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  • registry & filetype - adding a single context menu item and /not/ have

    From R.Wieser@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jul 10 12:39:40 2022
    XPost: alt.windows7.general

    Hello all,

    I've just added an icon for a certain filetype to the registry as well as a 'special action' for in its context menu.

    The problem is that this single 'special action' is also regarded as the default action, meaning it gets executed when double-clicking the file. :-(

    Other than adding another context menu entry (like "open", which than
    becomes the default one), is there a way to tell Windows to /not/
    automatically take my single 'special action' as also being the default one (adding a special value to the key perhaps) ?

    Regards,
    Rudy Wieser

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  • From Mayayana@21:1/5 to R.Wieser on Sun Jul 10 08:21:30 2022
    XPost: alt.windows7.general

    "R.Wieser" <address@not.available> wrote

    | Other than adding another context menu entry (like "open", which than
    | becomes the default one), is there a way to tell Windows to /not/
    | automatically take my single 'special action' as also being the default
    one
    | (adding a special value to the key perhaps) ?
    |
    I don't know if this will apply in this case, but I have
    numerous Open With subkeys and they show up
    alphabetically. So, for example, if I want Notepad, then Firefox,
    the IrfanView I might name the key "Open with QFirefox"
    and "Open with RIrfanView". (The text for the menu is in the
    default value, so the name of the key doesn't matter.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From R.Wieser@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jul 10 15:14:04 2022
    XPost: alt.windows7.general

    Mayayana,

    I don't know if this will apply in this case, but I
    have numerous Open With subkeys and they show up
    alphabetically.

    I've got only a single entry (the 'special action'), so sorting isn't a problem. :-)

    What is is that that single entry is automaticaly also made the "double
    click on the file" action - which is not what I want.

    My "hack of the moment" is having added an "Open" key (which seems to be
    placed at the top, regardless of sorting order) - without giving it
    "command" key. But that means that I now have *two* entries in the context menu (bleargh!) - even though the "Open" one just throws a "no program assocciated" error.

    Better than nothing, but not quite what I want.

    Regards,
    Rudy Wieser

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From R.Wieser@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jul 10 17:57:38 2022
    XPost: alt.windows7.general

    David,

    Is the filetype new, something you created?

    Yes. For the purpose of the icon and the single context-menu action.

    If so, get FileTypesMan from Nirsoft

    Thank you for that suggestion, but I'm rather old-school and would like to
    be able to make those changes manually (with the aid of RegEdit). I'm also
    no fanboy of installing random software.

    If you have that software installed, could you perhaps make such a change
    and check what the changes are ?

    Regards,
    Rudy Wieser

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From David E. Ross@21:1/5 to R.Wieser on Sun Jul 10 08:35:52 2022
    XPost: alt.windows7.general

    On 7/10/2022 3:39 AM, R.Wieser wrote:
    Hello all,

    I've just added an icon for a certain filetype to the registry as well as a 'special action' for in its context menu.

    The problem is that this single 'special action' is also regarded as the default action, meaning it gets executed when double-clicking the file. :-(

    Other than adding another context menu entry (like "open", which than
    becomes the default one), is there a way to tell Windows to /not/ automatically take my single 'special action' as also being the default one (adding a special value to the key perhaps) ?

    Regards,
    Rudy Wieser



    Is the filetype new, something you created? If so, get FileTypesMan
    from Nirsoft at <http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/file_types_manager.html>.
    Note that you really should read the entire Web page there before
    installing FileTypesMan. Note also that, you can have only one icon for
    a filetype.

    1. Once you have setup FileTypesMan, launch it.

    2. In the list of file extensions in the top half of the window, find
    the extension of your special filetype and select it.

    3. If Open (or whatever defaut action you want for that filetype) does
    not appear in the bottom half of the window, right-click and New Action
    from the pull-down context menu. Create a default action (e.g., Open),
    being sure to check the checkbox for Default Action.

    4. If Default is Yes for your "special action", select that action in
    the bottom half of the window, right-click, select Edit Selected Action, uncheck the checkbox for Default Action, and select the OK button.

    --
    David E. Ross
    "A Message to Those Who Are Not Vaccinated"
    See my <http://www.rossde.com/index.html#vaccine>.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From R.Wieser@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jul 10 18:20:45 2022
    XPost: alt.windows7.general

    My question:

    is there a way to tell Windows to /not/ automatically take my single
    'special action' as also being the default one

    Some more googeling and having been lucky enough to have used the "correct" combination of search words gave me a page with the answer :

    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/shell/context-menu-handlers

    It mentions how you can select the default item by putting it into the "(Default)" value of the "Shell" key. My entering an empty string ("")
    caused the desired effect.

    Simple, but you have to know about it. :-)

    Regards,
    Rudy Wieser

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Mayayana@21:1/5 to R.Wieser on Sun Jul 10 13:35:22 2022
    XPost: alt.windows7.general

    "R.Wieser" <address@not.available> wrote

    | My "hack of the moment" is having added an "Open" key (which seems to be
    | placed at the top, regardless of sorting order) - without giving it
    | "command" key. But that means that I now have *two* entries in the
    context
    | menu (bleargh!) - even though the "Open" one just throws a "no program
    | assocciated" error.
    |
    I don't understand whythis matters. Are you hanging
    around the keyboard again? I don't remember EVER using
    a default menu item and wouldn't know how to do it.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From R.Wieser@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jul 10 20:00:19 2022
    XPost: alt.windows7.general

    Mayayana,

    I don't understand whythis matters.

