topic Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward in SAS Programming

X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

asumsie — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 00:34:52 GMT

When running a X command in SAS Interactive 9.4 1M3, if I have a windows explorer window open and not minimized it will cause the explorer window to come forward and shift SAS Interactive to the background, as though I ALT-TAB'd to Explorer. Is there a way to prevent this from occuring?

If I minimize the Windows Explorer window, or don't have one open at all, then no focus shift occurs.

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

ChrisNZ — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 03:14:01 GMT

That's odd. Have you tried using the noxwait and noxsync options see if they make a difference?

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

ballardw — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 14:36:02 GMT

Are you sure that the window isn't a command window?

Or perhaps you should show the specific X command you are issuing.

With 9.4.4 a basic X command on my system opens a command window.

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

Reeza — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 15:02:20 GMT

What does your code look like? Perhaps there's a mistake in your X command.

What version of Windows are you using?

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

asumsie — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 17:39:21 GMT

This is on Windows 7 Professional.

The issue can be modulated with XSYNC/NOXSYNC.

Causes focus shift to Windows File Explorer and SAS Interactive to go to background focus:

options noxwait xsync;

x '"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\EXCEL.EXE"';

SAS Interactive stays in foreground:

options noxwait noxsync;

x '"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\EXCEL.EXE"';

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

ballardw — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 20:16:51 GMT

Does Excel open as well? I no longer have Office 15 installed but the equivalent code for my version opens Excel and shifts the focus to Excel, which is what I would expect to happen.

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

Reeza — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 20:24:24 GMT

Just an FYI - if you're using DDE in your code, you CANNOT use your computer while it's running and need to wait for it to finish. You'll get weird behaviours if you do.
I've seen it dump the data into Outlook instead if I switched the 'focus' there instead.

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

asumsie — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 21:07:37 GMT

The focus shift happens when I issue any X command with option XSYNC. Opening Excel is an example I can provide publically. Excel does indeed open but prior to Excel opening, SAS is shifted to the background, File Explorer shifts to the foreground, then Excel opens in the foreground.

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

Reeza — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 21:10:57 GMT

@asumsie wrote:

The focus shift happens when I issue any X command with option XSYNC. Opening Excel is an example I can provide publically. Excel does indeed open but prior to Excel opening, SAS is shifted to the background, File Explorer shifts to the foreground, then Excel opens in the foreground.

That's what I would expect to happen.

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

asumsie — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 21:12:43 GMT

Why would you expect Windows File Explorer to shift to the foreground?

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

asumsie — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 21:15:54 GMT

There's no use of DDE in this example.

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

Reeza — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 21:29:12 GMT

Sorry, just tested. No, it doesn't switch to Windows File Explorer, it switches off of SAS to the Microsoft Command interface which isn't shown, but is being used to execute the command. It's the black command line screen.

X command are really just any command you type into the Run interface and it switches to 'that'.

If you close (not minimize) all windows explorer windows, it actually opens a windows explorer instance?

I tested this on Windows 7 Enterprise

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

asumsie — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 21:36:47 GMT

Thanks, Chris - there's nothing in the documentation nor would I naturally anticipate a synchronization option to cause Windows File Explorer window to shift to foreground. I'll consider this a bug.

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

Reeza — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 21:50:02 GMT

I re-read your initial question, and that matches what I see.

I'm going to guess the Windows command line tool and Windows Explorer are 'linked' and that this is actually on Windows side. Since you can execute a command from windows explorer by typing in cmd + Command.

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

ChrisNZ — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 22:29:26 GMT

@asumsie

I am guessing that since you call the CLI window, SAS goes to the background, and since you choose not to display the CLI window, Windows defaults to the default "shell", i.e. Explorer.

I can't test since I am stuck with EG, but this looks more like a Windows "feature" than a bug.

I must admit I never paid attention to the sequence of what's displayed when I used SAS Desktop and the X command, and it also may well be different for different versions of Windows.

Re: X Command Causes Windows Explorer Window to Come Forward

Tom — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 23:25:21 GMT

This has nothing to do with WIndows Explorer. You just happened to have a Windows Explorer window open so that it could be the one that got focus. Close all of your windows explorer windows and open something else instead and Windows will probably shift focus to that windows instead. When I tested it switched to my open Chrome window.

Playing with it I found that the XSYNC option is the one that causes SAS to lose focus. Even when SAS was the only program running with option XSYNC SAS would still be in front, but the program window where I was submitting the commands was no longer selected. Setting NOXSYNC and then with or without setting XWAIT the SAS program editor window kept focus.