With ShellBrowser WPF Components you can access, edit, and add features known from the Windows Explorer to your WPF app. The components are written in C# but can be used with other .NET languages and contain the most important visual components to quickly build custom dialogs or integrate Explorer-like functionality in your application.

ShellBrowser WPF Components are compatible with all current versions of Windows (32-bit and 64-bit) and Visual Studio.

Easy to Use

Visual Components speed up development and make your job much easier.

Various Use Cases

ShellBrowser contains the controls you need for any WPF project you are working on.

Highly Customizable

You can easily control look and behavior and quickly build custom dialogs.

All Included Components

You are developing in WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) and want to directly include Windows shell functionalities? With ShellBrowser WPF Components you can easily access, edit, and add features known from the Windows Explorer to your WPF app. Use these flexible and customizable components for a familiar interface, speeding up development and making your job much easier. All components are written in C# but can be used with other .NET languages. No fees and no external dependencies!

Controls

ExplorerBrowser

Use the ExplorerBrowser to add an entire Windows Explorer to your application. Easily integrate a wide range of features in your app. The WPF component minimally consists of a folder view. You can hide other panes such as a navigation tree, a file preview or details pane and command bars or display them at any time as needed. Using properties and events the ExplorerBrowser is widely controllable via code.

ShellTreeView

Display the shell namespace of Microsoft Windows in a tree looking and behaving like the Windows Explorer's left pane with a ShellTreeView. You can control and adapt the look and functionality of the tree, including multiple roots and "Quick Access" from Windows Explorer, displaying of files, shell context menus and drag-and-drop. The component can be easily synchronized with other ShellBrowser WPF components using WPF binding or a ShellControlConnector.

ShellListView

Display the contents of a folder in a list looking and behaving like the right pane of the Windows Explorer and customize it according to your needs using the ShellListView component. Features include various view styles, including thumbnail and details and tiles view, full automatic drag-and-drop support, customizable shell context menus, and column handling. The component can be easily synchronized with other ShellBrowser WPF components using WPF binding or a ShellControlConnector.

ShellComboBox and ShellAutoCompleteTextBox

Use the ShellComboBox to create a fully configurable Windows Explorer combo box for shell objects. Via the edit and auto completion mode you can select a path by typing directly into the control. An easy customizable set of locations can be reached quickly via the integrated dropdown list in the ShellComboBox.

ShellAddressBar

The main part of a ShellAddressBar provides breadcrumb navigation known from Windows File Explorer. The current path is hierarchically split into "breadcrumbs" that can be browsed with a click. Or users may edit paths using the in place autocomple enabled editor. The component also includes a navigation history and a fully functional searchbox as optional panes. Queries are executed using the Windows Desktop Search, thus supporting the Advanced Query Syntax known from the search box in Windows Explorer. Results of a search will be automatically presented in an attached ShellListView or ExplorerBrowser component.

ShellFilePreview

With the ShellFilePreview control you can view the content of files without opening them first. The .WPF control uses IPreviewHandlers registered in Windows for display, so the file types that can be previewed are the same as in Windows Explorer. The component can be easily synchronized with other ShellBrowser WPF components using WPF binding or a ShellControlConnector.

ShellThumbnail

Use the ShellThumbnail control to display thumbnail images of files or folders using the same API calls the Windows Explorer employs. The control can be configured to show thumbnails or icons of files and folders, so you can use them in various contexts - as standalone component to display images or as part of an item template to display file icons in custom list controls. The component can be easily synchronized with other ShellBrowser WPF components using WPF binding or a ShellControlConnector.

ShellContextMenu

The WPF ShellContextMenu can be used in place of a normal context menu in arbitrary WPF controls displaying a path or a list of paths for which it will show the shell context menu known from the Windows Explorer.

Dialogs

BrowseForFolder

The BrowseForFolder is a wrapper for the folder selection dialog of the system. It can be used in the same way as an "OpenFileDialog", but allows to select folders instead of files.

Non-visual Components

ShellChangeNotifier

With the ShellChangeNotifier component you can receive and react upon information about changes in the file system, e.g. copy, move, or delete operations as well as any other relevant shell operations, like Net Shares und Unshares or the insertion or removal of media. You can configure the events you want to receive from the change notifier and restrict the part of the namespace that shall be watched for changes.

ShellControlConnector

In WPF you can either synchronize several ShellBrowser components by binding relevant dependencies properties in the controls to your View Model. An alternative way is to use a ShellControlConnector to connect e.g. a ShellTreeView, a ShellListView and a ShellFilePreview, so that the ShellListView automatically displays the folder selected in the ShellTreeView and the ShellFilePreview the file selected in the ShellListView.

ShellBrowser WPF Components Features

Seamless Compatibility for Optimal Performance

ShellBrowser WPF Components are compatible with all current versions of Windows (32-bit and 64-bit) and Visual Studio.

