SuperShell

Public Const INFINITE = &HFFFF
'STARTINFO constants
Private Const STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW = &H1
Public Enum enSW
    SW_HIDE = 0
    SW_NORMAL = 1
    SW_MAXIMIZE = 3
    SW_MINIMIZE = 6
End Enum
Private Type PROCESS_INFORMATION
    hProcess As Long
    hThread As Long
    dwProcessId As Long
    dwThreadId As Long
End Type
Private Type STARTUPINFO
    cb As Long
    lpReserved As String
    lpDesktop As String
    lpTitle As String
    dwX As Long
    dwY As Long
    dwXSize As Long
    dwYSize As Long
    dwXCountChars As Long
    dwYCountChars As Long
    dwFillAttribute As Long
    dwFlags As Long
    wShowWindow As Integer
    cbReserved2 As Integer
    lpReserved2 As Byte
    hStdInput As Long
    hStdOutput As Long
    hStdError As Long
End Type
Type SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES
    nLength As Long
    lpSecurityDescriptor As Long
    bInheritHandle As Long
End Type
Public Enum enPriority_Class
    NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS = &H20
    IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS = &H40
    HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS = &H80
End Enum
Private Declare Function CreateProcess Lib "kernel32" Alias "CreateProcessA" _
    (ByVal lpApplicationName As String, ByVal lpCommandLine As String, _
    lpProcessAttributes As SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, lpThreadAttributes As _
    SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, ByVal bInheritHandles As Long, ByVal _
    dwCreationFlags As Long, lpEnvironment As Any, ByVal lpCurrentDriectory _
    As String, lpStartupInfo As STARTUPINFO, lpProcessInformation _
    As PROCESS_INFORMATION) As Long
Private Declare Function WaitForSingleObject Lib "kernel32" _
    (ByVal hHandle As Long, ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long) As Long
Public Function SuperShell(ByVal App As String, ByVal WorkDir As String, _
        dwMilliseconds As Long, ByVal start_size As enSW, ByVal Priority_Class _
        As enPriority_Class) As Boolean
    Dim pclass As Long
    Dim sinfo As STARTUPINFO
    Dim pinfo As PROCESS_INFORMATION
    'Not used, but needed
    Dim sec1 As SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES
    Dim sec2 As SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES
    
    sec1.nLength = Len(sec1)
    sec2.nLength = Len(sec2)
    sinfo.cb = Len(sinfo)
    
    sinfo.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW
    sinfo.wShowWindow = start_size
    
    pclass = Priority_Class
    
    If CreateProcess(vbNullString, App, sec1, sec2, False, _
        pclass, 0&, WorkDir, sinfo, pinfo) Then
    WaitForSingleObject pinfo.hProcess, dwMilliseconds
    SuperShell = True
Else
    SuperShell = False
End If
End Function

Inputs:
If you want to wait forever, set dwMillisecond to INFINITE (a Public constant). 
Again, I caution you not to Do that While spawning a hidden application, not 
unless you are sure that it will return control back to your program.

Returns:
Supershell returns TRUE if it successfully spawned the application. 
If you have a wait time defined, you aren't going to Get notification until 
after the spawned application terminates or the sleep time (dwMilliseconds) 
elapses. As a result, you may want to set a variable With the current time 
and check it when you return. Also, you will probably want to shutdown all 
timers and similar controls that can be sent messages generated outside of 
your application.

Public Const INFINITE = &HFFFF
'STARTINFO constants

Private Const STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW = &H1
Public Enum enSW
SW_HIDE = 0
SW_NORMAL = 1
SW_MAXIMIZE = 3
SW_MINIMIZE = 6
End Enum
Private Type PROCESS_INFORMATION
hProcess As Long
hThread As Long
dwProcessId As Long
dwThreadId As Long
End Type
Private Type STARTUPINFO
cb As Long
lpReserved As String
lpDesktop As String
lpTitle As String
dwX As Long
dwY As Long
dwXSize As Long
dwYSize As Long
dwXCountChars As Long
dwYCountChars As Long
dwFillAttribute As Long
dwFlags As Long
wShowWindow As Integer
cbReserved2 As Integer
lpReserved2 As Byte
hStdInput As Long
hStdOutput As Long
hStdError As Long
End Type
Type SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES
nLength As Long
lpSecurityDescriptor As Long
bInheritHandle As Long
End Type
Public Enum enPriority_Class
NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS = &H20
IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS = &H40
HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS = &H80
End Enum
Private Declare Function CreateProcess Lib "kernel32" Alias "CreateProcessA" _
(ByVal lpApplicationName As String, ByVal lpCommandLine As String, _
lpProcessAttributes As SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, lpThreadAttributes As _
SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, ByVal bInheritHandles As Long, ByVal _
dwCreationFlags As Long, lpEnvironment As Any, ByVal lpCurrentDriectory _
As String, lpStartupInfo As STARTUPINFO, lpProcessInformation _
As PROCESS_INFORMATION) As Long
Private Declare Function WaitForSingleObject Lib "kernel32" _
(ByVal hHandle As Long, ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long) As Long
Public Function SuperShell(ByVal App As String, ByVal WorkDir As String, _
dwMilliseconds As Long, ByVal start_size As enSW, ByVal Priority_Class _
As enPriority_Class) As Boolean
Dim pclass As Long
Dim sinfo As STARTUPINFO
Dim pinfo As PROCESS_INFORMATION
'Not used, but needed

Dim sec1 As SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES
Dim sec2 As SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES

sec1.nLength = Len(sec1)
sec2.nLength = Len(sec2)
sinfo.cb = Len(sinfo)

sinfo.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW
sinfo.wShowWindow = start_size

pclass = Priority_Class

If CreateProcess(vbNullString, App, sec1, sec2, False, _
pclass, 0&, WorkDir, sinfo, pinfo) Then
WaitForSingleObject pinfo.hProcess, dwMilliseconds
SuperShell = True
Else
SuperShell = False
End If
End Function

Inputs:
If you want to wait forever, set dwMillisecond to INFINITE (a Public constant).
Again, I caution you not to Do that While spawning a hidden application, not
unless you are sure that it will return control back to your program.

Returns:
Supershell returns TRUE if it successfully spawned the application.
If you have a wait time defined, you aren't going to Get notification until
after the spawned application terminates or the sleep time (dwMilliseconds)
elapses. As a result, you may want to set a variable With the current time
and check it when you return. Also, you will probably want to shutdown all
timers and similar controls that can be sent messages generated outside of
your application.