OT: Puzzle re Paint Shop Pro

[terrypin]

I've called this OT as I'm pretty sure the problem is down to some quirk of my Paiint Shop Pro 8 (PSP8) image editor, not MX Pro.

 

Reduced to its basics: If I run a one line macro to launch PSP8

Program Launch: "Paint Shop Pro.exe" (Normal)
Parameters: 

it duly does so - but never terminates. The Running Man cannot be stopped, except by closing PSP8 (or killing MX ). No macros can be run until that is done.

 

So I cannot successfully write any macros for PSP8 with more commands after the launch, as they never get processed.

 

I tried several other programs (Notepad, Word, Excel, etc) and none of them have this issue.

 

I'll naturally post in the Corel forum, but users of MX are as rare there as are PSP users here. (Are there any, using any PSP version?)

 

Any thoughts on the underlying cause please?

 

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** CORRECTION: On my last test, after returning from making a coffee, it had terminated. I tried again and ran SysInternals ProcMon but amongst the thousands of lines I couldn't see any clues about what might be delaying it for 5-10 minutes.

 

 

--

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

[Cory]

I don't use PSP but in cases like this I look for the exact command line in the program's Window's shortcut. Often there are command parameters in there. It might have some clever DDE to the the startup like some older MS Office apps that it expects. I like to get things working using the Run box then take that to MEP.

[terrypin]

Thanks Cory, but as you saw the command couldn't be any simpler, with no parameters.

 

If I execute

"C:\Program Files\Jasc Software Inc\Paint Shop Pro 8\Paint Shop Pro.exe"

in the Run box, PSP8 opens. If I then immediately run a one-line macro

Text Box Display: Test message

it takes several minutes before the message appears. (Not 5-10 as i thought earlier, more like 2-3.)

 

PSP (all versions) has its own scripting facility, using Python, and I reckon there's a conflict with MX.

 

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Edit: Just had this interesting reply in the Corel forum:

 

"Don't know the details but if I remember correctly it's something to do with the program not separating itself from the parent thread that spawned it. Of course I can't prove this is what PSP8 is doing. I don't have it installed and it's not guaranteed to work the same way in later versions of Windows.

I'd ask the forums if there is a way to run a program and force it to start its own process. You may have to create a batch file and run that instead of running PSP8 directly. But again, all guess work."

 

 

--

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

[rberq]

With oddities like this I try to work around them rather than bull through.

Instead of having your macro start PSP directly, try launching a batch file that starts PSP. You may or may not need an EXIT command in the batch file. Worth a try, though it sounds like it won't help because it's sort of equivalent to starting PSP from the Run box which you have already done.

 

Oops! I see that the Corel forum folks suggested the same thing. Great minds run in the same channels.

[Cory]

The forum comment sounds a lot like what I was thinking of. Office apps used to use DDE in the command used for double clicking on an associated file. It was there to open the file in an existing instance of Excel if possible or launch a new instance of Excel. IE only ever use one instance of Excel. I would guess something similar is happening here.