How to programmatically create a shortcut using Win32

Question

I need to programmatically create a shortcut using C++.

How can I do this using Win32 SDK?

What API function can be used for this purpose?

Answer 1

Try Windows Shell Links. This page also contains a C++ example. Descriptive Snippet:

Using Shell Links

This section contains examples that demonstrate how to create and resolve shortcuts from within a Win32-based application. This section assumes you are familiar with Win32, C++, and OLE COM programming.

EDIT: Adding the code sample in case the link dies (and MSDN links do die often.)

// CreateLink - Uses the Shell's IShellLink and IPersistFile interfaces  //              to create and store a shortcut to the specified object.  // // Returns the result of calling the member functions of the interfaces.  // // Parameters: // lpszPathObj  - Address of a buffer that contains the path of the object, //                including the file name. // lpszPathLink - Address of a buffer that contains the path where the  //                Shell link is to be stored, including the file name. // lpszDesc     - Address of a buffer that contains a description of the  //                Shell link, stored in the Comment field of the link //                properties.  #include "stdafx.h" #include "windows.h" #include "winnls.h" #include "shobjidl.h" #include "objbase.h" #include "objidl.h" #include "shlguid.h"  HRESULT CreateLink(LPCWSTR lpszPathObj, LPCSTR lpszPathLink, LPCWSTR lpszDesc)  {      HRESULT hres;      IShellLink* psl;       // Get a pointer to the IShellLink interface. It is assumed that CoInitialize     // has already been called.     hres = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_ShellLink, NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER, IID_IShellLink, (LPVOID*)&psl);      if (SUCCEEDED(hres))      {          IPersistFile* ppf;           // Set the path to the shortcut target and add the description.          psl->SetPath(lpszPathObj);          psl->SetDescription(lpszDesc);           // Query IShellLink for the IPersistFile interface, used for saving the          // shortcut in persistent storage.          hres = psl->QueryInterface(IID_IPersistFile, (LPVOID*)&ppf);           if (SUCCEEDED(hres))          {              WCHAR wsz[MAX_PATH];               // Ensure that the string is Unicode.              MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, lpszPathLink, -1, wsz, MAX_PATH);               // Save the link by calling IPersistFile::Save.              hres = ppf->Save(wsz, TRUE);              ppf->Release();          }          psl->Release();      }      return hres;