Create Windows XP Shortcut

[BlackBox]

Can anyone tell me if Visual LISP is capable of creating a shortcut file (Windows Explorer), and can be manipulated for a specific target directory location? If so, where do I begin...?

I have a project directory structure that greatly benefits from having several shortcuts within the individual directories that makes it quick to jump from, for example, the "...\Sheets\" directoriy into the "...\Exhibits\" directory, etc. (24 in total, presently).

I currently do this manually (Copy + Paste + Modify), but would like to automate this process as it is project based, and all of the target directories are already defined programmatically with global variables, based on either the 'DWGPrefix sysvar and/or the vla-get-fullname property conditionally.

Thanks!

[Opie]

Here is a vbscript function to do just that.

Function MakeShortcut (strName, strFile, strTarget, strDefault, strIcon)
	Dim objWS, objLink
	Set objWS = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
	strLinkFile = strFile & "\" & strName & ".lnk"
	Set objLink = objWS.CreateShortcut(strLinkFile)
	'Dim objFSO
	
	If objFSO.FolderExists(strTarget) Then
		strTarget = strTarget
	Else
		strTarget = strDefault
	End If
	If strIcon = "" Then
		strIcon = "0"
	End If

	objLink.TargetPath = strTarget
	objLink.Description = strName
	objLink.WorkingDirectory = strTarget
	objLink.IconLocation = "%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll, " & strIcon
	objLink.Save
	MakeShortcut = objLink
End Function

It was developed for Windows XP and may need additional tweaking for other operating systems. You should be able to convert this to Visual LISP with little problem.

[BlackBox]

You rock, Opie!

I'll take a crack at it later today!

[Opie]

It'll just need a few vlax-invoke-method and vla-put-property calls to make it work. Make sure to escape your slashes and percents.

[BlackBox]

It'll just need a few vlax-invoke-method and vla-put-property calls to make it work. ...

This I understand fully.

... Make sure to escape your slashes and percents.

This I do not; I speculate you mean with regard to the target location(s). Could you clarify the 'escape' part?

[Opie]

I mispoke regarding the percents and was referring to the \ character for directory related strings.

[irneb]

I mispoke regarding the percents and was referring to the \ character for directory related strings.

You mean that each back-slash inside the strings (i.e. between the quotes) should be doubled. In lisp "\\" actually means \.

[BlackBox]

You mean that each back-slash inside the strings (i.e. between the quotes) should be doubled. In lisp "\\" actually means \.

This I already knew; Opie just lost me with the 'escape' part.

[alanjt]

I did this a while back...

(defun AT:CreateShortCut (shortcut target / sh sc r)
  ;; Create shortcut of specified file
  ;; shortcut - shortcut to create
  ;; target   - target file/folder to create shortcut of
  ;; Ex: (AT:CreateShortCut (strcat (getenv "userprofile") "\\Desktop\\TEST.lnk") "c:\\FILE.DWG")
  ;; Alan J. Thompson
  (if (findfile target)
    (progn
      (setq r (vl-catch-all-apply
                '(lambda ()
                   (vlax-put-property
                     (setq sc (vlax-invoke
                                (setq sh (vlax-create-object "WScript.Shell"))
                                'CreateShortcut
                                shortcut
                              )
                     )
                     'TargetPath
                     target
                   )
                   (vlax-invoke sc 'Save)
                 )
              )
      )
      (mapcar '(lambda (x) (vl-catch-all-apply 'vlax-release-object (list x))) (list sh sc))
      (not (vl-catch-all-error-p r))
    )
  )
)

[BlackBox]

Thanks everyone, for your helpful feedback!

I feel confident that I can compile a program from the code you've all provided here. I'll let you know if I have any questions; I am just starting to "dabble" with objects outside of AutoCAD.

When done, I will post the code here for others.

Cheers!