How to open files using the Windows associated program?

Question

I have a LV program that is generating a list of files that I may want to open using the associated Windows program. Some are standard Office files but others require proprietary analysis programs.  All have Windows associations such that I can double click on the file name in the Windows file manager and launch the appropriate program. I would like to mimic this behavior within my LV program but without coding a case for each file extension, some of which I may not anticipate now.

Answer 1

There are some problems with that VI.  I have one user that I had to track a problem down with trying to open a PDF file.  Their registry key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.pdf was read in with a value of "AcroExch.Document                 " (with a lot of spaces after it), which prevented this VI from finding the next key (AcroExch.Document\shell\open\command) which identifies the path to Adobe Acrobat.  Instead of getting the path to Adobe Acrobat, I got back "Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Document" as the path (see attached error).
I checked the key with the Windows registry editor, and it did NOT show the extra spaces.  However, just opening the key and selecting OK (without making changes) was enough to clear the problem.
Not sure if this problem is with the registry keys that Adobe Acrobat created when it was installed or upgraded (the user was on version 9.0, but there are older versions on that machine, too), or if the problem was with the LabVIEW registry key readers in Open a Document on Disk.vi.
Message Edited by Joe Gerhardstein on 05-13-2009 03:13 PM
Message Edited by Joe Gerhardstein on 05-13-2009 03:17 PM
Joe Gerhardstein
Averna Test Systems
Certified LabVIEW Architect
http://www.averna.com
Attachments:
Open a Document.jpg ‏82 KB