VB - AssociateMyApp (File Association)

The following code creates a simple function; AssociateMyApp which makes it easy to create/maintain a file association with your application, including:

• Making your application the default for a file extension
• Changing the Icon associated with the file extension
• Setting up the various actions for the file association (Open by default)

Add the following to a Standard Module:

VB Code:

Option Explicit
 
Private Declare Function RegCreateKey Lib "advapi32.dll" Alias "RegCreateKeyA" (ByVal hKey As Long, ByVal lpSubKey As String, phkResult As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function RegSetValueEx Lib "advapi32.dll" Alias "RegSetValueExA" (ByVal hKey As Long, ByVal lpValueName As String, ByVal Reserved As Long, ByVal dwType As Long, lpData As Any, ByVal cbData As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function RegCloseKey Lib "advapi32.dll" (ByVal hKey As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function SHChangeNotify Lib "shell32.dll" (ByVal wEventID As Long, ByVal uFlags As Long, ByVal dwItem1 As String, ByVal dwItems As String) As Long
 
Private Const HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT = &H80000000
Private Const SHCNE_ASSOCCHANGED = &H8000000
Private Const SHCNF_IDLIST = &H0
 
Public Sub AssociateMyApp(ByVal sAppName As String, ByVal sEXE As String, ByVal sExt As String, Optional ByVal sCommand As String, Optional ByVal sIcon As String)
    Dim sCommandString As String
    Dim lRegKey As Long
    
    'Open/Create the Extension under the "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT" Hive of the Registry
    Call RegCreateKey(HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, "." & sExt, lRegKey)
    'Set the "Default" value of the Key to the Application Name
    Call RegSetValueEx(lRegKey, "", 0&, 1, ByVal sAppName, Len(sAppName))
    'Close the Registry Key
    Call RegCloseKey(lRegKey)
    
    sCommand = "\Shell\" & IIf(Len(sCommand), sCommand, "Open") & "\Command"
    'Create the Application Key in the "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT" Hive of the Registry
    Call RegCreateKey(HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, sAppName & sCommand, lRegKey)
    'Set the Command to the EXE
    Call RegSetValueEx(lRegKey, "", 0&, 1, ByVal sEXE, Len(sEXE))
    'Close the Registry Key
    Call RegCloseKey(lRegKey)
    'If an Icon is required...
    If Len(sIcon) Then
       'Create a "DefaultIcon" entry under the Association Key
        Call RegCreateKey(HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, sAppName & "\DefaultIcon", lRegKey)
        Call RegSetValueEx(lRegKey, "", 0&, 1, ByVal sIcon, Len(sIcon))
        Call RegCloseKey(lRegKey)
    End If
    'Notify the Shell that an Association has Changed, (Updates Icons).
    SHChangeNotify SHCNE_ASSOCCHANGED, SHCNF_IDLIST, vbNullString, vbNullString
End Sub

Example Usage:

VB Code:

Option Explicit
 
Private Sub Command1_Click()
  AssociateMyApp "MyFileType", "C:\MyApp.exe %1", "xyz", , "C:\MyApp.exe,-1"
End Sub

if you were specifying a default file extension, for example, .sdf and you wanted to use an icon called SDF.ico, how would you modify your code for this?

VB Code:

Option Explicit
 
Private Sub Command1_Click()
  AssociateMyApp "SDF File Type", "C:\MyApp.exe %1", "sdf", , "C:\SDF.ico"
End Sub

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aaron Young

VB Code:

Option Explicit
 
Private Sub Command1_Click()
  AssociateMyApp "SDF File Type", "C:\MyApp.exe %1", "sdf", , "C:\SDF.ico"
End Sub

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thanks Mr. Young :)

Hey Aaron,

Is there a way to unassociate an icon with your code? This option would be ideal for when a user doesn't want the program anymore.

Would it matter to much if I ran this code each time my app starts?

i tested on w7 (hprem)
as limited user
the code failed (without error) to write to HKCR

running as limited user, run as administrator, the file association worked correctly and the command string was then processed correctly