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Making Property Handler for my application to add custom properties to a file format

Answer 1

A:

return S_OK;

Is that all SetValue and Commit are supposed to do?

72con 2010-10-19 10:53:40

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb776861(VS.85).aspx

jaminator 2010-10-19 11:03:35

the above link is where the code is based from

jaminator 2010-10-19 11:04:03

well the truth is i dont know :(

jaminator 2010-10-19 11:05:04

My lucky guess would be that you'll need to implement those functions SetValue and Commit to do those things.

72con 2010-10-20 08:20:48

72con you are spot on, in my code i have made the framework to write these question and event the COM is being registered fine, can you give me some sample code on how to do it and where to write this code, i tried but couldnt figure out alot. thanks in advance

jaminator 2010-10-20 13:06:04

sorry, I did not (and do not have time to) look into the issue in detail, just noticed that those functions had suspiscious implementations if you expect something to be written somewhere on SetValue and Commit. Good luck..

72con 2010-10-21 08:20:41

Answer 2

A:

i have managed to register my property handler as COM and explorer is calling my code when i click on file tyep (.test) against whcih i am trying to custom add properties. Below is the code, now the only thing left is to somehow create new properties, i have no idea how to create new properties, any help is appreciated

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComTypes;
using Microsoft.Win32;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace TestShell
{
  [ComImport]
  [InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIUnknown)]
  [Guid("b7d14566-0509-4cce-a71f-0a554233bd9b")]
  interface IInitializeWithFile
  {
    [PreserveSig]
    int Initialize([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string pszFilePath, uint grfMode);
  }

  [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
  public struct PROPERTYKEY
  {
    public Guid fmtid;
    public UIntPtr pid;
  }

  [ComImport]
  [Guid("c8e2d566-186e-4d49-bf41-6909ead56acc")]
  [InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIUnknown)]
  interface IPropertyStoreCapabilities
  {
    [PreserveSig]
    int IsPropertyWritable([In] ref PROPERTYKEY key);
  }

  [ComImport]
  [Guid("886D8EEB-8CF2-4446-8D02-CDBA1DBDCF99")]
  [InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIUnknown)]
  interface IPropertyStore
  {
    [PreserveSig]
    int GetCount([Out] out uint cProps);
    [PreserveSig]
    int GetAt([In] uint iProp, out PROPERTYKEY pkey);
    [PreserveSig]
    int GetValue([In] ref PROPERTYKEY key, out PropVariant pv);
    [PreserveSig]
    int SetValue([In] ref PROPERTYKEY key, [In] ref object pv);
    [PreserveSig]
    int Commit();
  }

  [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
  public struct PropVariant
  {
    public short variantType;
    public short Reserved1, Reserved2, Reserved3;
    public IntPtr pointerValue;
  }


  [ComVisible(true)]
  [ClassInterface(ClassInterfaceType.None)]
  [ProgId("TestShell.PropertyHandler")]
  [Guid("9BC59AF4-41E3-49B1-9A62-17F4C92D081F")]
  public class PropertyHandler : IInitializeWithFile, IPropertyStore, IPropertyStoreCapabilities
  {
    private const int S_OK = 0, S_FALSE = 1;

    private string path = null;


    public int Initialize(string pszFilePath, uint grfMode)
    {
      //System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(pszFilePath);
      path = pszFilePath;
      return S_OK;
    }

    public int IsPropertyWritable(ref PROPERTYKEY key)
    {
      //System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("Writable");
      return S_OK;
    }

    public int GetCount(out uint cProps)
    {
      //System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("GetCount");
      cProps = 1;
      return S_OK;
    }

    public int GetAt(uint iProp, out PROPERTYKEY pkey)
    {
      System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(iProp.ToString());
      pkey = new PROPERTYKEY();
      pkey.fmtid = PKEY_Title;
      pkey.pid = (UIntPtr)0x2;
      return S_OK;
    }

    private Guid PKEY_Title = new Guid("F29F85E0-4FF9-1068-AB91-08002B27B3D9");

    public int GetValue(ref PROPERTYKEY key, out PropVariant pv)
    {
      System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(key.fmtid.ToString());
      pv = new PropVariant();
      if (key.fmtid == PKEY_Title)
      {
        pv.variantType = 31;
        pv.pointerValue = Marshal.StringToHGlobalUni("Test");
        return S_OK;
      }
      else
      {
        pv.variantType = 0; //VT_EMPTY
        pv.pointerValue = IntPtr.Zero;
        return S_OK;
      }
    }

    public int SetValue(ref PROPERTYKEY key, ref object pv)
    {
      return S_OK;
    }

    public int Commit()
    {
      return S_OK;
    }



    [ComRegisterFunctionAttribute]
    public static void RegisterFunction(Type t)
    {

      try
      {
        RegistryKey regHKCR = Registry.ClassesRoot;
        regHKCR = regHKCR.CreateSubKey(".test");
        regHKCR.SetValue(null, "TestShell.PropertyHandler");

        regHKCR = Registry.ClassesRoot;
        regHKCR = regHKCR.CreateSubKey("CLSID\\{9BC59AF4-41E3-49B1-9A62-17F4C92D081F}");
        regHKCR.SetValue(null, "Test Property");
        regHKCR.SetValue("ManualSafeSave", 1);
        regHKCR.SetValue("Title", 2);
        regHKCR.SetValue("Whatever", 3);
        regHKCR = regHKCR.CreateSubKey("InProcServer32");

        regHKCR.SetValue(null, @"C:\Windows\System32\mscoree.dll");
        //regHKCR.SetValue(null, System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);
        regHKCR.SetValue("ThreadingModel", "Apartment");

