Determine all posible applications to open a file with DelegateExecute

Question

I want to determine all posible applications to open an file with. Similar to the "Open With" context menue from the explorer.

From the Registry Key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\extension\OpenWithProgids

I can get the informations i am looking for. This part is clear to me.

But i also get an entry like "AppXea46y3k4tynme684q1dgefbnb0b9r8ec" What is "CodeWriter" a Windows store app.

If i look for this entry in the registry:

 HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppXea46y3k4tynme684q1dgefbnb0b9r8ec

I found somthing like:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppXea46y3k4tynme684q1dgefbnb0b9r8ec\Shell\open\command

For non store apps i woud finde a shell command. Like:

"%ProgramFiles%\Windows NT\Accessories\WORDPAD.EXE" "%1"

From there i can determine the program (Wordpad) and everything is fine.

For the store app i find something like:

This DelegateExecute Value is the same for all the store apps ShellOpenCommands.

I want to know how i get from there to a usable OpenCommand. So i can determine what application it is.

Easy way - use SHAssocEnumHandlers to get enumerator. With enumerator you will get IAssocHandler objects. Every IAssocHandler object describe a single app. — Denis Anisimov, Jan 20 '18 at 01:16
Hey Denis, looks like what i need. And when using it in a C++ implementation it gives me exactly the expected result. I am struggling to call this function in a C# implementation. I ask another question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48400038/use-shassocenumhandlers-in-c-sharp — Patrick, Jan 23 '18 at 11:02

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 25 '18 at 17:53

SHAssocEnumHandlers gets the job done.

I found a sample implementation for C++:

#include "stdafx.h"
#include "Shobjidl.h"

int main(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
  IEnumAssocHandlers *pEnumHandlers = NULL;
  if (SUCCEEDED(SHAssocEnumHandlers(L".bmp", ASSOC_FILTER_RECOMMENDED, &pEnumHandlers)))
  {
    IAssocHandler *pAssocHandler = NULL;
    while (S_OK == pEnumHandlers->Next(1, &pAssocHandler, NULL))
    {
      if (pAssocHandler != NULL)
      {
        LPWSTR pszName;
        LPWSTR pszUIName;
        LPWSTR ppszPath;
        int pIndex;

        pAssocHandler->GetUIName(&pszName);
        pAssocHandler->GetName(&pszUIName);
        pAssocHandler->GetIconLocation(&ppszPath, &pIndex);
        pAssocHandler->Release();
        pAssocHandler = NULL;

        printf_s("%S \n", pszUIName);
        printf_s("%S \n", pszName);
      }
    }
    pEnumHandlers->Release();

    scanf_s("%S");
  }
  return 0;
}

Result looks like:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Photo Viewer\PhotoViewer.dll
Windows-Fotoanzeige
C:\Windows\system32\mspaint.exe
Paint

For C# Implementation see: Use SHAssocEnumHandlers in C#

Determine all posible applications to open a file with DelegateExecute

1 Answers1