Using exec, system, etc. to open foreground process

[scotthemi]

I'm creating an administration console where from a PHP-based web page, running local, users will click links to start local applications. Some of these applications are okay to run in the background, and I'm not having a problem with those. Some other of the applications need to open as foreground applications. Is there a way to make applications show up as foreground apps? This is all on one machine. I've done this before using servlets, but I'd prefer to stick with PHP if possible.

I've searched and searched through the forum and googled, but haven't found an answer. Others have asked similar questions on here, but never got an answer. I would appreciate the help. Thx.

[edit] This is on WinXP.

[scotthemi]

I finally found the answer and this works now. In the Windows Services applet, double-click the Apache service and go to the Log On tab, and check the box for 'allow service to interact with desktop'. Restart the service and this works perfect now.

This can lead to security issues, but depending on your application, it can be very helpful.

Sorry for wasting time and space here, but you might as well leave this post, since a few others have had this problem and were never given a solution.