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ASSOCTABLE (1.2)
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The Resource Compiler ASSOCTABLE Statement
ASSOCTABLE assoctable-id [load-option] [mem-option]
BEGIN
association-name, file-match-string[, extended-attribute-flag]
[, icon-filename]
.
.
.
END
The ASSOCTABLE statement defines a file-association table for an
application. This table associates the data files that an application
creates with the application's executable file. When the user selects one of
these data files from File Manager, the associated application begins
executing.
A file-association table can also associate icons with the data files that
an application creates. File Manager uses these icons to identify the data
files graphically. Because a file-association table associates icons by file
type, all data files having the same file type have the same icon.
You can provide any number of ASSOCTABLE statements in a resource-definition
file, but each statement must specify a unique assoctable-id value. The
file-association tables are written not only to the resources within your
executable file, but also to the .ASSOC extended attribute. However, only
the last file-association table specified in the resource-definition file is
actually written to the extended attribute.
Field Description
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assoctable-id Specifies the association-table identifier. This
value must be an integer in the range 0 through
65,535, or a simple expression that evaluates to a
value in that range.
load-option Specifies when the system loads the resource from
the executable file into memory. This value must be
one of the following:
Value Meaning
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
PRELOAD System loads the resource when the
application starts.
LOADONCALL System loads the resource when the
application calls the DosGetResource or
DosGetResource2 function. This is the
default value.
mem-option Specifies how the system manages the resource when
it is in memory. This value must be one of the
following:
Value Meaning
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
FIXED System keeps the resource at a fixed
memory location.
MOVEABLE System moves the resource as necessary
to compact memory. This is the default
value.
DISCARDABLE System discards the resource if it is
no longer needed.
association-name Specifies the name of the file type the application
recognizes. This field must contain zero or more
characters enclosed in double quotation marks.
Character values must be in the range 1 through
255. If a double quotation mark is required in the
name, you must include the double quotation mark
twice.
file-match-string Specifies the file-matching string of a particular
type of data file that the application creates.
This field must contain zero or more characters
enclosed in double quotation marks. You can only
use characters that are valid in MS OS/2 filenames
and extensions and the MS OS/2 wildcard characters
question mark (?) and asterisk (*).
extended-attribute-flag Specifies the extended-attribute options. This
value can be a combination of the following:
Value Meaning
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
EAF_DEFAULTOWNER Specifies that the application
containing the file-association
table starts when the user
selects any file matching the
file-match-string field from File
Manager.
EAF_REUSEICON Specifies that the icon defined
in the previous entry of the
file-association table is used as
the icon for the current
data-file type.
EAF_UNCHANGEABLE Specifies that the entry should
not be edited.
icon-filename Specifies the name of the file containing an icon.
File Manager uses this icon to represent all
application-created data files matching the
file-match-string field. The file must be in the
current directory.
Example
This example defines a file-association table with an identifier of 5. The
table associates application-created data files that have the .xls file
extension with the Microsoft Excel Worksheet file type. File Manager will
use the icon contained in excelspr.ico to identify all data files that have
the .xls file extension.
ASSOCTABLE 5
BEGIN
"Microsoft Excel Worksheet", "*.xls", EAF_DEFAULTOWNER, excelspr.ico
END
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