file associations (file types to open with npp)

Eko palypse

Did you get one of the possible errors or the message that key xyz has been successfully set?
Note, you have to open the python script plugin console to see the messages.
If the message is successfully set then I assume that the machine does not have a proper npp
installation, means, the link Notepad++_file is either not set at all or points to a wrong path etc…

patrickdrd

if you had opened my reg file(s),
maybe you would have seen that I’m running npp portable in all the machines,
that’s why I asked after you posted it “where is npp in this script”,

after this post I think that specifying the npp path is needed,
in my case it is “D:\Utilities\PortableApps\Notepad++”

Eko palypse

I’ve opened the reg files but I didn’t understand what you trying to ask.
So what would you suppose? Making a workflow like

A.)
Check if Notepad++_file link is found
if found, run the script like it is now
if not found, open a dialog and asking if such a key should be created?
or
B.)
something else in mind?

patrickdrd

no, can’t it be set inside the script like in a constant variable?

Eko palypse

Of course ;-) - that was what I meant.
Doing everything within the script.

patrickdrd

that’s what I meant too, within the script is fine,
running the script once every time a new machine is setup is fine as well of course

Eko palypse

Ok, I will try to come up with a solution later this day.
Lunch break if over.

While thinking about the dialog to ask for confirmation about
creating the Notepad++_file link - does it really makes sense?
I mean, if one runs the script the idea is to have the extensions
registered and this means you need to have the key.
I guess silently setting the key is ok.

Other question to everyone reading this,
Does someone know a way to refresh the icon cache?
Currently, if you run the script and, let’s say you want to register
.xml to be opened with npp, you still see the previous icon until
you logon/logoff.
It would be nice if I could force to reload the icon cache so that the
npp icon is shown. I haven’t found any good side describing what
needs to be done yet.

Have to go back to work :-)

patrickdrd

don’t worry, I’m not in a hurry,
this thread will be active for a while,
I’ll be waiting for SalviaSage’s reply too

as for the your question, yes, silent is fine,
if I was writing the script,
I would choose machine silently too

Eko palypse

Hopefully this does what you are looking for.
The problem with the icon cache reload is still not solved.

import ctypes
import ctypes.wintypes as wintypes
from Npp import notepad, MESSAGEBOXFLAGS


# modify this two variables to your needs
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NPP_FULL_PATH = u'D:\\PortableApps\\Npp\\notepad++.exe'
FILE_EXT = ['.txt','.xml']

# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


shell32 = ctypes.WinDLL('shell32')
advapi32 = ctypes.WinDLL('advapi32')

SHCNE_ASSOCCHANGED = 0x08000000
SHCNF_IDLIST = 0

HKEY_CURRENT_USER = -2147483647
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = -2147483646
KEY_ALL_ACCESS = 0xf003f
REG_SZ = 1
ERROR_SUCCESS = 0x0

SUB_KEY = u'Software\\Classes\\{}'
NPPNAME = u'Notepad++_file'
DOCTYP = u'Notepad++ Document'
NPP_ICON = u'"{}",0'.format(NPP_FULL_PATH)
NPP_COMMAND = u'"{}" "%1"'.format(NPP_FULL_PATH)


def set_reg_value(root_key, value):
    try:
        result = advapi32.RegSetValueExW(root_key,
                                         None,
                                         0,
                                         REG_SZ,
                                         value,
                                         len(value) * ctypes.sizeof(wintypes.c_wchar))

        if result == ERROR_SUCCESS:
            print('successfully set {}'.format(value))
        else:
            notepad.messageBox('Aborting as error {} occured'.format(result), 'ERROR', MESSAGEBOXFLAGS.ICONERROR)
    except Exception as e:
        raise IOError('{}'.format(e))
    finally:
        advapi32.RegCloseKey(root_key)


