Open a tempfile with the registered application

I use this often to create a temp file and open it with the according application. In this case, I created a pdf document as a print preview. To avoid 'save'-dialogs or forcing the user to walk through the filesystem, I directly open the document in Acrobat Reader.

To achive this I create a temp file using 'File'. This will result in a file named randomly, like 'prefix-2456730075766423086.pdf', created in %temp%. After my program terminated, the file will be deleted. This is a great functionality as it saves lot of time during development ;-)

But the real magic is done by 'Desktop'. It offers some actions like 'open', 'edit'; 'print', ... if available. To check this, first find out, if this platform supports 'Desktop' and hereafter, if 'open' action is available.

In this snippet, 'desktop.open(pdf);' will open Acrobat Reader, as this is the registered application for '.pdf'-files.

 
 File pdf = File.createTempFile("prefix-", ".pdf"); 
 pdf.deleteOnExit(); 
 
 // create pdf file here... 
 
 if( Desktop.isDesktopSupported() ) { 
      Desktop desktop = Desktop.getDesktop(); 
      if( desktop.isSupported( Desktop.Action.OPEN) ) { 
              desktop.open(pdf); 
      } 
 }