Associate File Extensions - Windows Action

InstallAnywhere 2021

You can use the Associate File Extensions - Windows Action to associate extensions to installed & existing applications on Windows.

Properties Tab

The Properties tab of the Associate File Extensions - Windows Action customizer includes the following properties:

Associate File Extensions - Windows Customizer | Properties Tab

 

Property

Description

Installed File

Select this option if you want the installer to associate an Application, the installer deploys on the target system. Click the Choose Application button to open the Choose a File Dialog box, and then select the installed file you want the installer to associate. The installed .exe File or Launcher must be selected.

Existing File

Select this option if you want the installer to associate an application that already exists on the target system. Enter the path of the .exe file in the text box.

Extension

Enter the extension you want to associate without a Dot. Extension can be any alpha-numeric value supported by Windows. New extensions or existing extensions can be given. This property is Mandatory.

Icon

Select this option if you want the installer to associate an icon to the application the installer deploys on the target system. Click the Choose Icon button to open the Choose a File Dialog box and select the installed Icon you want for the associated application. .ICO Icon file with at least 128 x 128 size to be selected. Ideal to select 256 X 256 pixels size transparent icons for better display in Windows Large/Extra Large Icon View.

This property is optional. If Icon is not selected, Default Icon of the Application will be retained.

MIME Type

Enter an Existing Mime Type for the File type. This value is optional.

Friendly Name

Enter a Friendly name for the Type. This value is Optional. The default type name will be retained if Friendly name is not specified.

ProgID

Enter a Prog ID that must be registered for this File extension. The file type's Prog ID is an arbitrary string. But it must be unique on the target system. One ProgID naming convention is to append the word file to the extension. For example, .ext extension can use the ProgID extFile. Another naming convention is to name ProgID after the application used to open the file type. For Example, SampleApp.Document. But it must be unique on the target System.

This value is optional. If no ProgID is given a unique PprogID will be generated and used.

The Verbs button can be selected to Configure Verbs for the Extension.

Verbs Configuration Dialog

This Dialog is used to Configure Verbs for the extension.

Verbs Configuration Dialog

 

Value

Description

Command Sequence

Enter a sequence number for the Verb. If the file extension has more than one Verb associated with it, the sequence number determine the order in which the Verbs are displayed on the right-click menu.

Verb

The Verb that appears in the right-click menu.

Display Name

Enter the text you want to display for the Verb. For Example, "Open with NotePad++". This value is optional. If Display Name is not specified, the name of the verb will be displayed in the right-click menu.

Argument

Enter the command line arguments for the Verb. Use %1 in the argument in place of the selected filename. For Example, when an end user right click C:\file.exe and -p %1 is the argument for the verb, the command line argument becomes -p c:\file.ext. Enter the arguments without any quotes.