Registering a file type on Windows 9x/2000/NT

Problem/Question/Abstract:

Registering a file type on Windows 9x/2000/NT

Answer:

This is typically the task of an installer like Wise or InstallShield, buy you may be in a situation where you have to do it manually.

Registering an application to handle a certain file type means putting a few entries in the registry. Just use the function from the code below.

program RegisterExt;

uses
  Registry;

procedure RegisterExtension(
  const sAppName: string;
  const sAppPath: string;
  const sIconName: string;
  const sExtension: string);
var
  Reg: TRegistry;
begin { RegisterExtension }
  Reg := TRegistry.Create;
  with Reg do
  begin
    RootKey := HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT;
    OpenKey('.ext', True);
    WriteString('', sAppName);
    CloseKey;
    OpenKey(sAppName, True);
    WriteString('', sAppName);
    OpenKey('DefaultIcon', True);
    WriteString('', sIconName);
    CloseKey;
    OpenKey(sAppName + '\shell\open\command', True);
    WriteString('', sAppPath);
    CloseKey;
    Free;
  end { with Reg };
end; { RegisterExtension }

begin
  RegisterExtension('MyGreatApplication',
    'c:\program files\mystuff\myApp.exe',
    'c:\program files\mystuff\myApp.ico',
    '.shl');
end.