473,320 Members | 1,881 Online
Bytes | Software Development & Data Engineering Community
Post Job

Home Posts Topics Members FAQ

Join Bytes to post your question to a community of 473,320 software developers and data experts.

Determine the default mime handler for a file type then launch thathandler

Hello,

How would I go about finding the default handler, let's say a text
file (*.txt), then launch the default handler with the file as an
argument? I had found how to launch an external program, but I do not
know how I would find the default handler to a file type. Any help is
greatly appreciated.

Code to launch application:
ProcessStartInfo pInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
pInfo.FileName = @"calc.exe";
pInfo.UseShellExecute = true;
Process p = Process.Start(pInfo);

Mark
Jul 28 '08 #1
3 2525
Mark,

Instead of using the application that launches it, just use the path to
the file itself. The OS will take care of the rest and launch the
appropriate application.
--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- mv*@spam.guard.caspershouse.com

"LordHog" <Lo*****@gmail.comwrote in message
news:21**********************************@f63g2000 hsf.googlegroups.com...
Hello,

How would I go about finding the default handler, let's say a text
file (*.txt), then launch the default handler with the file as an
argument? I had found how to launch an external program, but I do not
know how I would find the default handler to a file type. Any help is
greatly appreciated.

Code to launch application:
ProcessStartInfo pInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
pInfo.FileName = @"calc.exe";
pInfo.UseShellExecute = true;
Process p = Process.Start(pInfo);

Mark

Jul 28 '08 #2
On Jul 28, 10:56*am, "Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]"
<m...@spam.guard.caspershouse.comwrote:
Mark,

* * Instead of using the application that launches it, just use the path to
the file itself. *The OS will take care of the rest and launch the
appropriate application.

--
* * * * * - Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
* * * * * - m...@spam.guard.caspershouse.com

"LordHog" <Lord...@gmail.comwrote in message

news:21**********************************@f63g2000 hsf.googlegroups.com...
Hello,
*How would I go about finding the default handler, let's say a text
file (*.txt), then launch the default handler with the file as an
argument? I had found how to launch an external program, but I do not
know how I would find the default handler to a file type. Any help is
greatly appreciated.
Code to launch application:
* *ProcessStartInfo pInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
* *pInfo.FileName = @"calc.exe";
* *pInfo.UseShellExecute = true;
* *Process p = Process.Start(pInfo);
Mark
Nicholas,

Thanks for the quick reply, but the other aspect of what I am trying
to do is have a context menu that will say (dynamically)

"Launch *.txt in Notepad" or "Launch *.txt in UltraEdit" or ...
whatever the default handler for the mime type is

Sorry I did not mention this before, but just another piece of the
puzzle.

Mark
Jul 28 '08 #3
On Jul 28, 11:46*am, LordHog <Lord...@gmail.comwrote:
On Jul 28, 10:56*am, "Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]"

<m...@spam.guard.caspershouse.comwrote:
Mark,
* * Instead of using the application that launches it, just use thepath to
the file itself. *The OS will take care of the rest and launch the
appropriate application.
--
* * * * * - Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
* * * * * - m...@spam.guard.caspershouse.com
"LordHog" <Lord...@gmail.comwrote in message
news:21**********************************@f63g2000 hsf.googlegroups.com....
Hello,
*How would I go about finding the default handler, let's say a text
file (*.txt), then launch the default handler with the file as an
argument? I had found how to launch an external program, but I do not
know how I would find the default handler to a file type. Any help is
greatly appreciated.
Code to launch application:
* *ProcessStartInfo pInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
* *pInfo.FileName = @"calc.exe";
* *pInfo.UseShellExecute = true;
* *Process p = Process.Start(pInfo);
Mark

Nicholas,

* Thanks for the quick reply, but the other aspect of what I am trying
to do is have a context menu that will say (dynamically)

* "Launch *.txt in Notepad" or "Launch *.txt in UltraEdit" or ...
whatever the default handler for the mime type is

* Sorry I did not mention this before, but just another piece of the
puzzle.

Mark


On Jul 28, 11:46 am, LordHog <Lord...@gmail.comwrote:
On Jul 28, 10:56 am, "Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]"

<m...@spam.guard.caspershouse.comwrote:
Mark,
Instead of using the application that launches it, just use the path to
the file itself. The OS will take care of the rest and launch the
appropriate application.
--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- m...@spam.guard.caspershouse.com
"LordHog" <Lord...@gmail.comwrote in message
news:21**********************************@f63g2000 hsf.googlegroups.com....
Hello,
How would I go about finding the default handler, let's say a text
file (*.txt), then launch the default handler with the file as an
argument? I had found how to launch an external program, but I do not
know how I would find the default handler to a file type. Any help is
greatly appreciated.
Code to launch application:
ProcessStartInfo pInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
pInfo.FileName = @"calc.exe";
pInfo.UseShellExecute = true;
Process p = Process.Start(pInfo);
Mark

Nicholas,

Thanks for the quick reply, but the other aspect of what I am trying
to do is have a context menu that will say (dynamically)

"Launch *.txt in Notepad" or "Launch *.txt in UltraEdit" or ...
whatever the default handler for the mime type is

Sorry I did not mention this before, but just another piece of the
puzzle.

Mark

Hello all,

I did get a solution from Experts-Exchange and I had modified the
answer just slightly to obtain the results I was looking for. The
original thread can be found here.

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Micr...html#a22122165

It appears that the FindExecutable() is the classic solution and
there are a lot of postings of it. I did add the interface
GetFileAssociationFull() which uses the GetFileAssociation() interface
in conjunction with the registry to pull the full names just as the
"Open With" functionality of Windows Explorer does, or at least from
what I can tell. I have read else where that the function
FindExecutable() will fail if the extension is longer than 3
characters. I have not tried it out, but just a fair warning.

