Binaryworld - GetFileDescriptionFromReg - Get a file's description from the registry ... [ VB -> Files & Folder ]

' get the description of a file from the registry
' or a null string if the file's extension isn't registered
'
' NOTE: requires the GetRegistrtValue function

Function GetFileDescriptionFromReg(ByVal FileName As String) As String
  Const HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT = &H80000000

  Dim i As Integer
  Dim ext As String
  Dim classname As String

  ' extract the file extension
  i = InStr(FileName, ".")
  If i = 0 Then
    ' extension not found, let's try with the file itself
    ext = "." & FileName
  Else
    ext = Mid$(FileName, i)
  End If

  ' get the classname from the registry
  classname = GetRegistryValue(HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, ext, "")
  If Len(classname) Then
    GetFileDescriptionFromReg = GetRegistryValue(HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, _
      classname, "")
  End If
End Function