initiate( )

Topic group Related topics Example

Starts a conversation with an external application or aliased DDE server.

Syntax

<oRef>.initiate(<server expC>, <topic expC>)

<oRef>

A reference to the DDELink object through which you want to initiate the DDE link.

<server expC>

The executable filename of the server application (normally the .EXE extension isn’t necessary) or the alias name of a running DDE server.

<topic expC>

Name of a built-in DDE topic, document, or other topic.

Property of

DDELink

Description

Use initiate( ) to open a channel of communication (known as a DDE link) between dBASE and a running external Windows application or aliased DDE server.

If you call an external application with initiate( ), dBASE tries to open the application if it is not already running. initiate( ) returns true if the connection is successful, and false if the connection attempt fails.

To close the DDE link, use terminate( ).