How to open and view a file(similar to that of double clicking a file) using Java

Question

I would like to know to know the code in Java that that will help perform the same operation as that of a double click in any OS on a file making it open and thereby enable us to view its contents when the user supplies the location of the file in his/her PC. Any suggestion would be of great help as i need it to finish my application.

[This question](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3487149/how-to-open-the-notepad-file-in-java) has the answers you need. — Kevin K, Oct 20 '11 at 18:25

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 20 '11 at 18:20

5

See Desktop.open(File)

answered Oct 20 '11 at 18:20

svaor

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Note that the Desktop.open(File) method has some bugs. See http://bugs.sun.com/view_bug.do?bug_id=6631015 and http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1527162/java-awt-desktop-open-doesnt-work-with-pdf-files, for example. – fbarber Feb 19 '13 at 04:20

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 20 '11 at 18:28

I used the following code. On windows, you will get a windows file open dialog if no program is associated with the file type. If it does not run on windows, it falls back to Desktop.open(), which works if the file type is known to the system.

public static boolean openFile(File file){
  try {
    if (System.getProperty("os.name").contains("Windows")) {
      Runtime.getRuntime().exec(
          "rundll32 SHELL32.DLL,ShellExec_RunDLL " + file.getAbsolutePath());
    } else if (Desktop.isDesktopSupported()) {
      Desktop.getDesktop().open(file);
    } else {
      return false;
    }
    return true;
  } catch (final Exception e1) {
    System.err.println("Error opening file " + file, e1);
    return false;
  }
}

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 10 '12 at 16:19

in windows xp:

rundll32 shell32.dll,ShellExec_RunDLL "file:///d:\download\theapp.lnk"

you could add registry so that you could run lnk file in RUN dialog box and folder cruiser:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shell\edit]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shell\edit\command]
@="rundll32 shell32.dll,ShellExec_RunDLL \"file:///%1\""

How to open and view a file(similar to that of double clicking a file) using Java

3 Answers3