XML Link File format (.XLNK)

What is it?

An XML Link File (.XLNK) is an open and platform independant shortcut file that references a file or a directory. It has the same function as the Microsoft Shortcut File (.LNK) but is not limited to the Windows platform. And, unlike the LNK format, the format of the XLNK file is publicly documented.

In fact, the missing documentation of the LNK file format was one of the main reasons why I gave up trying to use the LNK files from my Java / Eve applications and instead designed the XLNK format. The only documented way to work with LNK files is through the Windows API and this is not available on non-Windows platforms. For Java / Eve applications on Windows it requires JNI / ENI which is far too much trouble for what it's worth.

Format

A XLNK file (version 1.0) has following format. Leading and trailing whitespaces should be removed in the file (like in the Icon Number element) or by the XML parser.

 <FileShortcut version="1.0">
	<Description>
		This is an application for reading and modifying encrypted images
	</Description>
	<TargetFile>
		<Path>
 			C:\Program Files\Tools\taSecurePaint.exe
		</Path>
		<WorkingDirectory>
			C:\Data
		</WorkingDirectory>
		<CommandlineArguments>
			-e  -F
		</CommandlineArguments>
	</TargetFile>
	<IconFile>
		<Path>
 			C:\Windows\system32\moreicons.dll
		</Path>
		<Number>0</Number>
	</IconFile>
 </FileShortcut>

Software Support

Following Eve (www.ewesoft.com) applications support the XLNK files:

taReadLinkFile: This Class reads link files (.LNK) under WinCE and XML-Link files (.XLNK) on all platforms. It uses the NanoXML/Lite package by Marc De Scheemaecker to read and parse the XML file.
XLNK_launcher: This application expects a XLNK file as commandline argument. It reads the file and executes the application with the commandline arguments defined in the shortcut file.

Comments and Questions

For comments or questions regarding the XML Link File format you can contact me on www.t-arn.com

Tom Arn, January 2008