sender

The Object that raised the event.

e

A StartupEventArgs object that contains the application's command-line arguments.

A single-instance application raises the StartupNextInstance event when you attempt to restart the application when it is already active. When a single-instance application starts for the first time, it raises the Startup event. For more information, see My.Application.Startup Event and How to: Specify Instancing Behavior for an Application (Visual Basic).

This event is part of the Visual Basic Application model. For more information, see Overview of the Visual Basic Application Model.

This event is raised on the application's main thread with the other user-interface events. This allows the event handler to access directly the application's user interface. However, if the application is busy handling another user-interface event when this event is raised, this event cannot be processed until the other event handler finishes or calls the My.Application.DoEvents Method.

Note:
The StartupNextInstance event is raised only in single-instance applications. To enable single-instance behavior for your application, you must check the Make single instance application check box in the Project Designer. For more information, see How to: Specify Instancing Behavior for an Application (Visual Basic).

You must use the CommandLine property of the e parameter to access the arguments for subsequent attempts to start a single-instance application. The My.Application.CommandLineArgs Property provides the arguments used to start the first instance of a single-instance application.

The code for the StartupNextInstance event handler is stored in the ApplicationEvents.vb file, which is hidden by default.

To access the Code Editor window for application events

The following table lists examples of tasks involving the My.Application.StartupNextInstance event.

This example uses the e parameter of the StartupNextInstance event handler to examine the application's command-line arguments. If an argument is found that starts with /input=, the rest of that argument is displayed.

Private Sub MyApplication_StartupNextInstance( _
    ByVal sender As Object, _
    ByVal e As Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.StartupNextInstanceEventArgs _
) Handles Me.StartupNextInstance
    Dim inputArgument As String = "/input="
    Dim inputName As String = ""

    For Each s As String In e.CommandLine
        If s.ToLower.StartsWith(inputArgument) Then
            inputName = s.Remove(0, inputArgument.Length)
        End If
    Next

    If inputName = "" Then
        MsgBox("No input name")
    Else
        MsgBox("Input name: " & inputName)
    End If
End Sub

You must enter the code in the Code Editor window for application events. To access this window, follow the instructions from this topic's Remarks section. For more information, see How to: Handle Application Events (Visual Basic).

Namespace: Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices

Class: WindowsFormsApplicationBase

Assembly: Visual Basic Runtime Library (in Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll)

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Reference