Integrating my new program with Windows - c#

I've written a log parser, with some generous and insightful help from the SO community:
Keeping the UI responsive while parsing a very large logfile
Now, I'd like to be able to right click one of these logs, select "MyNewLogParser" from "Open With.." and see it open in my new program.
This would require me to
Change something about my XP installation to show my program in the dropdown list
Change the program so that it knows to open the selected file and run the parsing.
What do you call these things, and how is it done? I don't know what to search for...

To open the selected file, you need to implement command-line parameters. Take a look at your Program.cs file and the Main function.
You want its signature to look something like this:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
}
The args array will be the array of command-line params passed to your application. So if you ran MyNewLogParser myLog.txt, the contents of args[0] would be myLog.txt.
For the OpenWith... menu, you'll need to modify the registry. Search for the "OpenWith" key in Regedit and you'll find it. On my machine (Windows 7), it's in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts. I'm not sure on the exact details of how it works, but Google should be able to help you out from there.
If you don't want to do it programmatically, I'm pretty sure there's some menu item that allows you to select the application that will open a file. Don't recall what it is on XP, though. Alternatively, you can associate a file extension with your application through a tab in the Folder Options dialog, so that double-clicking it opens your application.

Assuming that your file logs have specific file extension, you need to add OpenWithList keys in the registry. See this MSDN page for more information:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb166549%28VS.80%29.aspx

Related

How can I open a text file with my executable?

I want to right-click on a text file and "Open With..." it with my own program, but I can't find any information on how to do that. I want to make my program in C++ or with WinForms (C#).
I want to open that file and to use my program as an interpreter on a small "homemade programming language", so I want to pass the data from the file directly to my program.
Can anyone help me?
*hope I'm clear enough on what I'm trying to do.
I'm just gonna to answer your Question for C#. If you still need C++ support you can tell me.
Option 1 - Drop down:
So if you for example create a Console-Application in C# (Visual Studio), it will look like this:
As you can see in the Picture: the Program accepts Arguments (args String Array)
If you drag & drop your file on your .exe, the filepath of the file you dropped will be saved in the args String Array. Now you can read the file (for example with the File-Class).
Option 2 - Right Click -> Open with my Program:
For that, you can simply add a new entry in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell (Windows Registry) to register you Program as a "Right Click Menu Program".
Here is a detailed How-To:
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/add-any-application-to-the-desktop-right-click-menu-in-vista/
After you added your Program to the Windows Registry you can proceed as shown in Option 1 (args).
Any more questions? Let me know.
Greets
Bennet
EDIT:
Sorry, didnt really read the comments :D but i guess your Question is answered. I will let this stay here for future readers which dont read the comments either ;)

Visual Studio - Read specified file on launch

I'm working with a simple program that has to read data from a txt file and than display it. The thing is that i would like to read a specified extension files (for example .log) automatically.
So, i would like to do it as a simple Windows user - double click file and than the program opens. The problem is that this program is working but it's nor loading the file on start and tbh i have no idea if I should program it somehow? Any hints?
Thanks!
The easiest way to make it load the file automatically is to allow it accept the file path as a parameter and then do a load operation. As for having your program open automatically when a user double clicks on that file type I would recommend checking out this CodeProject
Sound like you want to associate file type with your application. This is done via windows registers. Try for example this article http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/hh127451(v=vs.85).aspx

Forcing Winforms install to make application to start when windows starts

How do I force a windows application, with a setup project being added to it, to install so that it will start everytime someone logs into windows?
Edit: I'm aware of the registry settings, but specifically, I am looking for a solution which will allow for the installer to set the registry values.
Open your registry and find the key
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run].
For each program you want to start automatically create a new string value using a descriptive name, and set the value of the string to the program executable.
For example, to automatically start Notepad, add a new entry of
"Notepad"="c:\windows\notepad.exe".
Remove a startup application
If you're trying to remove a program and can not find it in the StartUp folder (usually C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp), then it may be launching from one of the registry keys below. To remove it, delete the value associated with the program you want to remove.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows]
Source: http://www.pctools.com/guides/registry/detail/109/
If you really need your application to start when Windows is started as opposed to when someone logs in you need to create it as service and on install set the service to "Automatic".
There are many places on the web that will give you information about this:
Microsoft Support Knowledge Base
Developer.com
C# Corner
are the first three I found, but do some research and find the resource that works for you.
UPDATE
I see from the updated question that the requirement is for the program to run when someone logs in so this answer is (to a certain degree) redundant. However, I will leave it here in case someone wants to go the service root.
You can add a shortcut to your winforms program in the Startup Folder. The setup project's File System is where you need to look.
Technically you can't make a WinForms app start when "windows is started"; however, you can start it when someone logs into Windows. To perform that you do one of the three:
Place a shortcut in the current user's startup folder.
Place a shortcut in the the "All Users" startup folder.
Write a registry key to HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run
Update: as Chris points out I missed the HKCU path.
To run everytime Windows starts you should build your program as a Windows Service (or perhaps lauch it from a Service).

