Understanding File and Protocol Associations

File and protocol associations allow you to delegate responsibility for handling a file or a message to another app. For example, when a Windows Phone app encounters a file type that it is not specifically designed to handle, it may ask the OS to launch the file. The OS then forwards the request to an app that is registered to work with that particular file type.

Both file and protocol associations function in the same way. File associations allow you to designate your app as a handler for a particular file type, and protocol associations allow you to designate your app as a handler for URIs that include a particular protocol prefix.

You register a file or protocol association for your app by following two steps:

Adding a registration entry to your project’s WMAppManifest.xml file

Creating a landing page that is able to handle the incoming file or protocol launch