how to associate files with application

[Colin J. Williams]

Lasse Vågsæther Karlsen wrote:
> Ashok wrote:
> 
>> hi,
>> i want to know how to make a specific type of file open in an
>> application i developed in python when the user clicks on the file.(in
>> windows) for eg. a .txt file when clicked opens in notepad, a .doc file
>> when clicked opens in MS-word. In the same way i want to make a .xyz
>> file open in the application i developed when clicked.
>> thanks in advance for any advice.
>>
> 
> You need to add several registry keys to do this, here's a short version 
> of what you need to do:
> 
> Example assumes you want to:
> 
> 1. associate .ext with C:\Program Files\MyProgram\prog.exe
> 2. pass on any extra arguments to prog.exe (ie. test.ext 1 2 3 would 
> send 1 2 3 as well to prog.exe)
> 3. associate the icon of prog.exe to any file with a .ext extension
> 
> Ok, here's what you need to do:
> 
> 1. Under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, add a key (folder) with the name .ext
> 2. Open that key, and set the (Default) value to MyProgramExtendedFile 
> (this name is something you choose yourself and should be a "identifier" 
> that identifies the file type. If your program supports several types of 
> files, make up unique identifiers for each.)
> 3. Under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, add another key, this time with the same 
> name you made up in 2. above, ie MyProgramExtendedFile
> 4. Open that key, and set the (Default) value to a textual description 
> of the type of file. This is what will show up in explorer in the file 
> type column. If you leave this empty, the description will be .EXT File
> 5. Inside MyProgramExtendedFile, add another key with the name shell 
> (lower-case is typical, can probably be Shell or whatever)
> 6. Inside shell, create another key with the name open
> 7. Inside open, create another key with the name command
> 8. Inside command, Set the (Default) value to:
>    "C:\Program Files\MyProgram\prog.exe" "%1" %*
> 
>    Note that you need the quotes as specified above, exactly like written
> 
> 9. Go back to MyProgramExtendedFile and create another key with the name 
> DefaultIcon
> 10. Inside DefaultIcon, set (Default) value to:
>     "C:\Program Files\MyProgram\prog.exe", 0
> 
>     This will pick the first icon in prog.exe resource to show for the 
> files. Use 1 for second, etc.
> 
> There are also other commands you can add. If you want to be able to 
> right-click on the file and select a menu item to process the file in a 
> specific way, for instance by passing along specific parameters to 
> prog.exe, you can add more keys than "open" on the level open is 
> created. The (Default) value inside the key is then the text of the menu 
> item.
> 
> To find examples, just find a file extension in Windows that behaves the 
> way you want your own to behave and look through HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.ext 
> to find the details you want.
> 
I'm no Windows expert but I think that, using Windows Explorer, one can, 
with a right mouse click, select "Open With".

You can then choose the appropriate executable.  I believe that, if you 
had set the "Always open with this program" box, then the registry is 
automatically updated.

Colin W.