Windows eshell alias command line arguments.. how?

Question

I have alias msexcel (w32-browser "C:/program files/microsoft office/office12/excel.exe") and this means I can do msexcel from eshell and an asynchronous MS Excel will begin to run.

I am looking for ways to do msexcel "C:\\documents\ and\ settings\\me\my\ documents\\book.xlsx".

alias msexcel (w32-browser (format "C:/program files/microsoft office/office12/excel.exe /r %s" $1)) returns the error message (void-variable $1).

How do I send Excel a file name through this eshell alias?

Answer 1

I have been trying out things since posting the question. I came up with what works for me. eshell alias felt too complicated. Perhaps even this is too complicated.

(if (eq system-type 'windows-nt)
  (defun eshell/w32-launch (&rest args)
    (w32-browser (if (eq nil args)
                     "."
                     (car args)))))

Answer 2

I'd recommend instead of a an alias to open Excel with a specific file, an alias to open a file with whatever application it is associated with:

alias o w32-shell-execute open $1