Executing programs
Game Maker also has the possibility to start external
programs. There are two functions available for this:
execute_program and execute_ shell. The function execute_program
starts a program, possibly with some arguments. It can wait for the
program to finish (pausing the game) or continue the game. The
function execute_shell opens a file. This can be any file for which
some association is defined, e.g. an html-file, a word file, etc.
Or it can be a program. It cannot wait for completion so the game
will continue.
execute_program(prog,arg,wait) Executes
program prog with arguments arg. wait indicates whether to wait for
finishing.
execute_shell(prog,arg) Executes the program (or
file) in the shell.
Both functions will not work if the player sets the secure mode
in the preferences. You can check this using the read-only
variable:
secure_mode* Whether the game is
running in secure mode.