executing .jar file with an argument by mouse right-click on Windows?

Question

I find the ChkBugReport to be very interesting: http://developer.sonymobile.com/knowledge-base/tools/analyse-your-bugreports-with-our-open-source-tool/

so I would like to use it on my Windows7 but in a simple way.

In order to use the tool that is in jar, I need to type the following in the command prompt:

java -jar ChkBugReport_ver.jar dumplog.txt

where the dumplog.txt is the log I want to analyze by the tool.

The thing is that it is quite tiresome to run cmd and then type "java -jar... blah blah.." everytime I want to use it so I would like to link it to the mouse right-click context menu in Windows Explorer.

i.e., browse through to the file I want to analyze in Windows Explorer, then right-clicking on it would provide a menu like "run ChkBugReport.." then it does the "java -jar ChkBugReport_ver.jar clicked-file.txt" and generates the output.

Is there a way to do this?

Answer 1

Follow these steps:

1. Open regedit (as administrator).

2. Locate key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell. In case you want to add the context menu for a specific extension only, use e.g. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xml\shell for xml. If the shell key doesn't exist, create it (right-click on the parent key and select New -> Key).

3. Right-click on the shell key, and select New -> Key. Enter the name of the command displayed in the context menu, e.g. Check Bug Report.

4. Right-click on the Check Bug Report key and select New -> Key. Enter text command (in lowercase).

5. Click on the command key and then double-click on the (Default) key in the right pane to edit the string value. Enter the command to be executed. Placeholder for the argument is %1. For ChkBugReport_ver.jar, you can use

   java -jar "C:\Path\To\ChkBugReport_ver.jar" "%1"
   

See also this tutorial.

(Works with my Windows 7)

Answer 2

The best answer above didn't work for me, it just opened a new window asking me what I'd like to open it with. I found a command that works much better. Same as first answer above but slightly different command (#4): cmd /k java instead of java. It runs it in a cmd window and the file is created in the current directory of the bug report.

1. Locate key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell (Create shell key if it doesn't exist)

2. Right-click on the shell key, select New -> Key. Enter the name of the command you'd like to display in the context menu (ie. Check Bug Report).

3. Right-click on the "Check Bug Report" key you just created and select New -> Key. Name it command.

4. Click on the command key, double-click on the (Default) key in the right pane and enter the following command to be executed:
   cmd /k java -jar c:\PATH\Chkbugreport.jar "%1"

Answer 3

try add it to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT*\shell

I use the following registry to add Notepad2 to the right-click content menu

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT*\shell\Notepad2] @="Notepad2"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT*\shell\Notepad2\command] @="D:\Tools\Notepad2\Notepad2.exe %1"