Mark


using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using Microsoft.Win32;

sealed public class FileAssociation
{
[DllImport("shell32", EntryPoint = "FindExecutableA",
CharSet = CharSet.Ansi, SetLastError = true,
ExactSpelling = true)]
private static extern int FindExecutable(string lpFile,
string lpDirectory,
StringBuilder Result);

private static readonly string
HKCU_APP_FULLNAME = // HKEY_CURRENT_USER
@"Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache" ;

const int MAX_PATH = 260,
ERROR_FILE_NO_ASSOCIATION = 31,
ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND = 2,
ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND = 3,
ERROR_FILE_SUCCESS = 32,
ERROR_BAD_FORMAT = 11;
public static string GetFileAssociation(string fileName)
{
StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder(MAX_PATH);

//lpFile: name of the file of interest
//lpDirectory: location of lpFile
//sResult: path and name of executable associated with lpFile
int success =
FindExecutable(Path.GetFileName(fileName),
Path.GetDirectoryName(fileName) + '\\', result);

switch (success)
{
case ERROR_FILE_NO_ASSOCIATION:
throw new InvalidOperationException("No association found");

case ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND:
throw new FileNotFoundException("File not found");

case ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND:
throw new DirectoryNotFoundException("Path not found");

case ERROR_BAD_FORMAT:
throw new InvalidOperationException("Bad format");

case ERROR_FILE_SUCCESS:
break;
}

return result.ToString();
}
public static string GetFileAssociationFull(string fileName)
{
string fileAssoc;
RegistryKey regKey;

try
{
fileAssoc = GetFileAssociation( fileName );

if ( fileAssoc != null && !fileAssoc.Equals( string.Empty ) )
{
// Find out if a key named HKCU_APP_FULLNAME exists in
// HKEY_CURRENT_USER If it exists, open it
regKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey( HKCU_APP_FULLNAME );

if ( regKey != null )
{
// Read the Full Application Name, if present
if ( regKey.GetValue( fileAssoc ) != null )
{
fileAssoc = regKey.GetValue( fileAssoc ).ToString();
}

// Release the resources that the registry variable was
using
regKey.Close();
}
}
}
catch( Exception e )
{
fileAssoc = string.Empty;
}

return fileAssoc;
}

}
Jul 31 '08 #4

This thread has been closed and replies have been disabled. Please start a new discussion.

Similar topics

1
by: Mike Curry | last post by:
I am trying to create a program that will launch when my .blobb file gets downloaded from a web page. How do I associate my files .blobb extension with my Visual Basic application? I added...
18
by: Christopher W. Douglas | last post by:
I am writing a VB.NET application in Visual Studio 2003. I have written a method that handles several events, such as closing a form and changing the visible status of a form. I have some code...
0
by: clevariant | last post by:
Hello, I'm tasked with creating a WSDL file that is compatible with .NET's code gen' tool, wsdl.exe. I'm getting an error in the code output saying "Missing soap:body input binding", which...
18
by: Keith Brown | last post by:
I have an application that allows embedded storage of ANY chosen file in an OLE field. The file could have been dragged-and-dropped into the field or it might have been selected and imported...
8
by: Jerry Gaspard | last post by:
I'd like to know how to open a document in a default app. like for example if I wanted to open a .txt document I'd like my program open notepad if it is the default for a windows machine text...
6
by: Kaki | last post by:
Given a file, how do I know if it's ascii or unicode or binary? And how do I know if it's rtf or html or etc? In other words, how do I find the stream type or mime type? (No, file extension cannot...
3
by: Dean Slindee | last post by:
I have a exception handling class that could be called from either a windows project app or a console project app. Is there any way for this class to determine which type of app called it without...
13
by: Hemant Sipahimalani | last post by:
The following piece of code is being used to export HTML to excel. HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel"...
16
by: Peter Oliphant | last post by:
Note that although this involves SAPI, it is more a question about Timers and event handlers. I wrote a Speech Recognize handler (SAPI), and put some code in it to enable a Timer. It would not...
0
by: DolphinDB | last post by:
Tired of spending countless mintues downsampling your data? Look no further! In this article, you’ll learn how to efficiently downsample 6.48 billion high-frequency records to 61 million...
0
by: ryjfgjl | last post by:
ExcelToDatabase: batch import excel into database automatically...
0
by: jfyes | last post by:
As a hardware engineer, after seeing that CEIWEI recently released a new tool for Modbus RTU Over TCP/UDP filtering and monitoring, I actively went to its official website to take a look. It turned...
0
by: ArrayDB | last post by:
The error message I've encountered is; ERROR:root:Error generating model response: exception: access violation writing 0x0000000000005140, which seems to be indicative of an access violation...
1
by: PapaRatzi | last post by:
Hello, I am teaching myself MS Access forms design and Visual Basic. I've created a table to capture a list of Top 30 singles and forms to capture new entries. The final step is a form (unbound)...
0
by: Defcon1945 | last post by:
I'm trying to learn Python using Pycharm but import shutil doesn't work
1
by: Shællîpôpï 09 | last post by:
If u are using a keypad phone, how do u turn on JavaScript, to access features like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram....
0
by: af34tf | last post by:
Hi Guys, I have a domain whose name is BytesLimited.com, and I want to sell it. Does anyone know about platforms that allow me to list my domain in auction for free. Thank you
0
by: Faith0G | last post by:
I am starting a new it consulting business and it's been a while since I setup a new website. Is wordpress still the best web based software for hosting a 5 page website? The webpages will be...

By using Bytes.com and it's services, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

To disable or enable advertisements and analytics tracking please visit the manage ads & tracking page.