InstallShield 2012 Express Edition User Guide - Knowledge Base ...

Chapter 9: Configuring the Target System
Associating a File Extension with an Application File
Refreshing the Registry View
Task To refresh the registry view:
Press F12.
Associating a File Extension with an Application
File
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.
Creating a File Extension Association
You can create a file association that links a file extension to an executable (.exe) file in your installation
project. Note that the .exe file must be included in your project before you can create the file association.
Note that you should not use a dynamically linked file to create a file association. With dynamically
linked files, the selection defaults to the top file in the dynamically linked folder’s file list, so you cannot
select a specific file.
212 ISE-1800-UG01 InstallShield 2012 Express Edition User Guide