How can I make an application open when a user double clicks on its associated file?

I am creating an application that uses a certain file format as its data source. I want this application to open whenever the user double clicks on this file, like how MS Word will open when a user double clicks on a Word document. How do I accomplish this? Also how would I populate the data fields using the file that the user selected. Would I use args[] from the program.cs class? I am using c# to code this application.
N.B. I want this association to be made when the application is installed on the host machine without the user doing anything.
FIRST, you need to set up file association, so that your file type is associated with your application and opening the file type will run your application.
You can do the file association programatically, there is some detail here as mentioned:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dotnet/System_File_Association.aspx
You can also do it via your Setup project for you application if you have one. This is an easier path for "newbies". Details for using visual studio to get the setup project to add the file association and also set the icon for the file are here:
http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/58005-file-associations-in-visual-studio/
Otherwise if you use InnoSetup, Wix etc then I suppose you could just see instructions for those installers to create the association for you.
SECOND, you need to have your application accept command line arguments. The opened file(s) is(are) passed as a command line argument(s). You need to process the arguments to get the file path/name(s) and open the given file(s). There is a nice description of this here with code:
C# Command Line arguments problem in Release build
In your case, rather than MessageBox.Show(s) in the form shown handler, you would call your bespoke argument parsing method.
For a simple application which only accepts files names to open as arguments, this could be as simple as
foreach (string filePathName in Args)
DoNamedFileOpen(filePathName);
Your code can also have a method that might extract from the file the values for the datafields you are interested in etc.
This is a nice simple approach to the issue of have file associations set on installation of your application, with icons, and having your application handle the opening of those files.
Of course, there are plenty of other options, like run-time file association (asking the user if they want the association), detecting "broken" associations, etc.
This question is a long time here but I hope this is useful for new searches
See this. Or this if you want API information.
ClickOnce supports file associations as of .NET 3.5 SP1, too. In the project's properties, switch to the Publish tab and click the Options button. There's a File Associations section in that dialog that allows you to specify file extensions, descriptions and custom icons.
First, you have to associate the filetype extention with your executeable. On Windows you do this via the registry (search "filetype association windows"). In this question you find some interesting hints: Filetype association with application (C#) Script to associate an extension to a program
Your program has to react on the command line arguments or parameters. In Java, it is indeed the string array of the main method. I would gess, it's the same in C#.
If you don't need to do it pro programatically, right click on the icon, click open with ..., then select 'always use this program ...'.
This is something usually handled by your setup program .. I've used INNO setup for example, and it's trivially simple to arrange for it to adjust user's registry to launch your app when associated file extension is double clicked/opened. It'll even take care of MIME types for you as well as clearing these things on uninstall, which is a very nice thing to do
I managed to solve this issue. I used WIX to create an install file and asked it to associate the file with the application when it installs.

Starting application from data file

When you double-click on a Word document, Word is automatically run and the document is loaded.
What steps are needed to do the same thing with my C# application?
In other words, assume my application uses ".XYZ" data files. I know how to tell Windows to start my application when a .XYZ data file is double clicked. But how do I find out within my application what data file was chosen so I can load it?
Granted this is a VB.NET solution, but this article has details on how to create the file association for your application in the registry and how to retrieve the command arguments when your application is fired up to do the proper file handling.
It looks easy enough to port over to C#.
The arguments should contain the path to the data file.
You can tweak this behavior and pass additional arguments. Look at the example in this image. Here the file path is passed with %1.
Quicktime File Association Dialog
I think what you are looking for is command-line arguments. If you look at the Open action for .doc for example you'll probably see something like this 'word.exe %1'. Windows will take the name of the file and substitute it in for %1 and then execute the command 'word.exe whatever.doc'. Then from within the application you can see what was passed as an argument into the program see this MSDN article for more details.
I believe it is just a command-line argument that gets passed into your app. Then you can read it with Environment.GetCommandLineArgs. I know that is the case if you drag-and-drop a file onto your app. I have not done what you are describing myself but I assume it works the same way.
I did this in a project I was working on awhile ago and don't have the source code handy, but I believe it really came down to this:
//program.cs
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
if (args.Length > 0)
{
//launch same form as normal or different
Application.Run(new Form1(args));
}
else
{
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
}
args is empty when the application is normally started, but when you've properly linked in the association to your .xyz file, when one of those files is selected, your application will be launched with the file location as the first element of the string[]. Certainly either in program.cs or your launch form, I would add validation, but at the base level I believe this is what you need to do.

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