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 Plus and a running external Windows application or aliased DDE server.

If you call an external application with initiate( ), dBASE Plus 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( ).