I didn't think the absolute path was necessary either. However, I kept getting a "VI not in memory" error. Most likely, I wasn't waiting long enough for the application to fully launch. I was hoping that as soon as the Open Application reference function was successful, the Open VI reference function should work. I'm not entirely sure why, but when I use the full path, it works much better.
In my testing, I was using the System Exec to launch the application followed immediately by a looping attempt to Open Application reference. I could have used the Wait (ms) function, but I do not like depending on a fixed time for an application launch. We know that apps launch in varying amounts of time depending on the platform and specific hardware. Oh, and Scott, I agree! I would love to run with OS X. My first several computers were Apple IIs and Macs. I was forced (kicking and screaming) to the PC platform. I'm in an Alliance Member company and our customers nearly universally use Windows. So, I'm stuck until some Mac-friendly research lab grants us a large enough contract for me to "make the switch". By the way, the approach I described for printing can apply to a whole host of things. Basically, it is a way to give yourself more than one UI thread. Anything that insists on running in the UI thread (e.g. non-thread-safe DLL) is a potential candidate to be "outsourced" to a Service app. Daniel L. Press PrimeTest Corp. www.primetest.com
