Associating a File Extension with an Application File
InstallShield 2020 Express Edition
File associations are registry settings that tell Windows what product to use to open files of a certain type. For example, Windows typically launches Notepad.exe when a text file (.txt) is opened.
To view and modify registered file types on your system, open Windows Explorer, and on the Tools menu, click Folder Options. Use the File Types tab of the Folder Options dialog box to see how the file associations are configured.
Similarly, you can identify the application that is associated with a given file by right-clicking the file in Windows Explorer and then clicking Properties.
File associations are stored in both HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes; you can see a merged view of the data under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.
Creating File Associations for Your Installation Project
Best-practice guidelines recommend that you create a file association for every nonhidden type of file that is created or used by your product. With the File Extensions view in InstallShield, you can quickly and easily create file associations for your installation project. When an end user installs a feature that contains a file association, the file association is registered on the target machine; an entry is made in the appropriate part of the registry, and the entry links your file type to your application through the ProgID. The ProgID, which is sometimes called a file type’s application identifier or tag name, uniquely identifies your application and ensures that your association is recognized by the operating system.