Launchers

A launcher config file describes how to launch a program (i.e. emulator, application, or game) when a launchable menu item is selected.

See below for a list of supported configuration properties. Launcher options

Property Description
executable Path of where the executable exists
arguments Arguments to pass when executing the launcher (i.e. ROM name)
executable = D:/Emulators/Nestopia/nestopia.exe
arguments  = "%ITEM_FILEPATH%"

%ITEM_FILEPATH% is a reserved variable name. See the variables table below for other variables that may be used. Also note the quotes around “%ITEM_FILEPATH%” to help not confuse the executable from thinking that an item with spaces as multiple arguments.

Assuming that “Super Mario Bros” was the selected item, the frontend will attempt to execute:

"D:/Emulators/Nestopia/nestopia.exe" "D:/ROMs/Nintendo/Super Mario Bros.nes".

PS: You can also use relative paths (relative to the root folder of RetroFE)

executable = ../Emulators/Nestopia/nestopia.exe
arguments  = "%ITEM_FILEPATH%"

Launcher variables

Variable Description Translated Example
%ITEM_FILEPATH% Full item path D:/ROMs/Nintendo/Super Mario Bros.nes
%ITEM_NAME% The item name Super Mario Bros
%ITEM_FILENAME% Filename without path Super Mario Bros.nes
%ITEM_DIRECTORY% Folder where file exists D:/ROMs/Nintendo
%ITEM_COLLECTION_NAME% Name of collection for item Nintendo Entertainment System
%RETROFE_PATH% Folder location of Frontend D:/Frontends/RetroFE
%RETROFE_EXEC_PATH% Location of RetroFE D:/Frontends/RetroFE/RetroFE.exe

More elaborate example:

# Have fceux load a save state automatically for the ROM when started
executable = D:/Emulators/fceux/fceux.exe
arguments  = "%ITEM_FILEPATH%" -loadstate "%ITEM_DIRECTORY%/%ITEM_NAME%.fcs"