        RegistryKey regHKLM;
        regHKLM = Registry.LocalMachine.CreateSubKey("SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\PropertySystem\\PropertyHandlers\\.test");
        regHKLM.SetValue(null, "{9BC59AF4-41E3-49B1-9A62-17F4C92D081F}");
        regHKLM = Registry.LocalMachine.CreateSubKey("SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Shell Extensions\\Approved");
        regHKLM.SetValue("{9BC59AF4-41E3-49B1-9A62-17F4C92D081F}", "Test Property");
        //SHShellRestart();---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        // string propertyID = "VolumeName";
        // //PROPSPEC propSpec = new PROPSPEC();
        // //propSpec.ulKind = 0;
        //// propSpec.__unnamed.lpwstr = (char*)Marshal.StringToCoTaskMemUni(propertyID);

        // PropVariant propVar = new PropVariant();
        // propVar.__unnamed.__unnamed.__unnamed.bstrVal = (char*)Marshal.StringToCoTaskMemUni(value);

        //   //delcare un safe variables
        //   PROPSPEC[] rgSpecs = new PROPSPEC[1];
        //   rgSpecs[0] = propSpec;

        //   PROPVARIANT[] rgVar = new PROPVARIANT[1];
        //   rgVar[0] = propVar;

        //   object val = value;
        //   ppPropStg.WriteMultiple(1, ref propSpec, ref val, 3);
        //   ppPropStg.Commit(0x8);
        //   fDataDiscWriter.SetJolietProperties(ppPropStg);

      }




      catch (Exception ex)//HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{9BC59AF4-41E3-49B1-9A62-17F4C92D081F}\Implemented Categories\{62C8FE65-4EBB-45e7-B440-6E39B2CDBF29}
      {
#if DEBUG
        System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(ex.Message + System.Environment.NewLine + ex.StackTrace);
#endif
      }
#if DEBUG
      //SHShellRestart();
#endif
    }

    [ComUnregisterFunctionAttribute]
    public static void UnRegisterFunction(Type t)
    {
      try
      {
        RegistryKey regHKCR = Registry.ClassesRoot;
        regHKCR.DeleteSubKey(".test");
        regHKCR.DeleteSubKeyTree("CLSID\\{9BC59AF4-41E3-49B1-9A62-17F4C92D081F}");

        RegistryKey regHKLM = Registry.LocalMachine;
        regHKLM.DeleteSubKeyTree("SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\PropertySystem\\PropertyHandlers\\.test");
        regHKLM = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Shell Extensions\\Approved", true);
        regHKLM.DeleteValue("{9BC59AF4-41E3-49B1-9A62-17F4C92D081F}");
      }
      catch (Exception ex)
      {
#if DEBUG
        System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(ex.Message + System.Environment.NewLine + ex.StackTrace);
#endif
      }
#if DEBUG
      //SHShellRestart();
#endif
    }

//#if DEBUG
    [DllImport("user32.dll")]
    static extern IntPtr FindWindow(string lpClassName, string lpWindowName);
    [DllImport("user32.dll")]
    static extern bool PostMessage(IntPtr hWnd, uint Msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam);
    [DllImport("shell32.dll")]
    static extern IntPtr ShellExecute(
      IntPtr hwnd, string lpOperation, string lpFile,
      string lpParameters, string lpDirectory, int nShowCmd);
    private static void SHShellRestart()
    {
      PostMessage(FindWindow("Progman", null), 0x0012, IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero);
      ShellExecute(IntPtr.Zero, null, "explorer.exe", null, null, 5);
      return;
    }
//#endif
  }
}

his code is prety much from msdn link d except there was a mistake in the code coz of which the handler was not being register, In the InProc32 registy key the value should be the path to mscoree.dll, when i added that the application started working.

I know this much the custom properties will be added using 2 ways. just a guess 1 - IPropertyStrore.SetValue 2 - Adding registry key entries to F29F85E0-4FF9-1068-AB91-08002B27B3D9 key in registry

jaminator 2010-10-20 13:00:46

Answer 3

A:

As far as I understand your question; you want to add a custom property with this shell property handler to a file in windows explorer, right?

peter parker 2010-10-22 08:13:06

yes, i do want a custom property and i have registered a COM component fot that implemented all interfaces of com in my .net application but dont know how to set new properties

jaminator 2010-10-22 09:06:58

I think you are on the wrong horse. If you want to add custom properties to a file check out http://calummclellan.comHe has a API called Structured storage under the code section.hth

peter parker 2010-10-24 21:12:14

@peter parker: Interesting. It looks like the Structure Storage library only adds properties to a specific file and not to a specific file type in the shell. Do you know if this is the case?

Jakob Christensen 2010-10-26 14:59:30

Jakob, afaik you have to open a file with the api and add the custom property.

peter parker 2010-10-27 07:55:51

Answer 4

A:

Have you had a look at the Windows API Code Pack? I am not sure if the Code Pack can add properties to file types but I know it can be used for editing existing properties so it may be worth a look.

Jakob Christensen 2010-10-26 10:56:42

Jakob thankyou for ur answer, yeah i will look into this but at first glance this Code pack is for win7 i have used it for win7 taskbar features. what i am trying to do is being even done in Windows vista by all programs like MS WORD , it shows custom properties like Authors and pages for a docx file.

jaminator 2010-10-27 05:35:58

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