VB Shell Programming

Registering the Property Sheet Handler

Property sheet extensions are registered in the same manner as context menus. The shell allows multiple property sheets to be defined for any given file class. These property sheets can exist in one server or across multiple servers. It’s up to you. The default property sheet is determined by setting the default value for the PropertySheetHandlers key, as shown in Figure 6.5. Additional property sheets do not need to be defined in this manner. They can just be added under PropertySheetHandlers.

Figure 6-5. Property sheet handlers in the registry

After you add the property sheet to the approved extension section of the registry, the property sheet can be accessed by right-clicking on a .rad file. When the property sheet appears, it should contain a RAD Settings dialog like the one shown in Figure 6.6.

Warning

Don’t forget to copy propext.dll to your system directory!

Figure 6-6. RAD property sheet allows every property of the file to be modified

With the property sheet extension in place, you can now change every attribute of the file. When you change the animal type, notice how our icon handler updates the shell to display the new icon for the animal. The shell extensions work together well.