Toolbar

This chapter provides a detailed description and some additional and useful information about the Shell Extension Composer’s toolbar.

	This toolbar button closes the application. Note that in case of unsaved changes the program will ask to save these changes before finally closing.
	This toolbar button loads Shell Extensions from an external XML file. Note that in case of unsaved changes the program will ask to save these changes before loading a different configuration.
	This toolbar button serializes the current Shell Extension configuration into an external XML file. The button provides an additional drop–down menu that allows to decide between saving into the current file (identical to clicking the button itself) and saving into a file using a different filename. Note that clicking this toolbar button opens the Save As… dialog if the current Shell Extension configuration does not have a filename.
	This toolbar button closes the current Shell Extension configuration. Note that closing a valid but not yet saved Shell Extension configuration will perform the “Save” action (or the “Save As…” action if no filename is available). Also note that trying to close an unsaved but invalid Shell Extension configuration will close this configuration without any save action. For more information about validating Shell Extensions see here.
	This toolbar button either adds a new Shell Extension entry or appends a new menu item to the current Shell Extension. The button also includes a drop–down menu that allows to add a new Shell Extension or to append a new menu item separately. For more information about creating Shell Extensions see here.
	This toolbar button allows to modify selected menu items. Note, button [Edit] is only enabled if one menu item is selected in the list of available menu items. Clicking this button will open the Menu Item Editor dialog box. Double–clicking a selected menu item will also open this dialog box.
	This toolbar button deletes either one or more menu items or a complete Shell Extension entry. Note, button [Delete] is only enabled if at least one menu item is selected in the list of available menu items. This button is also enabled if the menu item list is empty. In case on an empty menu item list this button will delete current Shell Extension entry!
	This toolbar button allows an import of already installed Shell Extensions from the Windows Registry. This means that button [Import] remains disabled as long as no Shell Extension is registered on current system. Note administration rights are not required to import PlexData Shell Extension from the Registry.
	This toolbar button allows an installation of pre–configured Shell Extensions on the system. Note that button [Register] is only enabled either if no configuration is currently loaded of if current configuration is already saved to the disk. This is because a Shell Extension registration is based on having a configuration file which includes all necessary information. More details about registering Shell Extensions can be found in chapter Registration. Additionally, if currently no Shell Extension configuration is loaded, then clicking this button will show the Open File… dialog to determine a configuration’s filename to be installed. Be aware, administration privileges are required to perform a registration!
	This toolbar button allows to uninstall already installed Shell Extensions from the Windows Registry. This means that button [Unregister] remains disabled as long as no Shell Extension is registered on current system. On the other hand, if at least one Shell Extension is registered then this button will open the Unregister Dialog box. Additional information about Shell Extension removal can be found in chapter Deregistration. Be aware, administration privileges are required to perform this deregistration!
	This toolbar button opens the Properties Dialog box where a user can leave some general information about current Shell Extension configuration.
	This toolbar button shows the program’s help file. Note that button [Help] also includes a drop–down menu that allows either to show the help file or to open the program’s About box.

Context Menu

It is also possible to adapt the program’s toolbar to a user’s needs. To do this, simply right–click anywhere on the toolbar and the context menu becomes visible (see following figure). Now one of available options can be selected and the changes will be done immediately.

Toolbar Context Menu.

Be aware, it is not possible to un–check all the options because otherwise the toolbar would disappear. Therefore, if it is wanted to toggle the current settings it is required to check another option before un–checking the option to be disabled.