def create_reg_entries(root_key, sub_key):
    try:
        phkResult = wintypes.HKEY()
        dwDisp = wintypes.DWORD()
        result = advapi32.RegCreateKeyExW(root_key,
                                          sub_key,
                                          0,
                                          None,
                                          0,
                                          KEY_ALL_ACCESS,
                                          None,
                                          ctypes.byref(phkResult),
                                          ctypes.byref(dwDisp)
                                          )
        if result == ERROR_SUCCESS:
            if dwDisp.value in [1, 2]:
                print '\nKey {} has been {}'.format(sub_key, 'created' if dwDisp == 1 else 'opened')
            else:
                notepad.messageBox('Unexpected disposition value received:{}'.format(dwDisp), 'WARNING', MESSAGEBOXFLAGS.ICONWARNING)
    except Exception as e:
        advapi32.RegCloseKey(root_key)
        raise IOError('{}'.format(e))

    return phkResult


def create_npp_link(root_key):
    _key = create_reg_entries(root_key, SUB_KEY.format(NPPNAME))
    set_reg_value(_key, DOCTYP)
    _key = create_reg_entries(root_key, SUB_KEY.format(u'Notepad++_file\\DefaultIcon'))
    set_reg_value(_key, NPP_ICON)
    _key = create_reg_entries(root_key, SUB_KEY.format(u'Notepad++_file\\shell\\open\\command'))
    set_reg_value(_key, NPP_COMMAND)
    return True


def register_extensions(root_key):
    for extension in FILE_EXT:
        _key = create_reg_entries(root_key, SUB_KEY.format(extension))
        set_reg_value(_key, NPPNAME)
    return True


def main():
    result = notepad.messageBox(('YES for USER only\n\n'
                                 'NO for MACHINE\n\n'
                                 'CANCEL to abort'), 'FileExtension Registration', 3)

    if result == MESSAGEBOXFLAGS.RESULTYES:
        _HKEY = HKEY_CURRENT_USER
    elif result == MESSAGEBOXFLAGS.RESULTNO:
        _HKEY = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
    else:
        return

    if create_npp_link(_HKEY):
        if register_extensions(_HKEY):
            result = notepad.messageBox('Should the system be informed about the changes?', 'Inform System', 4)
            if result == MESSAGEBOXFLAGS.RESULTYES:
                shell32.SHChangeNotify(SHCNE_ASSOCCHANGED, SHCNF_IDLIST, None, None)
    else:
        notepad.messageBox('Unable to open or create Notepad++_file key', 'ERROR', MESSAGEBOXFLAGS.ICONERROR)

main()

patrickdrd

no, it doesn’t,
e.g. I deleted already registered txt file with

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.txt]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\txt]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\.txt]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\txt]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.txt\UserChoice]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Roaming\OpenWith\FileExts\.txt\UserChoice]

and tried yours and no error was shown but when tried to open .txt file it asked what I wanted to open it with

patrickdrd

I think I fixed it to work in windows 8.1 and windows 7:

https://textuploader.com/1awwn/raw

I found out that some files need the “hash” in registry which is awkward,
because I don’t know if it will work in another pc,
but I don’t have another 8.1,
so if anyone wants to test it

patrickdrd

ok I’ve found it,
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17946282/whats-the-hash-in-hkcu-software-microsoft-windows-currentversion-explorer-filee

Eko palypse

:-( - although I can see why securing it might be a good choice. Too bad - at least I learnt something new. :-)

PeterJones

With Windows 10, at least, the good old fashioned HKCR\.ext (Default)=SomeAction and HKCR\SomeAction\command (default)=notepad++ "%1" still works for me, and I thought if it worked in Win7 and works in Win10, it would work in Win8. But I could be wrong.

An example of me recently verifying that the old-style assocation works can be found on superuser. maybe it’s because the .0-.9 extensions were ones that weren’t already being interfered with using the Classes/FilesExts assocation.

Eko palypse

But, afaik, you shouldn’t use HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT as this, itself, isn’t a persistent key.
It’s just another view of keys stored in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
I’m unsure what kind of issue would possibly rise if one corrupts HKCR.

