Is it possible to write a macro in Excel so that when a user clicks on a command button another program opens? Basically what I would like to do is be able to click on the command button and have MSN messenger pop up. Even better than that would be to have a conversation box with a certain person pop up.

If there is any way to accomplish this, could someone please help me by posting some sample code

Thank you very much
Ryan

To execute a program is relatively easy in VBA

Shell "c:\WINNT\system32\notepad.exe", vbMaximizedFocu

But to interact with the program can be difficult. I'm not sure if Messenger supports "Automation", but if it does, I don't imagine it'd be too difficult. Read about the CreateObject procedure to learn about launching and interacting with other applications

If you find that Messenger does not support automation, then take a look at http://www.mentalis.org/index2.shtml to learn about the Windows API. Tips on that, however, I believe are beyond the scope of this newsgroup

-Brad

Brad

Thanks for that line of code it is a good first step (and hopefully not last step) for what I want to do. Can you tell me how I would go about checking to see if Messenger supports automation?

Ryan