command line arguments?

[GEasterly]

Say, can an EXE created with AMS accept command line arguments?

Thanks, GE

[Adam]

Re: command line arguments?

Currently there are no command line arguments available for AutoPlay Media Studio. I can add this as a suggestion but I need to know what type of arguments would be useful.

[GEasterly]

Re: command line arguments?

Well, maybe someone can give me a suggestion for my problem. I'm only considering using AMS for this particular task because it's the only tool I have that will create an EXE.
Problem: I'm linking to a Flash Projector from an Acrobat Document (all from CD). I can link to the projector EXE just fine, but it references external SWF files. Acrobat 6.0 starts all linked programs in some working folder on the user's HD, so when the Flash EXE tries to find it's SWF's via relative links, it can't of course (Note that modifying the Flash projector is not an option, for several reasons).

I figured a simple way to heal up this problem would be to link (from Acrobat) to an AMS EXE that simply executes the Flash projector, and since the "file.execute" command allows me to specify the working directory, the Flash EXE finds all its SWF files. This all works fine, but I've got two different Flash projectors with support files in two different locations -- I don't want to build an AMS EXE (with it's size and baggage) specifically to launch each -- I just wanted to be able to pass a variable to tell it which Flash file to open.

I realize that AMS is not really the tool for the job, but I know just enough about programming to be dangerous, and don't know if there are any simple, cheap tools out there to crank o5t simple Windows apps to do something like what I'm trying.

With Acrobat 5.0, I was able to "hack" around the problem by writing a simple DOS batch file. Acro 5.0 always made the working directory the folder from which the first PDF document for that Acrobat instance was opened. So it was easy to write a batch file that changed to the root of the current drive (always the CD-ROM), then to the folder containing the Flash stuff, then load the Flash EXE. Doesn't work in 6.0 -- it now always makes the working directory some folder on the user's hard drive, so the CD-ROM drive letter isn't even known (to me).

I guess what I really need is something EASY to use that will let me crank out little applets that does stuff like this? I love the way AMS gets it's job done -- It seems like there would be something akin to AMS for making general purpose EXEs, that could have a smaller footprint and no support files than the ones AMS creates. Anybody got some suggestions?

Thanks all...

[Lorne]

Re: command line arguments?

Could you pass the information to AutoPlay via a text file?

[Corey]

Re: command line arguments?

For what it's worth it sounds more like an issue of planning than anything. But anyhow I believe you can use a simple .bat file to set a working path... Google contains tons of good info on how to do that.

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software