To add a Windows shell context menu, let's say for .txt files - if the .txt extension in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (or in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes, doesn't really matter) has the default value (file type) txtfile - you add the command to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\yourcommand (and the command itself in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\yourcommand\command, of course) and there you go.
However, let's say the .txt extension instead has the default value Notepad++_file. Notepad++_file might be the file type for many other extensions, so if you add the command to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notepad++_file, then this command will appear for every extension associated with Notepad++.
So, the question is: how can you add a menu entry for ONLY ONE specific EXTENSION, without changing its file type, if possible at all?
P.S.: I don't want to just duplicate the file type, because future changes to the original file type won't affect the duplicated one.
Here you go:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\your custom app]
#="Open with your custom app"
"icon"="C:\\Windows\\notepad.exe,0"
"AppliesTo"=".nfo"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\your custom app\command]
#="C:\\Windows\\notepad.exe \"%1\""
The line "AppliesTo"=".nfo" does the trick.
Works perfectly on Windows 10.
It works per file extension, regardless if there is an application associated with that extension or not. Doing this way it less invasive and leaves a very small footprint in the registry.
Compare to Add menu item to windows context menu only for specific filetype
Edit:
If you want to apply that command to more than one extension use:
"AppliesTo"="System.FileName:\"*.nfo\" OR System.FileName:\"*.log\""
Credit: https://superuser.com/questions/183785/windows-7-context-menu-for-folders-if-folder-contains-certain-filetypes
Related
What I want
I want to add a custom entry to the menu that appears when right-clicking a .jpg/.jpeg for my program (editing images).
What I tried
I added to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\jpegfile\shell a key test, in there a second key command and set the (default) value of that to notepad.exe (just for testing). Because no test entry appeared in the menu, I did the same just unter HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory where it worked!
The file I click is an JPEG and the default value of HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.jpg is jpegfile.
(Also tested with txtfile but with no success.)
What did I do wrong to add a custom command to specific filetypes only?
What you did was correct. Possible reasons why it didn't work include:
Windows Update has an annoying tendency in Windows 10 to reset file associations to Windows defaults all the time.
You added this facility to the jpegfile key, but the type .jpg may be associated with a different file-type key.
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.jpg and see what the association is (alternatively, type ASSOC .jpg in Command Prompt). If it isn't jpegfile, check what it is, in case you actually want to keep that association.
To give you an example, I have a working right-click menu entry for .png files, which runs the pngout utility on them. I did that by editing the Registry. My current association for .png files is FastStone Image Viewer:
So I changed the shell menu for FastStone's file type key:
And now my right-click menu entry works.
How to create a .vm (velocity template file) from command line in Windows
Based on you comment I assume what you really mean is how to made file which by default opens with some specific program you have. Here is several thing to be taken into account:
To create .vm file from command line you can use this question
By default windows doesn't show file extensions in explorer - so you won't actually see that it is .vm file in explorer. Reffer this guide to show file extensions.
There is such thing as file associations - e.g. default program to be use when you open file (for example double click). Also this affect icon shown for the file in explorer.
So to summarize - file created from command line(using method from referred question) have .vm extension. You don't see this cause your windows settings doesn't show extensions. You assume it is text file cause notepad++ icon shown for it as well as it opens with notepad++. That's a wrong assumption - simple you have notepad++ associated to open .vm files. If you want to use different program - you need either:
Change file associations (see link above).
Use open with option to open file with another program (right click menu option)
Use Open function from inside your program.
How would one go about adding a submenu item to the windows explorer context menu (like for example 7-Zip does) for a Java application?
I am aware of two ways to do it. The fancy way is to write a windows shell extension, which is how powerarchiver, winzip etc do it I believe (this involves running code to determine what the context menu items will be dependent on the file chosen).
The simple way, for simple functionality, is you can add an entry in the registry :
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\<file type>\shell\<display text>\command
Where <file type> is the files that this context menu should apply to i.e. *, .mdb, .doc
and
<display text> what you want to show in the context menu.
Then add the default string as a path to the application you want to launch from the context menu, and you can use %1 to refer to the currently selected file i.e. for MS Access I use :
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\MS Access 2000\command
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\MSACCESS.EXE" "%1"
This then adds a context menu item for any file I select (hence the *), which allows me to launch it in MS Access 2000.
Of course, always back up your registry before hacking it.
Your program could do this during install, or on first run.
You could also package the java program in an installer like NSIS and you could use NSIS script to generate explorer context menu
I know that many questions are asked about how customizing the shell context menu, but what I've tried yet doesn't work so I'm adding a new question.
I'd like to add an entry "Open with Log Viewer" in the context menu when right-clicking on files with ".log" extension, to not change the default application associated with .log files (notepad) but allow the user to choose a custom application to open them.
To do this, I opened the registry key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.log, and added some keys shell\OpenWithLogViewer\command with the correct values, but the entry is not displayed when I right-click on a file with .log extension.
Would you know how to fix this?
The key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.log has for default value txtfile, and contains a subkey called PersistentHandler. Can this subkey be the origin of the problem?
Add another registry key (e.g. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\logfile), create the shell structure below that key and change the default value of the .log key to logfile. One way to do this is by saving the following lines to a .reg file and merging that file into the registry.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.log]
#="logfile"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\logfile]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\logfile\shell]
#="OpenWithLogViewer"
; make OpenWithLogViewer the default action
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\logfile\shell\OpenWithLogViewer]
#="Open with &Log Viewer"
; set label and access key
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\logfile\shell\OpenWithLogViewer\command]
#="\"C:\\path\\to\\logviewer.exe\" %1"
This separates the type (logfile) from the extension (.log). That way you can define the possible actions for a type in one place and associate arbitrary extensions with that type.
Note that you can also define this on a per-user basis by using HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes instead of HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. User entries take precedence over system entries. This is useful when you want to change file associations or add custom actions for your own user, but don't have admin privileges on the system.
If you want to add a entry for a file extension you don't "own" and you never want to be the default action then you can use the SystemFileAssociations key:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.log\shell\mycommand]
#="My Command"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.log\shell\mycommand\command]
#="\"c:\\path\\myapp.exe\" \"%1\""
To deal proactively with the consequences of a change to default programs, you can use HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations to register verbs and other association information. Due to their location after the ProgID in the association array, these registrations are lower priority. These SystemFileAssociationsregistrations are stable even when users change the default programs, and provide a location to register secondary verbs that will always be available for a particular file type.
This key is available on Windows XP and higher...
I need to write a shell extension for a small context menu.
unfortunately i reused the code available in open source which uses .net 4.0
now the problem is the requirement is I shud not use .NET 4.0.
Instead is there a way where in I can make an entry in the registry so that the shell extension pops out
My requirement is ....
1. The shell extension context menu should display only on .txt, .csv, .xls files.
2. Upon click of shell extension I need to start a different process, by passing the full name of the file on which we click as parameter to the process.
If you just want to add items to the context menu for certain file types, and in response launch an external application, you don't need to write a shell extension. Registry entries are enough to express this.
As the http://www.jfitz.com/tips/rclick_custom.html article you linked to says, for each file type you want to act on, you need to add a new registry key under the Shell subkey, then create a subkey called command, whose value is the name of the application to launch.
To pass the name of the file you clicked on to this external application, add "%1" to the command. Include the quotes, so that if the file's name contains spaces, it will still be treated as one token by the receiving program.