Edit

Share via

How to create a desktop shortcut with the Windows Script Host

  • Article
  • 01/15/2025

This article describes how to create desktop shortcuts by using the Microsoft Windows Script Host (WSH) from within Visual FoxPro.

Original KB number:   244677

Summary

The WSH is a tool that allows you to run Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition and JScript natively within the base Operating System, either on Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0. It also includes several COM automation methods that allow you to do several tasks easily through the Windows Script Host Object Model. The Microsoft Windows Script Host is integrated into Windows 98, Windows 2000, and later versions of the Windows operating system. It is available for Windows NT 4.0 by installing the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack. To download this tool, visit Scripting.

Examples to create a desktop shortcut with WSH

This program demonstrates how to use the Windows Script Host to create a shortcut on the Windows Desktop. In order to run this example, you must have the Windows Script Host installed on your computer. To run one of these examples, copy the code below into a new program file and run it.

Example 1

WshShell = CreateObject("Wscript.shell")
strDesktop = WshShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop")
oMyShortcut = WshShell.CreateShortcut(strDesktop + "\Sample.lnk")
oMyShortcut.WindowStyle = 3 &&Maximized 7=Minimized 4=Normal
oMyShortcut.IconLocation = "C:\myicon.ico"
OMyShortcut.TargetPath = "%windir%\notepad.exe"
oMyShortCut.Hotkey = "ALT+CTRL+F"
oMyShortCut.Save

Example 2: Add a command-line argument

WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
strDesktop = WshShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop")
oMyShortCut= WshShell.CreateShortcut(strDesktop+"\Foxtest.lnk")
oMyShortCut.WindowStyle = 7 &&Minimized 0=Maximized 4=Normal
oMyShortcut.IconLocation = home()+"wizards\graphics\builder.ico"
oMyShortCut.TargetPath = "c:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VFP98\vfp6.exe"
oMyShortCut.Arguments = '-c'+'"'+Home()+'config.fpw'+'"'
oMyShortCut.WorkingDirectory = "c:\"
oMyShortCut.Save

Note

Depending on the version of Visual FoxPro that you are using, you may need to change the name and the path of the Visual FoxPro executable in Example 2.

Example 3: Add a URL shortcut to the desktop

WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
strDesktop = WshShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop")
oUrlLink = WshShell.CreateShortcut(strDesktop+"\Microsoft Web Site.URL")
oUrlLink.TargetPath = "http://www.microsoft.com"
oUrlLink.Save

Note

For the shortcut to be created, valid parameters must be passed for all methods. No error appears if one of the parameters is incorrect.

References

  • White paper: Windows Script Host: A universal Scripting Host for scripting languages
  • Technical paper: Windows Script Host programmer's reference