I am trying to open an HTML file with a specific destination anchor from a batch file like so:
start iexplore %~dps0nl752.htm#01
exit
nl753.htm is on the local drive.
How can I get Windows to open the HTML file with the destination anchor in the default browser instead of Internet Explorer?
If you want to start the default browser then you should obviously not hardcode iexplore! The start command will figure out the system default on its own based on the file extension or URL protocol.
On my Windows 8.1 machine anchors work fine:
start "" "http://example.com#whatever"
it does seem to work without quotes as well but I personally prefer them just in case there is a space or a & there.
In my experience Internet Explorer will sometimes do some kind of internal redirection when dealing with local .htm[l] files and/or file:// URLs and this seems to strip away the anchor. There is not much you can do about that.
Just to be clear, appending a anchor to a plain file system path will not work because it technically changes the extension. A file:// URL will work because Windows only looks at the protocol when dealing with URLs.
On my system start "" "file:///C:/Program%20Files/Common%20Files/microsoft%20shared/Stationery/Soft%20Blue.htm#whatever" does work as far as accepting the command and starting the browser. This does not mean that the browser will respect the anchor but that is a implementation detail in the browser that you have no control over and results might vary depending on which browser is the default.
If this is not good enough then you can try using IE Automation to start and control Internet Explorer. This means you have to give up using the users default browser and I would not recommend it for this reason...
Relying on the file:// protocol and a .html extension to execute a browser and not a HTML editor is somewhat risky as pointed out in another answer but I'm not sure if I would dare to query the registry in a batch-file either.
The absolute best solution is to call ShellExecuteEx with a forced progid but that is only possible in a real application.
The second best solution is to write a Windows Scripting Host script instead of a batch file since it is much safer to read and parse the registry there...
In the case of opening files, using file:// is the same as calling the file directly.
That is,
start "" "file://%cd:\=/%/myfile.html"
is the same as
start "" "myfile.html"
Which is all well and good if your default program for opening HTML files is a browser, but it may not be.
To use the browser, the only thing I can think of is getting it from the registry:
@echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
for /F "tokens=3" %%i in ('reg query HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoice /v ProgID') do for /F "tokens=2*" %%j in ('reg query HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\%%i\shell\open\command /ve') do set cmd=%%k
start "" !cmd:%%1=file://%cd:\=/%/%1!
To explain, this retrieves the association with the "http" URL schema then looks up the execution command for that entry and stores it in cmd. We use %%k instead of j here because it will likely contain spaces, so 2 (%%j) selects the second entry in the return from reg then collected the rest into %%k.
Then it uses start to call the cmd with the target file (%1 here) is spliced into the %1 in the cmd. We assume the passed command is relative and make it absolute by prefixing it with the %cd% with the \ replaced with / as URLs need, then prefixed with the file schema for the browser.
I don't know how robust this is offhand, for instance the registry addresses my be different per system (I did this on Win10).
ShVerb
Lists or runs an explorer verb (right click menu) on a file or folder
ShVerb <filename> [verb]
Used without a verb it lists the verbs available for the file or folder
The program lists most verbs but only ones above the first separator
of the menu work when used this way
The Properties verb can be used. However the program has to keep running
to hold the properties dialog open. It keeps running by displaying
a message box.
The VBS script is
HelpMsg = vbcrlf & " ShVerb" & vbcrlf & vbcrlf & " David Candy 2014" & vbcrlf & vbcrlf & " Lists or runs an explorer verb (right click menu) on a file or folder" & vbcrlf & vbcrlf & " ShVerb <filename> [verb]" & vbcrlf & vbcrlf & " Used without a verb it lists the verbs available for the file or folder" & vbcrlf & vbcrlf
HelpMsg = HelpMsg & " The program lists most verbs but only ones above the first separator" & vbcrlf & " of the menu work when used this way" & vbcrlf & vbcrlf
HelpMsg = HelpMsg & " The Properties verb can be used. However the program has to keep running" & vbcrlf & " to hold the properties dialog open. It keeps running by displaying" & vbcrlf & " a message box."
Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Set Ag = WScript.Arguments
set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
If Ag.count = 0 then
wscript.echo " ShVerb - No file specified"
wscript.echo HelpMsg
wscript.quit
Else If Ag.count = 1 then
If LCase(Replace(Ag(0),"-", "/")) = "/h" or Replace(Ag(0),"-", "/") = "/?" then
wscript.echo HelpMsg
wscript.quit
End If
ElseIf Ag.count > 2 then
wscript.echo vbcrlf & " ShVerb - To many parameters" & vbcrlf & " Use quotes around filenames and verbs containing spaces" & vbcrlf
wscript.echo HelpMsg
wscript.quit
End If
If fso.DriveExists(Ag(0)) = True then
Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace(fso.GetFileName(Ag(0)))
' Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName(fso.GetFileName(Ag(0)))
Set objFolderItem = objFolder.self
msgbox ag(0)
ElseIf fso.FolderExists(Ag(0)) = True then
Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace(fso.GetParentFolderName(Ag(0)))
Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName(fso.GetFileName(Ag(0)))
ElseIf fso.fileExists(Ag(0)) = True then
Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace(fso.GetParentFolderName(Ag(0)))
Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName(fso.GetFileName(Ag(0)))
Else
wscript.echo " ShVerb - " & Ag(0) & " not found"
wscript.echo HelpMsg
wscript.quit
End If
Set objVerbs = objFolderItem.Verbs
'If only one argument list verbs for that item
If Ag.count = 1 then
For Each cmd in objFolderItem.Verbs
If len(cmd) <> 0 then CmdList = CmdList & vbcrlf & replace(cmd.name, "&", "")
Next
wscript.echo mid(CmdList, 2)
'If two arguments do verbs for that item
ElseIf Ag.count = 2 then
For Each cmd in objFolderItem.Verbs
If lcase(replace(cmd, "&", "")) = LCase(Ag(1)) then
wscript.echo(Cmd.doit)
Exit For
End If
Next
'Properties is special cased. Script has to stay running for Properties dialog to show.
If Lcase(Ag(1)) = "properties" then
WSHShell.AppActivate(ObjFolderItem.Name & " Properties")
msgbox "This message box has to stay open to keep the " & ObjFolderItem.Name & " Properties dialog open."
End If
End If
End If
It gives output like this when listing available verbs
C:\Windows\system32>cscript //nologo "C:\Users\User\Desktop\ShVerb.vbs" "C:\Users\User\Desktop\Filter.html"
Open
Open in Same Window
Print
Restore previous versions
Cut
Copy
Create shortcut
Delete
Rename
Properties
To use to open an html page.
cscript "C:\Users\User\Desktop\Bat&Vbs\ShVerb.vbs" "C:\Users\User\Desktop\Filter.html" Open
To start any file in the system defaults you need to use the 'start' command on Windows 10 (Not sure about lower versions but I'm guessing it will be about the same) & 'open' for MacOS Terminals.
On Windows,
This should open up the files in default applications, like HTML files in browsers, images in albums, etc.
