AssociationLaunching

Association launching sample

This sample shows you how to launch an app for 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 was created using one of the universal app templates available in Visual Studio. For more info about how to build apps that target Windows 10 with Visual Studio, see Build a Windows 10 universal app using Visual Studio.

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
• 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

For more info about the concepts and APIs demonstrated in this sample, see these topics:

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

###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 2015 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 2015 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.