getTargetFromLink

Extract the target of a Windows shell link shortcut (LNK)

SYNTAX:
target = getTargetFromLink(lnkFile)
Creates the requisite actxserver, extracts the target.
[target,aserver] = getTargetFromLink(lnkFile) also passes out a handle to the Activex server object

[target,...] = getTargetFromLink(lnkFile,aserver) allows optional passing in of Activex server object. (If you are calling getTargetFromLink many times, it can be faster to create the Activex server object, aserver, one time, and pass it in. Otherwise, this is pretty fast.)

EXAMPLES:
Example 1: Get a single target

links = dir('*.lnk');
target = getTargetFromLink(links(1).name)

Example 2: Get many targets, re-using the asvr (optional)

links = dir('*.lnk');
target = cell(numel(links),1);
[target{1},asvr] = getTargetFromLink(links(1).name);
for ii = 2:numel(links)-1
target{ii} = getTargetFromLink(links(ii).name,asvr);
end

Example 3: To get the link to a file not in the current directory, specify the fullfile to the link:

links = dir('c:\myLinks\*.lnk');
target = getTargetFromLink(fullfile('c:\myLinks',links(1).name))

NOTES: To create links, file createLinks (available on the MATLAB Central File Exchange) might be useful.