Open With....

[rifter1818]

Couple of (hopefully) quick questions here.

1)I've been using Process.Start(filename) to open programs and files fine for a while now however if its a filetype with no known extension is there anyway to open the windows openwith dialoge? or do i have to code my one in which case how do i access the list normally provided by windows in said dialoge.

2)If i was to write a text editor, (C#) how would i access the data from a file opened with my text editor.

3) How would i (through code/ in the setup program) tell windows to use my application for certain file extensions?

C# for answers is appreciated but any answer is great thanks in advance.

[mskeel]

The answers you seek are in the registry. There is a whole slew of keys devoted to known file extensions and what programs use them and such.

 

You can tell windows to use your app with a certian file exension (associate the file extension with you app) when you deploy. It's an option when your putting together your install package.

 

I'm unsure about your first question, but I hope thsese other these thoughts help a bit. They should at least push you in the right direction.

[rifter1818]

To clarify

 

1) When you right click on a file and select "Open With" (or double click on a file with an unknown file extension) windows opens up a form with a list of programs and a browse feature to choose what program to open that file with... Just wondering if i can send a filename to that or if i have to code my own.

[Joe Mamma]

in thge windows sdk (Windows Shell and Controls)

 

Arbitrary File Types

Creating a File Association

Verbs and File Associations

 

go to pinvoke.net to get c# introp p\invoke code

[mcdragon69]

Explorer Icons

 

On this subject, is there a way to read which icons go with which file types? Kind of like a cusom Explorer type app. Can I get the icon definitions from somewhere without having to compile a collection of my own?

[joyce11k]

i too want an answer to the following question:

 

I've been using Process.Start(filename) to open programs and files fine for a while now however if its a filetype with no known extension is there anyway to open the windows "openwith" dialoge? or do i have to write a code in which case how do i access the list normally provided by windows in said dialoge.

 

If anyone knows an answer to this question, please reply at the earliest possible... Thanx in advance:)

 

Couple of (hopefully) quick questions here.

1)I've been using Process.Start(filename) to open programs and files fine for a while now however if its a filetype with no known extension is there anyway to open the windows openwith dialoge? or do i have to code my one in which case how do i access the list normally provided by windows in said dialoge.

2)If i was to write a text editor, (C#) how would i access the data from a file opened with my text editor.

3) How would i (through code/ in the setup program) tell windows to use my application for certain file extensions?

C# for answers is appreciated but any answer is great thanks in advance.

[HJB417]

Here's C# code that uses the "open with" dialog.

 

ported from http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2004/11/26/270710.aspx

and http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.win32.programmer.ui/browse_thread/thread/8dde98bae84136fc/.

 

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

namespace ConsoleApplication6
{
[serializable]
public struct ShellExecuteInfo 
{
	public int Size;
	public uint Mask;
	public IntPtr hwnd;
	public string Verb;
	public string File;
	public string Parameters;
	public string Directory;
	public uint Show;
	public IntPtr InstApp;
	public IntPtr IDList;
	public string Class;
	public IntPtr hkeyClass;
	public uint HotKey;
	public IntPtr Icon;
	public IntPtr Monitor;
}

class Class1
{
	[DllImport("shell32.dll", SetLastError=true)]
	extern public static bool ShellExecuteEx(ref ShellExecuteInfo lpExecInfo);

	public const uint SW_NORMAL = 1;

	static void OpenAs(string file) 
	{ 
		ShellExecuteInfo sei = new ShellExecuteInfo();
		sei.Size = Marshal.SizeOf(sei); 
		sei.Verb = "openas"; 
		sei.File = file; 
		sei.Show = SW_NORMAL; 
		if(!ShellExecuteEx(ref sei))
			throw new System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception();
	} 

	[sTAThread]
	static void Main(string[] args)
	{
		OpenAs(@"C:\odbcconf.log");
		return;
	}
}
}

 

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to prevent the method from returning immediately =(

[Mister E]

You could also pass in the path to the EXE to the StartInfo property and also specify the path to the file. Most programs will take a file path as a command line argument.