Run(file$[, args$, t])
Run(cmdline$[, resetkeys, userdata])
file$ asynchronously
and passes the arguments specified in args$ to it. If you need to execute a
program synchronously, you have to use the Execute() function.
See Execute for details.
If supported by the operating system, this command can also be used
to view data files like documents or images using their default
viewer. In that case, file$ can also be a non-executable file like a
JPEG image or an MP3 file.
On Android file$ has to be either a data file like a JPEG image
or a package name like com.airsoftsoftwair.hollywood if you
want this function to start another app.
If you want to be informed when the program started using Run() is
terminated, you can install a listener for the RunFinished
event handler using InstallEventHandler().
See InstallEventHandler for details.
There is also a listener called RunOutput which can be installed using
InstallEventHandler(). The RunOutput
listener will redirect the program's output to your program which is
useful when writing GUIs for console programs, for example. See InstallEventHandler for details.
Note that due to historical reasons, there are some pitfalls when using
this function. Before Hollywood 9.0 this command expected program and arguments
combined in just a single cmdline$ string. In that case, extra care has to
be taken when dealing with spaces (see below for details). Starting with Hollywood 9.0,
there is a new syntax which allows you to pass program and arguments as
two separate arguments which makes things much easier. However, to maintain
compatibility with previous versions this new syntax can only be used if
you explicitly pass a string in the second argument. So if you want to
use the new syntax, make sure to pass a string in the second argument.
If the program you want to start doesn't need any arguments, just pass an empty
string ("") just to signal Hollywood that you want to use the new syntax.
If you don't pass a string in the second argument, the old syntax will be
used which means that you need to be very careful when passing program paths
that contain spaces since the very first space in cmdline$ is interpreted as
the separator of program and arguments. If you want to start a program whose
path specification uses spaces, you need to use double quotes around this path
specification or it won't work. You can easily avoid these complications by
simply passing a string in the second argument, even if it is empty (see above
for details).
Starting with Hollywood 9.0, it is possible to specify the program and its arguments in two separate arguments, which makes things much more convenient. Also, there is a new optional table argument now that can be used to specify further options.
The following options are currently supported by the optional table argument:
Directory:
ResetKeys:False, Run() won't reset all internal
key states after executing the program. By default, all key states
will be reset when Run() returns because programs started using
Run() often assume the keyboard focus and Hollywood might be
unable to reset its internal state flags because the new program
started via Run() takes over keyboard focus. That's why by
default Run() will reset all internal key state flags when it
returns. Disabling this behaviour can make sense if you use Run()
to start programs that don't have a GUI and don't take away the
keyboard focus. Defaults to True. (V5.1)
RawMode:RunOutput event handler is active. By
default, the RunOutput event handler expects programs to output text only.
This is why RunOutput will make sure to pass only properly UTF-8 encoded
text to your callback function. If you don't want RunOutput to format
the text as UTF-8, you need to set the RawMode argument to True when calling
Run(). In that case, RunOutput won't do any preformatting and
will just forward the program's raw output to you. This means that your event
handler callback has to be ready to process binary data as well. Defaults
to False. (V9.0)
IgnoreHandlers:RunFinished or RunOutput are installed, those handlers
will automatically trigger whenever Run() is called. If you only want those
event handlers to trigger for certain calls to Run(), you can use this tag
to tell Run() which event handlers to ignore. This must be set to a string
containing the event handlers that should be ignored. Multiple event handlers
must be separated by a vertical bar character. For example, setting IgnoreHandlers
to RunFinished|RunOutput would tell Run() to not throw events for
both event handlers, RunFinished and RunOutput. (V9.0)
ReturnCode:RunFinished event handler installed, you can set this tag to
True to indicate that your event handler should also receive the program's return
code when it terminates. Note that when setting this tag to True on AmigaOS 4
and MorphOS, Hollywood can't be quit before the program started using Run()
has terminated. Defaults to False. (V9.0)
ForceExe:True, Run() will always treat the file passed in file$
as an executable. This is only useful on Linux and macOS because on those platforms
files that have an extension will be treated as data files so Hollywood will try
to launch the corresponding viewer for the data file instead. Thus, trying to use Run()
on an executable named "test.exe" will not work on Linux and macOS because of the *.exe
extension. By setting ForceExe to True, however, you can make it work. Defaults
to False. (V9.0)
UserData:RunFinished and RunOutput event handlers that can be installed via
InstallEventHandler(). See InstallEventHandler for details.
The user data you specify here can be of any type. (V6.1)
Verb:Run() what to do
with the file. This can be one of the following verbs:
edit
exploreRun().
findRun().
open
print
runas
Note that the Verb tag is only supported on Windows. (V9.1)
Run("Sys:Prefs/Locale")
The above code executes the locale preferences on AmigaOS based systems.
Your script's execution will go on immediately after executing the locale program
(asynchronous execution).
Run("\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Hollywood\\ide.exe\"")
The code above runs the Hollywood IDE on Windows systems. Note that we've
embedded the program specification inside double quotes. This is absolutely
necessary because the first space in the string passed to Run() is
normally interpreted as the separator between program and arguments. If
we didn't use double quotes in the code above, Run() would try to
start the program "C:\Program" and pass the arguments "Files (x86)\Hollywood\ide.exe"
to it which we obviously don't want. Note that since Hollywood 9.0, it is
now much easier to deal with spaces in paths. You just need to use the new
syntax which takes the program and its arguments in two separate arguments.
With Hollywood 9.0, you could simply use this code:
Run("C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Hollywood\\ide.exe", "")
Note that passing the empty string in the second argument is absolutely
necessary here to signal Hollywood that you want to use the new syntax.
See above for a detailed discussion on this.