How does an OS hand a data file over to a process when a user clicks on an icon?

[chrstrbrts]

Hello,

Let's say you have an icon displayed on your GUI somewhere.

The icon represents a data file e.g. a text file, mp3, jpeg, etc.

The OS at some point has associated that file with a program.

We see this when the data file's icon is a copy of the program's logo e.g. a pdf file whose icon is a small adobe logo.

Anyway, my question is when you double click on a data file icon, how does the OS hand the data over to the process it just created?

Does it malloc the whole data file into the new process's heap?

Thanks.

 

[Squeetard]

Nope. The executables have variables, or command line options you can pass to them. So the os passes the name of the file to open when it launches the executable.

 

[sm625]

An icon is just an icon. The file will not actually be opened until it finds the program with which to open it. Then, that program actually opens the file.