AssociationLaunching

Association launching sample

Shows how to launch an app to handle a file type or a protocol (also known as custom scheme). You can also learn how to enable your app to be the handler for a file type or a protocol.

Note: This sample is part of a large collection of UWP feature samples. If you are unfamiliar with Git and GitHub, you can download the entire collection as a ZIP file, but be sure to unzip everything to access shared dependencies. For more info on working with the ZIP file, the samples collection, and GitHub, see Get the UWP samples from GitHub. For more samples, see the Samples portal on the Windows Dev Center.

This sample covers these key tasks:

• launching an app for a file using LaunchFileAsync
• handling file activation through the Activated event
• launching an app for a protocol using LaunchUriAsync
• handling protocol activation through the Activated event
• associating the app with a website using the AppUriHandler extension
• launching a target app and having the currently running source app remain on the screen for various amounts of screen space using LauncherOptions.DesiredRemainingView.
• Note LauncherOptions.DesiredRemainingView is only supported on desktop Windows when it is running in tablet mode.

To obtain an insider copy of Windows 10, go to Windows 10.

Note For Windows 10 app samples, go to Windows 10 Samples. The samples for Windows 10 can be built and run using Windows developer tools.

Related topics

Windows 8 app samples

Reference

Windows.ApplicationModel.Activation.FileActivatedEventArgs
Windows.ApplicationModel.Activation.ProtocolActivatedEventArgs
Windows.System.Launcher.LaunchFileAsync
Windows.System.Launcher.LaunchUriAsync
Windows.UI.WebUI.WebUIFileActivatedEventArgs
Windows.UI.WebUI.WebUIProtocolActivatedEventArgs
AppUriHandler extension

Tasks

Handle file activation
Handle URI activation
Launch the default app for a file
Launch the default app for a URI

Guidelines

Guidelines and checklist for file types and protocols

System requirements

Client: Windows 10

Server: Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview

Phone: Windows 10

Build the sample

1. If you download the samples ZIP, be sure to unzip the entire archive, not just the folder with the sample you want to build.
2. Start Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 and select File > Open > Project/Solution.
3. Starting in the folder where you unzipped the samples, go to the Samples subfolder, then the subfolder for this specific sample, then the subfolder for your preferred language (C++, C#, or JavaScript). Double-click the Visual Studio Solution (.sln) file.
4. Press Ctrl+Shift+B, or select Build > Build Solution.

Run the sample

The next steps depend on whether you just want to deploy the sample or you want to both deploy and run it.

Deploying the sample

• Select Build > Deploy Solution.

Deploying and running the sample

• To debug the sample and then run it, press F5 or select Debug > Start Debugging. To run the sample without debugging, press Ctrl+F5 or select Debug > Start Without Debugging.