SharpShell server .dll NOT signed

Question

I need to develop a Shell Context Menu extension that references some other custom assemblies... I don't want to assign a Strong Name Key to those custom assemblies!

The guide I followed to do this uses the SharpShell project and illustrates how to sign (but does not expalins why) the assembly... and this is my problem: if I sign my final .dll then I have many errors during my project's building phase, because some assemblies my project references are not strongly named ("Referenced assembly does not have a strong name").

In general, googling about the C# Shell Extension implementation, all best tutorials I found sign the final assembly... is it mandatory?

Without signing the assembly ServerManager.exe returns this error: "The file 'XYZ.dll' is not a SharpShell Server".

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 16 '16 at 15:33

Finally I've solved my troubles... the SharpShell.dll file obtained through NuGet was a different version of the ServerManager.exe ones. Uninstalling the SharpShell NuGet package and directly referencing the SharpShell.dll you find inside the ServerManager folder was my solution!

Moreover, I was looking between the article comments... please read this question.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 01 '17 at 11:16

You don't need to use old DLL. Please use this code directly, without using ServerManager.exe.

private static ServerEntry serverEntry = null;
        public static ServerEntry SelectedServerEntry
        {
            get
            {
                if (serverEntry == null)
                    serverEntry = ServerManagerApi.LoadServer("xxx.dll");
                return serverEntry;
            }
        }

public static ServerEntry LoadServer(string path)
        {
            try
            {
                //  Create a server entry for the server.
                var serverEntry = new ServerEntry();

                //  Set the data.
                serverEntry.ServerName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(path);
                serverEntry.ServerPath = path;

                //  Create an assembly catalog for the assembly and a container from it.
                var catalog = new AssemblyCatalog(Path.GetFullPath(path));
                var container = new CompositionContainer(catalog);

                //  Get the exported server.
                var server = container.GetExport<ISharpShellServer>().Value;

                serverEntry.ServerType = server.ServerType;
                serverEntry.ClassId = server.GetType().GUID;
                serverEntry.Server = server;

                return serverEntry;
            }
            catch (Exception)
            {
                //  It's almost certainly not a COM server.
                MessageBox.Show("The file '" + Path.GetFileName(path) + "' is not a SharpShell Server.", "Warning");
                return null;
            }
        }

Install code:

ServerRegistrationManager.InstallServer(SelectedServerEntry.Server, RegistrationType.OS64Bit, true);

Register code:

ServerRegistrationManager.RegisterServer(SelectedServerEntry.Server, RegistrationType.OS64Bit);

SharpShell server .dll NOT signed

2 Answers2