A link file contains command-line arguments that the shell passes to the corresponding object when the user selects the link. An application can set the command-line arguments for a shortcut by using the IShellLink::SetArguments member function. It is useful to set command-line arguments when the corresponding application, such as a linker or compiler, takes special flags as arguments. An application can retrieve the command-line arguments from a shortcut by using the IShellLink::GetArguments member function.