Technical Document #3001

Subject: Establishing an association for file types in RIS-View

Product: RIS-View

Last Updated: February 22, 1999

Overview

In the Tips & Tricks column of the Summer 1996 issue of RIS-News (Vol 1, No 2), we outlined a method for setting up an association for a file type to be automatically loaded into RIS-View. Once an association is set up, you can open files of this type in RIS-View by double clicking on the item in an Explorer window. This document outlines the procedure once more, with a new update for users of Windows 95/98 or Windows NT who are also using the 32-bit version of RIS-View.

Details

The steps to setup a file association vary between Windows 3.1x/Windows NT 3.5x and Windows 95/98/Windows NT 4.x.

Windows 3.1x or Windows NT 3.5x

In File Manager, select the File | Associate menu option.
Enter the extension of the file type you wish to open in RIS-View. For example, you may enter the extension LAS to create an association for Canadian Log ASCII files.
Select the Browse button to locate the application. This will be located in the main application directory. The default path will be C:\Program Files\RIS-View\Bin\RIS_16RV.EXE.
Select OK to enter the association.

In File Manager, you may now double-click with the mouse on files with the LAS extension to open them in RIS-View. You may also select the file and press ENTER.

Windows 95/98 or Windows NT 4.x

In Explorer, select the View | Options menu option.
Select the File Types tab.
Select the New Type button to enter a new association.
Enter a description for the file type, for example Canadian Log ASCII Files.
Enter the file extension, for example LAS.
To enter a new action, select the New button.
Enter the action name 'open'.
Select the Browse button to locate the application. This will be located in the main application folder. The default path will be C:\RIS-View\Bin\RIS_16RV.EXE or C:\RIS-View\Bin\RIS_32RV.EXE.
Modify the application line to include "%1" after the application name. Be sure to include the quotation marks. By default, this will look like:

C:\RIS-View\Bin\RIS_32RV.EXE "%1"

If you have installed the application to a folder which includes a long file name, the application name above should also appear in quotation marks, as the following example shows:

"C:\Program Files\RIS-View\Bin\RIS_32RV.EXE" "%1"
Select OK to save the action, and select Close to save the association.

Conclusions

Now that the association is set up, you may open a file of the entered type by selecting the file in File Manager or Explorer, and either pressing enter or double-clicking with the mouse. If RIS-View is not running, it will be launched, and the file will be opened. If RIS-View is already running, the application will be focused, and the file will be opened.

You may also combine this technique with the command line arguments (Technical Document #1002 (Tech1002.htm)) to control additional aspects of the application from the command line.