WIX : File Association : How to include app name and product info?

Question

With Wix, I've figured out how to register file associations with ProgId but in Explorer, when you click on "Open with..." or "Choose Program...", I just see my apps EXE filename.

How do I change it to show my apps name without the EXE file extensions?

Also, I noticed other registered apps have info such as the company name in grey under their app's name (such as Microsoft or Document Foundation as shown in pics below). How is that added?

Here are some pics:

enter image description here

And here is my full wix.xml:

<Icon Id="icon.ico" SourceFile="jedit.ico"/>
<Property Id="ARPPRODUCTICON" Value="icon.ico"/>

<!-- Step 1: Define the directory structure -->
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
  <Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
    <Directory Id="APPLICATIONROOTDIRECTORY" Name="jedit"/>
  </Directory>
  <Directory Id="ProgramMenuFolder">
  </Directory>
</Directory>

<!-- Step 2: Add files to your installer package -->
<DirectoryRef Id="APPLICATIONROOTDIRECTORY">
  <Component Id="appfiles" Guid="{E73254A5-EFE2-4265-A231-B907FEF4B4C4}">
    <File Id="jedit.jar" Source="jedit.jar"/>
    <File Id="javaforce.jar" Source="javaforce.jar"/>
    <File Id="jedit32.exe" Source="jedit32.exe" KeyPath="yes"/>
    <File Id="jedit64.exe" Source="jedit64.exe"/>
    <ProgId Id="jfEdit.txt" Description="Text Document" Advertise="yes" Icon="icon.ico">
      <Extension Id="txt" ContentType="text/plain">
        <Verb Id="open" Command="Open" Argument="&quot;%1&quot;" />
      </Extension>
    </ProgId>
    <ProgId Id="jfEdit.ini" Description="Configuration Settings" Advertise="yes" Icon="icon.ico">
      <Extension Id="ini" ContentType="text/plain">
        <Verb Id="open" Command="Open" Argument="&quot;%1&quot;" />
      </Extension>
    </ProgId>
    <ProgId Id="jfEdit.properties" Description="Properties" Advertise="yes" Icon="icon.ico">
      <Extension Id="properties" ContentType="text/plain">
        <Verb Id="open" Command="Open" Argument="&quot;%1&quot;" />
      </Extension>
    </ProgId>
  </Component>
</DirectoryRef>

<!-- Step 2b: Add the shortcut to your installer package -->
<DirectoryRef Id="ProgramMenuFolder">
  <Component Id="ApplicationShortcut" Guid="{A986E325-13AB-4FD1-AB3B-4637DF9BC1D9}">
    <Shortcut Id="ApplicationStartMenuShortcut" Name="jfEdit" Description="Java Text Editor" Target="[APPLICATIONROOTDIRECTORY]jedit32.exe"
      WorkingDirectory="APPLICATIONROOTDIRECTORY"/>
    <RegistryValue Root="HKCU" Key="Software\Microsoft\jfEdit" Name="installed" Type="integer" Value="1" KeyPath="yes"/>
  </Component>
</DirectoryRef>

<!-- Step 3: Tell WiX to install the files -->
<Feature Id="MainApplication" Title="Main Application" Level="1">
  <ComponentRef Id="appfiles" />
  <ComponentRef Id="ApplicationShortcut" />
</Feature>

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:27

2

Take a look at this response from @saschabeaumont that should contain quite all registry keys involved. The name displayed in the Open with...-dialog be the registry key with the name FriendlyAppName. The one displayed in the Open with... context menu entry of a file is in the registry key

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\<YourProgId>\shell\open\FriendlyAppName

I've found those two to be different, however just hacked my registry. It could be that if you use the whole example of the linked answer that it will work perfectly.

The second line is AFAIK the Manufacturer-property in Windows Installer. As soon as the application is registered properly it should also be shown in the Open with... dialog.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:27

Community

1
1

answered May 27 '14 at 11:48

taffit

1,979
22
23

Ok, I guess the ProgId is not adequate and that's why everyone uses Registry entries directly. – Peter Quiring May 28 '14 at 13:47
The problem is that you can't register everything using the Windows installer tables. Therefore additional registry entries are required most of the times. – taffit May 30 '14 at 14:54
This (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\\shell\open\FriendlyAppName) was the registry key that I needed to set. I have a software with various versions that could be installed at the same time. The .exe in all versions are named MyApp.exe so the solution provided by saschabeaumont doesn't work since it sets the registry key SOFTWARE\Classes\Applications\MyApp.exe. I set to be MyApp_version so each version will have its own ProgId and that allowed it to work. – cechow Jun 04 '21 at 22:14

WIX : File Association : How to include app name and product info?

1 Answers1