Drag drop a file on top of .exe file to get fileinfo

Question

As the title say. I know how to do this in C# only, but when trying to do this with WPF I can't find out where or what to add to read the filename when the program starts.

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
    if (Path.GetExtension(args[0]) == ".avi" || Path.GetExtension(args[0]) == ".mkv")
    {
        string pathOfFile = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(args[0]);
        string fullPathOfFile = Path.GetFullPath(args[0]);
        Application.EnableVisualStyles();
        Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
        Application.Run(new Form1(pathOfFile, fullPathOfFile));
    }
    else
    {
        MessageBox.Show("This is not a supported file, please try again..");
    }
}

Check out http://blogs.msdn.com/b/avip/archive/2008/10/27/wpf-supporting-command-line-arguments-and-file-extensions.aspx. It explains how to read Command Line Args in WPF. — Justin Niessner, Jul 12 '10 at 17:52

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 14 '10 at 06:53

Found the solution. Thanks for your help :)

I'll post what I did if anyone else needs it ..

In App.xaml i added Startup="Application_Startup

<Application
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    x:Class="WpfApplication1.App"
    StartupUri="MainWindow.xaml"
    Startup="Application_Startup">
    <Application.Resources>
    <!-- Resources scoped at the Application level should be defined here. -->
    </Application.Resources>
</Application>

And in App.xaml.cs i added these lines:

    public static String[] mArgs;

    private void Application_Startup(object sender, StartupEventArgs e)
    {
        if (e.Args.Length > 0)
        {
            mArgs = e.Args;
        }
    }

Last i had to add some information in the MainWindow class.

public MainWindow()
{
    this.InitializeComponent();
    String[] args = App.mArgs;
}

To get the data you want, you use System.IO.Path

Watch out for the Using statement. if you only use Ex. Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension you will get a reference error. Use System.IO.Path when getting your data.

btw, `(e.Args.Length > 0)` has no sense – abatishchev Jul 14 '10 at 06:54 — abatishchev, Jul 14 '10 at 06:54

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 12 '10 at 17:52

2

You need to find some entry point (like OnLoad event for your main window) and then access the command line arguments like so:

string[] args = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs();

answered Jul 12 '10 at 17:52

Assaf Lavie

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 12 '10 at 18:27

1

Double-click the App.xaml file in Solution Explorer. You can add the Startup event. Its e.Args property gives you access to the command line arguments.

answered Jul 12 '10 at 18:27

Hans Passant

922,412
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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 06 '16 at 14:22

I know the topic is old but for someone searching for something similar it might be helpful. I was trying to add this feature to my program (starting the program by dropping a file on top of the EXE) and the solution was very simple and it came from here. My program was just messing with a couple of cells in Excel file. So it was pretty obvious that it should run and do that stuff just by dropping the excel file on it. So I added this into the Form constructor after the component initializing and it works flawlessly for me :

public Form1()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        string[] args = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs();
        filePathTextBox.Text = (args.Length > 1 && (Path.GetExtension(args[1]) == ".xlsx" || 
            Path.GetExtension(args[1]) == ".xls")) ? args[1] : "";
    }

I noticed that the first argument in args is the Path of my program, so I tested and apparently the second argument is the file path of the file I'm dropping on the exe, that's why I'm using args[1]. I would like to be corrected if I'm wrong but for now everything is working fine with my program.

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 06 '16 at 16:51

You can use this for Mediaelement.

   public MainWindow()
    {
        this.InitializeComponent();    
        doubleclickevent();
    }

    private void doubleclickevent()
       {

       string[] args = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs();
       string[] arr = new string[]
                    {
                    ".MP4",
                    ".MKV",
                    ".AVI"
                    };

    foreach (string element in args)
            {
                foreach (string s in arr)
                {
                    if (element.EndsWith(s))
                    {
                    MediaElement.Source = new Uri(@element, UriKind.RelativeOrAbsolute);
                    MediaElement.LoadedBehavior = MediaState.Play;
                    }
                    else { return; }

                }
            }

      }

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 26 '13 at 16:29

When you drag and drop files from Windows onto an EXE the EXE is launched and provided the file names as command line arguments.

public MainWindow()
{
    string[] args = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs();
    foreach (var s in args)
    {
        //do something with s (the file name)
    }
}

Drag drop a file on top of .exe file to get fileinfo

6 Answers6