SHELL

SHELL(pathname [,windowstyle])

Returns the program's task id from running an executable programs (Double).

pathname	The full path of the program to execute (String).
windowstyle	(Optional) The constant specifying the style of the window (Integer): 0 = vbHide 1 = vbNormalFocus 2 = vbMinimizedFocus 3 = vbMaximizedFocus 4 = vbNormalNoFocus 5 = vbMinimizedNoFocus

REMARKS

* The taskID is a unique number that identifies the running program.
* If "windowstyle" is left blank, then 2 is used.
* By default this function runs other programs asynchronously.
* Specifying a windowstyle of 1 opens the application in normal size and gives it focus.
* The equivalent .NET function is Microsoft.VisualBasic.Interaction.Shell
* For the Microsoft documentation refer to learn.microsoft.com

Dim dbAppID As Double 
dbAppID = Shell("Microsoft Word", 1) 
dbAppID = Shell("C:\Windows\Calc.exe", 1)