PeterJones

It’s worked with HKCR on every windows (I believe since NT; definitely XP, 7, and 10) for me, and I’ve never had problems with it on any machine at work or at home, where I’ve used this method for years. When I write the one in HKCR, it’s always correctly been copied to the appropriate HKLM/HKCU locations without difficulty.

(edit: that doesn’t mean it’s the “right” way to do it; I’ve just never had a problem with it.)

Eko palypse

Seems one of those things WE do which wasn’t initially planned by MS :-)
But if you replace it under HKCR, is it set in HKLM or HKCU?
If it is HKLM, then isn’t it a security issue??

PeterJones

You are right: if I write to HKCR, it duplicates to HKLM, so that is an issue (of course, if you don’t have permission to write to HKLM, it won’t do that write).

I just tried an experiment where I created HKCU\Software\Classes\.eko2 (.eko was my write-to-HKCR experiment, so wanted a new extension), and pointed it to my existing txtfile type; when I do that and refresh environment, it associates .eko2 file extension with txtfile, and thus opens with Notepad++ when I double-click… When I look back through the registry, the .eko2 key exists in HKCU\Software\Classes where I put it, and also exists as HKCR\.eko2, but does not exist as HKLM\Software\Classes\.eko2, so I believe that writing to HKCU\Software\Classes\ is safer.

As another experiment, I created HKCU\Software\Classes\EkoThreeType with (default) = Eko palypse type 3, subkey shell, subkey Notepad++ (default)=notepad++... then HKCU\Software\Classes\.eko3 (default)=EkoThreeType. It also properly associated.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\EkoThreeType]
@="Eko palypse type 3"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\EkoThreeType\shell]
@="Notepad++"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\EkoThreeType\shell\Notepad++]
@="Eko3 Edit With Notepad++"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\EkoThreeType\shell\Notepad++\command]
@="\"c:\\usr\\local\\scripts\\notepad++.bat\" \"%1\""

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.eko3]
@="EkoThreeType"

So, even using HKCU\Software\Classes, I can associate a file extension and new filetype for myself.

-----
PS: for refresh, i use nircmd shellrefresh and nircmd sysrefresh, using the NirSoft nircmd utility. This avoids having to reboot or log in/out for every change.

patrickdrd

well that example with .eko3 worked for me too (in 8.1),
but when I try the same with .txt, e.g.:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.txt]
@="txt"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\txt\DefaultIcon]
@="\"D:\\Utilities\\PortableApps\\Notepad++\\notepad++.exe\",0"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\txt]
@="Text Document"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\txt\shell]
@="Notepad++"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\txt\shell\Notepad++]
@="Eko3 Edit With Notepad++"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\txt\shell\Notepad++\command]
@="\"D:\\Utilities\\PortableApps\\Notepad++\\notepad++.exe\" \"%1\""

it doesn’t work

can you try the same @PeterJones?

PeterJones

So, based on my experiments, the following worked for me:

If there already is a HKLM\Software\Classes\.txt, you have to delete it using Admin privileges
If there already is a HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.txt, delete it (shouldn’t require Admin, because it’s Current User)
- I also removed any *.txt from HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ApplicationAssociationToasts\ – I don’t know if that’s required (I don’t think so), but I had already done it, so…
Then run your .reg file shown, which will set up the HKCU\Software\Classes\.txt
Then do a refresh (reboot, or logout/login, or nircmd shellrefresh && nircmd sysrefresh)
When I did all that, my old association with .txt was gone, and it shows up using the one from your .reg sequence (I actually used “DRD Text Document” as the name and “DRD Edit With Notepad++” to disambiguate from my other naming scheme)

If I then re-instate the HKLM\Software\Classes\.txt assocation (Admin regedit) and remove the HKCU\Software\Classes\.txt assoc (normal user regedit) and refresh, it goes back to using my old assocation.