A Native Bridge for File Type Associations

Question

Im trying to write a mechanism where I can double-click on a file in Windows and have
it processed by a Java application that is always running in the background.
I know how to do file associations (and I know JDIC can create them) and I know how to launch
Java apps from these associations using batch files and custom executables - but what im
trying to do is NOT have it launch a new Java program but rather send it to a "manager"
program that is running.
The only way I know to do this presently is by binding the "manager" program to a socket
and launching an intermediary Java program with a batch file that connects to the socket
and sends the file.
Is there a better way of doing this with existing 3rd party tools?

Answer 1

well, for anyone interested i ended up just using these 2 c++ socket classes:
{color:0000ff}_http://www.adp-gmbh.ch/win/misc/sockets.html_{color}
and making a windows app to pass the filename.
its much easier than starting a new jvm all the time and god knows how many
filenames a batch file can handle.
i wonder how the JNLP Single Instance Service would handle this.
{color:0000ff}_http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/javaws/enhancements-1.5.0.html_{color}
{color:0000ff}_http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/javaws/developersguide/examples.html#SingleInstanceService_{color}