window is displayed as an icon with focus.
vbMaximizedFocus	3	Window is maximized with focus.
vbNormalNoFocus	4	Window is restored to its most recent size and position. The currently active window remains active.
vbMinimizedNoFocus	6	Window is displayed as an icon. The currently active window remains active.

Here is an example to open Internet Explorer:

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Sub test()

'To search "test" with google

Dim ReturnValue As Double

   ReturnValue = Shell("C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe http://www.google.com", 1)
   Application.Wait (Now + TimeValue("0:00:01")) 'wait 1 seconds

   AppActivate ReturnValue

   Application.SendKeys "test" 'search "test" with google

   SendKeys "~", True 'enter

End Sub

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