ShellBoost binaries setup

To write a ShellBoost shell namespace extension, you’ll first need to download ShellBoost binaries. Follow these steps:

Connect to the ShellBoost site: https://www.shellboost.com

Sign up and/or login. This is mandatory to be able to get a free trial ShellBoost package

Open to the upper right menu, and select the “Projects” menu item

You should see a sample project that has been automatically created the first time you created your account on the ShellBoost site. Note this project has an expiration date:

 

 

Click on “Download Project Files”. You should get a .ZIP file that contains all necessary files. Among these files, you will find two ShellBoost native proxy assemblies, with a name like “ShellBoost.<id>.x64.dll” and “ShellBoost.<id>.x86.dll”. The <id> value is unique to your sample project. NOTE: the download can take quite a time (even minutes) to complete as the server prepares the binaries corresponding to your project, so please be patient.

If you’re not looking for advanced configuration, this is all you need to get started.

Unless you need a ShellBoost update, if you haven’t changed the project characteristics in any way, you won’t need to download the project files again.

Updates

The list of ShellBoost available updates for a given project is displayed in the drop-down list on top of the project page. The content of the list depends on the project license (trial vs commercial, etc.).

Project characteristics

The default project characteristics are fine if you are starting with ShellBoost. However, if you choose to change the project characteristics, you will see as screen like this:

This describes what you can change. These changes are embedded into the binaries you download.

If you change any option (including the expiration date, if it’s a trial version), you will have to:

unregister the existing native binaries using ShellBoost API or any external COM registration too. See the Deployment chapter for that.

download the project binary files again,

replace these binary files in your project(s). You may have to stop applications that are using your old binaries (Explorer, 3^rd parties, etc.). See the Troubleshooting chapter for that.

register again,

run your project.

Description of characteristics:

Name: it’s the technical name, used like a human identifier (as opposed to the Identifier which you cannot change).

Display Name: it’s the name that the Windows Shell uses when it displays the extension.

Tooltip: the tooltip that the Windows Shell uses when it must display a tooltip.

Namespace Location: describes where your Shell Namespace Extension will be located in the Shell namespace.

Refresh Button Text: the text of the “Refresh” button that the Windows Shell displays when it cannot communicate with your program

Refresh Error Text: the error text that the Windows Shell displays, aside the “Refresh” button, when it cannot communicate with your program

Icons: the set of icons that’s used to display your extension in the Windows Shell.

Attributes: this is a set of technical attributes, detailed in the next chapter. These attributes exist on all shell items but must be defined also on the Shell Namespace Extension root. There are documented on MSDN here: SFGAO

Attributes detailed

We will detail here the SFGAO attributes, since they are important to understand, event when using ShellBoost. The combination of selected attributes is a 32-bit integer bit map. In fact, ShellBoost has a .NET enum named SFGAO in the ShellBoost.Core.WindowsShell namespace that matches the native values, in case it would be needed. The most used SFGAO values also have an equivalent .NET property in the ShellItem class.

MSDN name	MSDN description	ShellBoost Comment	ShellBoost Shell Item equivalent Property	Item Default Value	Folder Default Value
SFGAO_CANCOPY	The specified items can be copied.		CanCopy	False	False
SFGAO_CANMOVE	The specified items can be moved.		CanMove	False	False
SFGAO_CANLINK	Shortcuts can be created for the specified items.		CanLink	True	True
SFGAO_STORAGE	The specified items can be bound to an IStorage object.	Should not be changed if item content is used.		True	True
SFGAO_CANRENAME	The specified items can be renamed.		CanRename	False	False
SFGAO_CANDELETE	The specified items can be deleted.		CanDelete	False	False
SFGAO_HASPROPSHEET	The specified items have property sheets.		HasPropertySheet	True	True
SFGAO_DROPTARGET	The specified items are drop targets.		IsDropTarget	False	False
SFGAO_SYSTEM	Windows 7 and later. The specified items are system items.			False	False
SFGAO_ENCRYPTED	The specified items are encrypted and might require special presentation.			False	False
SFGAO_ISSLOW	Accessing the item (through IStream or other storage interfaces) is expected to be a slow operation.			False	False
SFGAO_GHOSTED	The specified items are shown as dimmed and unavailable to the user.			False	False
SFGAO_LINK	The specified items are shortcuts.			False	False
SFGAO_SHARE	The specified objects are shared.			False	False
SFGAO_READONLY	The specified items are read-only. In the case of folders, this means that new items cannot be created in those folders. This should not be confused with the behavior specified by the file attribute Read-Only flag.			False	False
SFGAO_HIDDEN	The item is hidden and should not be displayed unless the Show hidden files and folders option is enabled in Folder Settings.		IsHidden	False	False
SFGAO_NONENUMERATED	The items are non-enumerated items and should be hidden.	Should not be changed.		False	False
SFGAO_NEWCONTENT	The items contain new content, as defined by the particular application.			False	False
SFGAO_STREAM	Indicates that the item has a stream associated with it.	Should not be changed if item content is used.		True	True
SFGAO_STORAGEANCESTOR	Children of this item are accessible through IStream or IStorage. Those children are flagged with SFGAO_STORAGE or SFGAO_STREAM.	Should not be changed if item content is used.		False	True
SFGAO_VALIDATE	When specified as input, SFGAO_VALIDATE instructs the folder to validate that the items contained in a folder or Shell item array exist.	Should not be changed.		False	False
SFGAO_REMOVABLE	The specified items are on removable media or are themselves removable devices.			False	False
SFGAO_COMPRESSED	The specified items are compressed.			False	False
SFGAO_BROWSABLE	The specified items can be hosted inside a web browser or Windows Explorer frame.			False	True
SFGAO_FILESYSANCESTOR	The specified folders are either file system folders or contain at least one descendant (child, grandchild, or later) that is a file system (SFGAO_FILESYSTEM) folder.	Already handled for physical ShellFolders instances		False	False
SFGAO_FOLDER	The specified items are folders.	Should not be changed.		False	True
SFGAO_FILESYSTEM	The specified folders or files are part of the file system (that is, they are files, directories, or root directories).	Already handled for physical ShellFolders and ShellItems instances		True (physical) or False (virtual)	True (physical) or False (virtual)
SFGAO_HASSUBFOLDER	The specified folders have subfolders.	Already handled, but can be changed if needed (when we are sure the folder contains nothing).		False	True