I've recently discovered that the shell commands displayed in RCM menus can be managed from Settings> File Types. I've successfully managed commands in Files and Folders, All Folders, and Folder. However, file type 'All Files' is blank even though I have lots of commands in the RegKey '*'.
Is this a bug?
Opus 12.21 (x32), Win 7 Pro (x32)
I think * is All Files And Folders, not All Files.
But you also won't find every type of command other software can add in the file type editor for modification.
Hi Leo,
Thanks for responding.
The context of my question is only the commonly used 'shell' commands. I know shellex commands really complicate matters in the RCM menu, and I also know there are some rarely used registry keys that can add shell commands.
I've started to use the Opus file-types for generic objects to add and delete keys knowing that the registry is directly updated.
The generic keys are:
Opus (Win-Explorer)
All Folders (Directory)
All Files and Folders (AllFileSystemObjects)
Folders (Folders)
The terms used make the equivalancing extremely complicated. For example, folders are folders but all-folders are directory
The apparent bug I'm pointing out is that the Opus 'All Files' file-type does not reflect what is in the '*' registry.
I have evidence that shows 'All Files' equates to the '*' registry key. I will send it if required but it's long and complicated.
Now I think about it, * matches everything, even things which are not files or directories. Editing that is quite unusual.
We don't include that in the file type editor. If you need to edit those commands, you'll need to edit the registry directly.
Hi Leo, I hate to put a counter view to someone that knows so much but I think in this topic you don't have the full picture.
The reg key "*" doesn't match everything. See if you can find any of the "*' commands in a folder RCM menu. They are not there. Granted, the RCM menus are highly confusing and most of the time a complete mess but there is logic there if one looks.
The reg key "*" is not everything, it's all files and NOT folders.
All Opus file types have a one-to-one relationship with registry keys EXCEPT Opus 'All Files". That's why I'm convinced it is a bug. Can we run this past someone that was involved in the architecture of file types in Opus? They will know what is intended.
The file-types in Opus not only provide a means of doing edits on keys (BTW, that's not a major concern to me) but they also alter the way the commands are displayed in RCM menus. Yes, they provide additional functionality. Opus-only commands can be added and the display order changed. The re-ordering can't be done in All Files because the All Files reg key is not displayed.
It's a bug not a design feature.
--Greg
My mistake. I was speaking from memory.
It's hard to find documentation on this, especially as google can't search for symbols these days, but I found this on an unofficial page, which agrees with you:
HKCR\*.
This is the base class for files of all types. You see the commands in this key on the shortcut menus of all files.
That makes sense. It's not what the Opus "All Files" type matches to, though; that type is specific to Opus, and always has been. Maybe HKCR\* didn't exist back when it was made, or we just didn't know of it at the time (this was almost 20 years ago now), but it is how it has always been and how it was designed.
The File Types editor in Opus is more there to let you add context menu items to things than it is for editing all the different types of menu items other software can add.
(Making a comprehensive context menu editor for all other software would be a gargantuan task, given how many ways menu items can be added, and filtered, many undocumented (especially the query language used for filtering), and the way Microsoft keep adding even more. Microsoft themselves gave up on this and removed their file type editor a long time ago. We kept ours because it is still very useful to be able to add menu items.)
For some things, you'll need to edit the registry or configure the things adding the items to change them.