HOWTO: Invoke the Shell's File Properties Dialog Box

ID: Q179377

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Win32 Application Programming Interface (API)

SUMMARY

You can invoke the shell's file Properties dialog box for a file with the ShellExecuteEx API. In the SHELLEXECUTEINFO structure, set the SEE_MASK_INVOKEIDLIST flag and the "properties" verb as follows:

   SHELLEXECUTEINFO sei;

   ZeroMemory(&sei,sizeof(sei));
   sei.cbSize = sizeof(sei);
   sei.lpFile = szPathOfFileToLaunchPropertiesOf;
   sei.lpVerb = "properties";
   sei.fMask  = SEE_MASK_INVOKEIDLIST;
   ShellExecuteEx(&sei);

MORE INFORMATION

The SEE_MASK_INVOKEIDLIST mask enables ShellExecuteEx to invoke dynamic verbs added by context menu extensions, as well as verbs statically added in the registry under the file class' shell key.

Additional query words:

Keywords          : kbLib kbNTOS400 kbWinOS2000 kbWinOS95 kbWinOS98 kbGrpShell 
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: December 17, 1998