IPP Preview in File Explorer

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Tobias Escher
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IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Tobias Escher »

Feature wish :)
Currently IPP files do now show a preview when selected in Windows Explorer/File Explorer.
Other graphics applications have this feature (Affinity Photo, for example). Is there a chance this might make it into Impict?
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Alexander Halser
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

Hi Tobias,
We'll put it on the wish list. Actually, Impict does have a preview in its own file open dialog, Help+Manual as well. Just Windows Explorer does not recognize the format natively. It is technically possible to add 3rd party format previews to Windows, but that needs to be installed and registered locally (which will defeat the way the server version works) and for 64 bit Windows versions, there has to be a separate version - Impict is 32 bit. So it's a bit more than "just adding a preview".
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Tobias Escher
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Tobias Escher »

Yeah, stuff like that always sounds easier in theory than it is in real life :)
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

The most recent 7.3 beta implements a preview handler for IPP images. However, this only works for locally installed copies of Help+Manual, not for the server version, because the preview handler needs to be registered on the local machine (by an admin). The setup does this.

http://download.ec-software.com/help-an ... 0-beta.exe
Alexander Halser
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Tobias Escher
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Tobias Escher »

WOW - that's great!
Unfortunately it does not seem to work on my machine (Win 10 Aniiversary Update).
I have installed the beta and it does not show previews in File Explorer.
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Alexander Halser
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

Can you re-install H&M as admin? The preview works fine for me on Win10.
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Alexander Halser
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Tobias Escher
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Tobias Escher »

Re-installed H+M as admin, just to make sure, but it still does not show a preview :(
Does it maybe only work with newly created ipp files?
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Tim Green
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Tobias,

Did you restart Windows after installing the latest Help+Manual? Since it's a change in Windows you may need to do that. I've now done this on two Windows 10 machines (a Surface Pro 4 and a 4K desktop machine) and it's working fine on both. 8)
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Tobias Escher
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Tobias Escher »

Yes, I restarted (just restarted again for good measure) and the previews do not show up.
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Tim Green »

Tobias Escher wrote:Yes, I restarted (just restarted again for good measure) and the previews do not show up.
I'm sure that Alexander will get onto this, but the increasing number of unique errors you experience on your systems are beginning to make me suspect that your Windows installation is at the very least strange... :?
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Tobias Escher
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Tobias Escher »

haha - I would tend to agree, but for some reason all these errors always happen on all my systems, which have (apart from using the same Windows version) nothing in common.

EDIT:
Maybe it is important: I see that in Alexander's screenshot above, the ipp files show a preview, but do not have an icon. On my systems, they have an icon (the "i") but do not show a preview...
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Alexander Halser
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

Hi Tobias,

There are no icons or thumbnails of IPP images, this is an entirely different matter. Just the preview pane should display a preview, if the preview pane is on.
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Alexander Halser
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

You could try to register the preview handler manually. To do this, create 2 batch (.bat) files with a text editor, then run them as admin. This is what the installer/uninstaller actually does.

Batch file to register the preview handler:

Code: Select all

regsvr32 "C:\...pathtoHelpandManual...\ImpictPreviewHandler.dll"
Batch file to UN-register the preview handler:

Code: Select all

regsvr32 /u "C:\...pathtoHelpandManual...\ImpictPreviewHandler.dll"
Run the batch file in console mode, so that you can see the results on the command line. Does it succeed? The un-register command only works if all Explorer windows that show or had shown an IPP preview are closed.
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Tobias Escher
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Tobias Escher »

Hi Alexander,

weird - I _do_ see icons for the ipp files (see screenshot).
Will try the batch file and report back!

cheers

Tobias
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Tobias Escher
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Re: IPP Preview in File Explorer

Unread post by Tobias Escher »

Tried the bat. Started as an admin.
It says that the handler was successfully registered, but even after restarting, no previews show :(
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