Can Attributes be set prior to 'shell' call?

I'm using VB6.

I use shell to call console apps and would like to 'dress' them up a bit by changing background color at least, i.e. away from the dreary black.

I know the user can adjust it once the window is open with the properties but how about before, so that the Shell Window uses the attribute from the start and no 'user' intervention is required.

I.e. to have ret = shell("cmd", vbNormalFocus) open a window with white background, black text instead of black background white text.

Thanks in advance

Heinz

You should try cmd /? to find out what options are available.

On windows 2000 at least

cmd /T:fg

is available

where fg is two hex digits the first the background the second the foreground color.
Here are the colors

0 = Black 8 = Gray
1 = Blue 9 = Light Blue
2 = Green A = Light Green
3 = Aqua B = Light Aqua
4 = Red C = Light Red
5 = Purple D = Light Purple
6 = Yellow E = Light Yellow
7 = White F = Bright White

so if you want green text on black try "cmd /T:0A"