c# open file with default application and parameters

Question

If you want the file to be opened with the default application, I mean without specifying Acrobat or Reader, you can't open the file in the specified page.

On the other hand, if you are Ok with specifying Acrobat or Reader, keep reading:

---

You can do it without telling the full Acrobat path, like this:

using Process myProcess = new Process();    
myProcess.StartInfo.FileName = "acroRd32.exe"; //not the full application path
myProcess.StartInfo.Arguments = "/A \"page=2=OpenActions\" C:\\example.pdf";
myProcess.Start();

If you don't want the pdf to open with Reader but with Acrobat, chage the second line like this:

myProcess.StartInfo.FileName = "Acrobat.exe";

You can query the registry to identify the default application to open pdf files and then define FileName on your process's StartInfo accordingly.

Follow this question for details on doing that: Finding the default application for opening a particular file type on Windows

this should be close!

public static void OpenWithDefaultProgram(string path)
{
    using Process fileopener = new Process();

    fileopener.StartInfo.FileName = "explorer";
    fileopener.StartInfo.Arguments = "\"" + path + "\"";
    fileopener.Start();
}

I converted the VB code in the blog post linked by xsl to C# and modified it a bit:

public static bool TryGetRegisteredApplication(
                     string extension, out string registeredApp)
{
    string extensionId = GetClassesRootKeyDefaultValue(extension);
    if (extensionId == null)
    {
        registeredApp = null;
        return false;
    }

    string openCommand = GetClassesRootKeyDefaultValue(
            Path.Combine(new[] {extensionId, "shell", "open", "command"}));

    if (openCommand == null)
    {
        registeredApp = null;
        return false;
    }

    registeredApp = openCommand
                     .Replace("%1", string.Empty)
                     .Replace("\"", string.Empty)
                     .Trim();
    return true;
}

private static string GetClassesRootKeyDefaultValue(string keyPath)
{
    using (var key = Registry.ClassesRoot.OpenSubKey(keyPath))
    {
        if (key == null)
        {
            return null;
        }

        var defaultValue = key.GetValue(null);
        if (defaultValue == null)
        {
            return null;
        }

        return defaultValue.ToString();
    }
}

EDIT - this is unreliable. See Finding the default application for opening a particular file type on Windows.

you can try with

Process process = new Process();
process.StartInfo.FileName = "yourProgram.exe";
process.StartInfo.Arguments = ..... //your parameters
process.Start();