ProcessStartInfo.Verbs Property

Definition

Gets the set of verbs associated with the type of file specified by the FileName property.

public string[] Verbs { get; }
[System.ComponentModel.Browsable(false)]
public string[] Verbs { get; }

Property Value

String[]

The actions that the system can apply to the file indicated by the FileName property.

Attributes

Examples

The following code example displays the defined verbs for the chosen file name. If the user selects one of the defined verbs, the example starts a new process using the selected verb and the input file name.

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.IO;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Windows.Forms;

class ProcessInformation
{
    [STAThread]
    static void Main()
    {
        OpenFileDialog openFileDialog1 = new OpenFileDialog();

        openFileDialog1.InitialDirectory = "c:\\";
        openFileDialog1.Filter = "txt files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files (*.*)|*.*";
        openFileDialog1.FilterIndex = 2;
        openFileDialog1.RestoreDirectory = true;
        openFileDialog1.CheckFileExists = true;

        if (openFileDialog1.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
        {
            var fileName = openFileDialog1.FileName;

            int i = 0;
            var startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo(fileName);

            // Display the possible verbs.
            foreach (var verb in startInfo.Verbs)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"  {i++}. {verb}");
            }

            Console.Write("Select the index of the verb: ");
            var indexInput = Console.ReadLine();
            int index;
            if (Int32.TryParse(indexInput, out index))
            {
                if (index < 0 || index >= i)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Invalid index value.");
                    return;
                }

                var verbToUse = startInfo.Verbs[index];

                startInfo.Verb = verbToUse;
                if (verbToUse.ToLower().IndexOf("printto") >= 0)
                {
                    // printto implies a specific printer. Ask for the network address.
                    // The address must be in the form \\server\printer.
                    // The printer address is passed as the Arguments property.
                    Console.Write("Enter the network address of the target printer: ");
                    var arguments = Console.ReadLine();
                    startInfo.Arguments = arguments;
                }

                try
                {
                    using (var newProcess = new Process())
                    {
                        newProcess.StartInfo = startInfo;
                        newProcess.Start();

                        Console.WriteLine($"{newProcess.ProcessName} for file {fileName} " +
                                          $"started successfully with verb '{startInfo.Verb}'!");
                    }
                }
                catch (Win32Exception e)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("  Win32Exception caught!");
                    Console.WriteLine($"  Win32 error = {e.Message}");
                }
                catch (InvalidOperationException)
                {
                    // Catch this exception if the process exits quickly,
                    // and the properties are not accessible.
                    Console.WriteLine($"Unable to start '{fileName}' with verb {verbToUse}");
                }
            }
        }
        else
        {
            {
                Console.WriteLine("You did not enter a number.");
            }
        }
    }
}

Remarks

The Verbs property enables you to determine the verbs that can be used with the file specified by the FileName property. You can set the Verb property to the value of any verb in the set. Examples of verbs are "Edit", "Open", "OpenAsReadOnly", "Print", and "Printto".

Be aware that the resulting list of verbs may not contain all possible values, e.g. "New" is by design not added to the list and other possible verbs are not always detected depending on your system setup.

When you use the Verbs property, you must include the file name extension when you set the value of the FileName property. The file name extension determines the set of possible verbs.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 2.0, 2.1

See also