LogicNP Software Knowledge Base And FAQ

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Deploying extensions with the RegisterExtension.exe or RegisterExtensionDotNet20.exe utility

Extensions developed with EZShellExtensions can be easily installed and uninstalled to the end-user's system using the RegisterExtension.exe (or RegisterExtensionDotNet20.exe for shell extensions developed using Visual Studio 2005/.Net 2.0) utility that comes with EZShellExtensions. The RegisterExtension.exe utility performs the same tasks as regasm.exe utility that comes with the .Net Framework but is much more easy to use. This utility can be freely used and redistributed with your program provided that you own a license for EZShellExtensions. This tool can be easily invoked during the installation and uninstallation of your program as most current install makers like InstallShield, Wise, InnoSteup and a lot of others support running of external programs during installation/uninstallation of your program.

The RegisterExtension.exe utility takes command line arguments in the following format :

The following command installs your extension on the end-user's system

RegisterExtension.exe -i {Path to LogicNP.EZShellExtensions.dll} {Path to your extension dll}

*If your shell extension is developed using Visual Studio 2005/.Net 2.0, then use the RegisterExtensionDotNet20.exe instead of RegisterExtension.exe
Example :
RegisterExtension.exe -i "c:\Program Files\My App\LogicNP.EZShellExtensions.dll" "c:\Program Files\My App\MyContextMenuExtension.dll"

Note
If you are deploying property sheet extensions, copy the LogicNP.PropSheetExtensionHelper.dll file to the same path as the LogicNP.EZShellExtensions.dll file.


The following command uninstalls your extension from the end-user's system

RegisterExtension.exe -u {Path to your extension dll} {Path to LogicNP.EZShellExtensions.dll}

*If your shell extension is developed using Visual Studio 2005/.Net 2.0, then use the RegisterExtensionDotNet20.exe instead of RegisterExtension.exe
Example :
RegisterExtension.exe -u "c:\Program Files\My App\MyContextMenuExtension.dll" "c:\Program Files\My App\LogicNP.EZShellExtensions.dll"

Note that the assembly files passed as arguments to RegisterExtension.exe utility must exist on the file system. Therefore, the best time to run this utility during installation of your program is after all other steps of your installation are complete ( in particular, after all files of the program are copied to the end-user's file system). Similarly, the best time to run this utility during uninstallation of your program is before all other steps of your installation ( in particular, before all files of the program are deleted from the end-user's file system).

Deploying on x64 systems

To specifically register the shell extension in the 64-bit registry hive, use the RegisterExtensionDotNet20_x64.exe utility that comes with the installation. This enables the shell extension in all x64 applications.

Similarly, to specifically register the shell extension in the 32-bit registry hive, use the RegisterExtensionDotNet20_x86.exe utility that comes with the installation. This enables the shell extension in all x86 applications.