    Than you do not understand why I referred to it as a 'special action' : I do *not* want it to be activated by accident. Having to right-click and chose
    the action from the context menu prohibits that. Having that (currently single) action made the default for a double-click is the opposite of it.

    Are you hanging around the keyboard again?

    It has nothing to do with the keyboard. But yes, my desktop has got a
    keyboard attached. Its normally no more than 30 cm infront of me. :-)

    I don't remember EVER using a default menu item

    You're using it almost every time you double-click a document.

    and wouldn't know how to do it.

    Simples: right-click a document and select the bolded entry. :-p

    Regards,
    Rudy Wieser

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From David E. Ross@21:1/5 to R.Wieser on Sun Jul 10 11:59:54 2022
    XPost: alt.windows7.general

    On 7/10/2022 8:57 AM, R.Wieser wrote:
    David,

    Is the filetype new, something you created?

    Yes. For the purpose of the icon and the single context-menu action.

    If so, get FileTypesMan from Nirsoft

    Thank you for that suggestion, but I'm rather old-school and would like to
    be able to make those changes manually (with the aid of RegEdit). I'm also no fanboy of installing random software.

    If you have that software installed, could you perhaps make such a change
    and check what the changes are ?

    Regards,
    Rudy Wieser

    Yes, I have had FileTypesMan for several years now and have used it
    often. Since installing it (and most other Nirsoft applications) merely involves unzipping a Zip file and moving the results to some folder, I
    do not have an archive of installation logs showing when I first started
    using FileTypesMan; but the folder containing FileTypesMan -- and only FileTypesMan -- is more than seven years old. Thus, it is likely I
    installed when I had Windows 7 installed in December 2014.

    I used FileTypesMan to create the filetype atxt_auto_file with extension
    .atxt. That is a plain text file that opens by default with Wordpad
    instead of Notepad.

    I have used it to change icons for some file types. When I update some applications, however, they change the icons back to their originals. I
    then use FileTypesMan to restore my preferred icons from a folder of
    icons that I created.

    I also used FileTypesMan to prune context menus for various filetypes.

    By the way, before I install any new application or update an existing application, I scan the installer file with AVG AntiVirus, Malwarebytes,
    and Microsoft Security Essesntials after making sure they are all
    currently updated. (Only AVG runs continuously on my PC.)

    --
    David E. Ross
    "A Message to Those Who Are Not Vaccinated"
    See my <http://www.rossde.com/index.html#vaccine>.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From David E. Ross@21:1/5 to R.Wieser on Sun Jul 10 12:04:21 2022
    XPost: alt.windows7.general

    On 7/10/2022 9:20 AM, R.Wieser wrote:
    My question:

    is there a way to tell Windows to /not/ automatically take my single
    'special action' as also being the default one

    Some more googeling and having been lucky enough to have used the "correct" combination of search words gave me a page with the answer :

    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/shell/context-menu-handlers

    It mentions how you can select the default item by putting it into the "(Default)" value of the "Shell" key. My entering an empty string ("") caused the desired effect.

    Simple, but you have to know about it. :-)

    Regards,
    Rudy Wieser

    I avoid making changes in my Windows registry whenever an alternative
    (e.g., FileTypesMan) is available. No, I am not concerned about the
    risk of corrupting the registry. However, some changes require
    additional "housekeeping" changes that might not be readily apparent.
    Tools such as FireTypesMan do the necessary "housekeeping".

    --
    David E. Ross
    "A Message to Those Who Are Not Vaccinated"
    See my <http://www.rossde.com/index.html#vaccine>.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From R.Wieser@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jul 10 22:03:12 2022
    XPost: alt.windows7.general

    David,

    I avoid making changes in my Windows registry whenever an
    alternative (e.g., FileTypesMan) is available.

    You mean "making *manual* changes". :-)

    It looks like I'm pretty-much your polar opposite : if I can make the
    changes myself (manually or by way of some vbscript that I write myself) I'm not going to install software for it.

    As of yet I've still have to make a change which will bring down the OS.
    And over the years I've made quite a few of them.

    Thanks for the suggestion though.

    Regards,
    Rudy Wieser

    P.s.
    I hope you noticed that I found the solution ? Just a single value in an already existing key.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Mayayana@21:1/5 to R.Wieser on Sun Jul 10 18:08:59 2022
    XPost: alt.windows7.general

    "R.Wieser" <address@not.available> wrote

    |
    | Than you do not understand why I referred to it as a 'special action' : I
    do
    | *not* want it to be activated by accident. Having to right-click and
    chose
    | the action from the context menu prohibits that. Having that (currently
    | single) action made the default for a double-click is the opposite of it.
    |
    Ah, I see. Learn something new every day. I just assumed
    double-click always meant open. So you want to be able to
    double click your new file type and have nothing happen.
    Makes sense now. :)

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  • From R.Wieser@21:1/5 to All on Mon Jul 11 10:35:03 2022
    XPost: alt.windows7.general

    Mayayana,

    Ah, I see. Learn something new every day. I just
    assumed double-click always meant open.

    Pretty-much the same here. Imagine my surprise when I saw my single action being bolded. :-(

    So you want to be able to double click your new file
    type and have nothing happen. Makes sense now. :)

    Yep. :-)

    Regards,
    Rudy Wieser

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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