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I want to create a list/dictionary of all the friendly application names and their executable paths & commands for a specific file type. I've used AssocQueryString but it only returns one instance value.

For example:

The file type ".cs" on my PC has got many application associations for it when I right-click on a ".cs" file and select "Open With->" in the context menu, like "Microsoft Visual Studio 2008" & "Microsoft Visual Studio 2010" & "Notepad" & "Wordpad".

How can I enumerate all these values into a list in C#, obviously it must be extracted from the registry, but I'm very lost in all the "OpenWithList" and "OpenWithProgids" keys..

Thanks

WJV
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1 Answers1

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In HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT get the keys that start with "." Read their default value (REG_SZ) to get the name of the key to open next, Then to get the program location read in "key_name\shell\open\command" the default value

this gets you the default app associated with that file type.

It is similar with the OpenWithProgIds - each value name inside is the key name of the key you should get the path to

P.S. here is a code I just wrote, very messy, not safe and you'll have to clean up the call parameters to get the pure app location. This is just to get you started

        List<string> GetRegAssociatedFiles(string FileType)
    {
        List<string> _ret = new List<string>();

        Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey _rk = Microsoft.Win32.Registry.ClassesRoot.OpenSubKey(FileType);
        string _defaultapp = _rk.GetValue("").ToString();

        Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey _rkapp = Microsoft.Win32.Registry.ClassesRoot.OpenSubKey(_defaultapp + "\\shell\\open\\command");
        _ret.Add(_rkapp.GetValue("").ToString());
        _rkapp.Close();



        string[] _subkeys = _rk.GetSubKeyNames();
        for (int i = 0; i < _subkeys.Length; i++)
        {
            if (_subkeys[i] == "OpenWithProgIds")
            {
                Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey _rkh = _rk.OpenSubKey(_subkeys[i]);
                string[] _names = _rkh.GetValueNames();
                for (int j = 0; j < _names.Length; j++)
                {
                    if (_names[j] == "")
                        continue;

                    Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey _rhelp = Microsoft.Win32.Registry.ClassesRoot.OpenSubKey(_names[j] + "\\shell\\open\\command");
                    _ret.Add(_rhelp.GetValue("").ToString());
                    _rhelp.Close();
                }

            }
        }

        _rk.Close();

        return _ret;
    }
Djole
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  • Thanks for the lead!, how will I obtain the friendly application name? – WJV Jul 07 '11 at 13:20
  • Get the data between the first two '\"'- it is the absolute application path, then starting from the last index of it iterate through till you get to a '\\' to get the index of the start of the executable name, copy the name to a new string. The common application name, in most cases, can be obtained by analyzing the strings in '_names' until you reach the first '.' – Djole Jul 07 '11 at 13:34
  • In my example above I get the following friendly application names displayed in Windows 7 when right-clicking on a ".cs" file and select "open with->""Microsoft Visual Studio 2008" & "Microsoft Visual Studio 2010" & "Notepad" & "Wordpad". – WJV Jul 07 '11 at 13:52
  • Your routine works ok, but what I really want is a routine that can do what AssocQueryString does, but return multiple FriendlyAppName and Executable paths, not the %command path% /dde, wish I can send a quick screenshot – WJV Jul 07 '11 at 13:55
  • study these two pages to get the desired result : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc144148%28VS.85%29.aspx http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee872121%28v=VS.85%29.aspx – Djole Jul 08 '11 at 08:20