Microsoft KB Archive/155303

= How To Create Shortcuts (Shell Links) within Windows =

Article ID: 155303

Article Last Modified on 3/14/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Control Creation Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Learning Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Enterprise Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 32-Bit Enterprise Edition

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This article was previously published under Q155303



SUMMARY
Sometimes it is necessary to create shortcuts to your applications or documents somewhere on another user's system. Do this by calling the fCreateShellLink API function found in the Stkit432.dll file that ships with the Setup ToolKit in Microsoft Visual Basic version 4.0 for Windows or the Vb5stkit.dll file that ships with the Setup Toolkit in Visual Basic 5.0. The steps that follow show you how to do this.



MORE INFORMATION
Shell links, also known as shortcuts, are a convenient way to reference objects within the shell name space (the hierarchical structure of objects in the Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me shell) without having to keep track of the name and location of the original object. Shell links are referred to as shortcuts in the Context menu (that appears when you right- click an object) of shell objects. They are implemented internally through the IShellLink interface.

Steps for Creating a Shell Link (Shortcut) to the Desktop
 Start a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default. Add a Command button (Command1) to Form1.  Add the following code to the General Declarations section of Form1: Option Explicit

'NOTE: In Visual Basic 5.0, change Stkit432.dll in the following 'statement to Vb5stkit.dll.

Private Declare Function fCreateShellLink Lib "STKIT432.DLL" (ByVal _      lpstrFolderName As String, ByVal lpstrLinkName As String, ByVal _       lpstrLinkPath As String, ByVal lpstrLinkArgs As String) As Long

Sub Command1_Click

Dim lReturn As Long

'Add to Desktop lReturn = fCreateShellLink("..\..\Desktop", _       "Shortcut to Calculator", "c:\Winnt\system32\calc.exe", "")

'Add to Program Menu Group lReturn = fCreateShellLink("", "Shortcut to Calculator", _       "c:\Winnt\system32\calc.exe", "")

'Add to Startup Group

'Note that on Windows NT, the shortcut will not actually appear 'in the Startup group until your next reboot. lReturn = fCreateShellLink("\Startup", "Shortcut to Calculator", _       "c:\Winnt\system32\calc.exe", "")

End Sub

 Press the F5 key to run the project, and then click the Command button.

NOTE: If you are running Windows NT, the above example works correctly. If you are running Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me, change the Calc.exe path to the following:   C:\Windows\Calc.exe This creates a shortcut to the Calc.exe file on the user's desktop, a program group, and a reference to it in the Startup items.

