Win32::Shortcut

This module allows you to create and manipulate Windows shortcut files (.lnk files) through Perl. The methods and properties of this module apply to shortcut objects created by new: 

use Win32::Shortcut; $link = Win32::Shortcut->new();


This creates the shortcut object $link, on which you can set properties and save into a file. If you supply a filename as an argument to new, the file will be loaded into the shortcut object.

The object can also be accessed as if it were a normal hash reference. The following properties (hash keys) are available: 

$link->{'File'} $link->{'Path'} $link->{'ShortPath'} $link->{'WorkingDirectory'} $link->{'Arguments'} $link->{'Description'} $link->{'ShowCmd'} $link->{'Hotkey'} $link->{'IconLocation'} $link->{'IconNumber'}


See the section on shortcut properties, below, for a description of each property.

The following example assumes you have a shortcut file named test.lnk in your current directory. This simple script will tell you where this shortcut points to: 

use Win32::Shortcut; $link=new Win32::Shortcut(); $link->Load("test.lnk");
print "Shortcut to: $link->{'Path'} $link->{'Arguments'} \n"; $link->Close();


But you can also modify its values: 

use Win32::Shortcut; $link=new Win32::Shortcut(); $link->Load("test.lnk"); $link->{'Path'}=~s/C:/D:/i; # move the target from C: to D: $link->{'ShowCmd'}=SW_NORMAL; # runs in a normal window

The methods provided by Win32::Shortcut are as follows:

Shortcut properties

The properties of a shortcut object can be accessed as: 

$link->{'property'}


For example, assuming that you have created a shortcut object with: 

$link=new Win32::Shortcut();


you can see its description with: 

print $link->{'Description'};


You can of course also set it like this: 

$link->{'Description'}="This is a description";


The shortcut properties also have corresponding methods which can also set or read their values.

The properties of a shortcut reflect the content of the Shortcut Properties dialog box, which can be obtained by clicking the right mouse button on a shortcut file in the Windows (or NT 4.0) Explorer and choosing "Properties." Shortcut properties are: