How are options added to Windows explorer context menus using C or C++?

Question

For instance, when I right-click in an explorer window I see a popup with the following:

• Open
• Open with
• Copy
• Paste
• Winrar <-- How can I add a choice like this?

Answer 1

Look into Shell Extensions.

Answer 2

For simple actions you can add some registry settings using the method of your choice (c# example but the method is simple and agnostic).

For more complex stuff The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Shell Extensions.

Answer 3

The codeproject article is good. if you prefer a more solid reference, a friend of mine ( Scott Seely ) wrote a book called "Windows Shell Programming" that covers this ( in C++ ) very well. I'm not sure about posting URLs to store sites, so I'll just give the isbn for the book.

ISBN: 0130254967