Supported Integrated Development Environment (IDEs)

Visual Studio 2010 or higher
.NET Framework 4.0 or higher

Supported Operating Systems

Windows 10
Windows 8.1
Windows 7
Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2008 R2

(32-bit and 64-bit)

Let Us Inspire You

Selected Examples of Usage

JamExplorer

JamExplorer is an example illustrating the usage of some of the main controls of ShellBrowser WPF, showing how to easily synchronize the components using a ShellControlConnector. The options provided via the menu present some of the main configuring options for the controls and give an idea on how to interact programmatically.

ExplorerBrowser

The ExplorerBrowser sample project shows you how to use the ExplorerBrowser component. The ExplorerBrowser control emulates an entire Windows Explorer. See how easily you can configure columns and display panes, apply filters, or set group and sorting options.

ShellChangeNotifier

The ShellChangeNotifier component works behind the scenes and reports changes in the file system. The example projects illustrates how it is configured to only capture certain types of events and to restrict the scope of notifications.

ShellFilePreview

The ShellFilePreview component works like the Preview Pane in Windows File Explorer - it makes use of registered PreviewHandlers to show the contents of a file. The example also illustrates how to use the ShellBrowser classes as model for some arbitrary WPF control (a WPF ListView in this case) and how to attach and add custom entries to a ShellContextMenu, that will display the same context menu for file system objects as Windows Explorer.

Frequently Asked Questions

We collected the most frequently asked questions by our customers and our experts gave the profound answers. Check if your question on our ShellBrowser WPF Components has already been answered.

Do we have to pay additional royalty fees for EXE files that we distribute and that use the ShellBrowser WPF Components?

No. The ShellBrowser components are royalty free. That means after you purchased them, you may distribute compiled projects without additional costs or fees.

I have the trial version installed and want to buy the full version. How can I keep the data that I already have entered?

All settings and data you entered in the trial version will be available in the full version.

I just purchased your product. How can I now activate my trial version?

You will have to download the full version of the software from our customer's area. The login data may be found in the e-mail or in the printed license which you have received after the purchase. In case you do not have your login data anymore, you may request them to be sent to the e-mail address you already used when purchasing the software.

What's the purpose of the file "JamDesign.dll"?

This file is necessary to develop software with the ShellBrowser controls in the designer, but not to run them. “JamDesign.dll“ must not be delivered together with the software that is using the ShellBrowser controls, or distributed in any other way.

Are the components native .NET code? What .NET language is used?

The components are written in pure C# directly accessing the Windows Shell-API.

What is New in ShellBrowser WPF Components?

Version 1.2

New Features and Improvements

ShellAddressBar: There is a new component "ShellAddressBar". It resembles the address bar known from Windows Explorer, containing a section that splits the current path into "BreadCrumbs" and allows easy navigation in the file system. Optionally it contains a history and a search edit box. These panes can be turned on or off using the "VisiblePanes" property.
FilePreview: Event "LoadPreview" has been added. It can be used to control the preview handlers used for the display of a file.
ShellListView: Obsolete "Details" property has been removed.
ShellFilePreview: Depending on the PreviewHandler, it is now possible to view files that do not have a physical path (e.g. files on an attached mobile phone). This works now for pdf, text and image files.
ShellListView, ShellTreeView: Implemented the "ItemChecked" event for the ShellListView and the "NodeChecked" event for the ShellTreeView. They indicate the checking or unchecking of an element. In contrast to the "CheckStateChanged" the event is not called when a checkstate is applied indirectly or automatically applied by ShellBrowser.
ShellListView: Date/Time columns now display values without seconds.
ExplorerBrowser: Dropped support for “CheckMode.Checkboxes” as it is incompatible with Windows 10 Dark Mode (use “CheckMode.AutoSelect” instead).
ShellTreeView: A new dependency property "RootedAtLocation" has been introduced, that allows you to bind the single root of a ShellTreeView to a property in your ViewModel.
ShellListView, ShellTreeView: Now it is possible to set the "Foreground" value to a SolidColorBrush or a SystemBrush to change the font color of control.
ShellCombo: The new "BeforePathChange" event has been introduced. It can be used to intercept path changes and cancel the navigation in process.
ShellCombo: A new Dependency Property "HighlightColor" has been added, that allows to control the Brush of the highlighting color in the drop-down list of the control.
ShellListView, ShellTreeView: Instead of throwing exceptions, that might be difficult to handle, errors which could occur when executing shell context menu items, are now passed in the "Error" property of the "OperationEventArgs". These are passed in the "OperationPerformed" event of a ShellTreeView or ShellListView.

Bugfixes

FilePreview: A visual glitch occurring with the standard Window PreviewHandler for text files has been fixed.
ExplorerBrowser: The "SelectionChanged" event is now only triggered once when the selection changes.
ExplorerBrowser: A fix has been introduced to cope with side-effects caused by the dark mode for Windows File Explorer, that has been introduced with Windows 10/1809. Without the fix, the ExplorerBrowser control will appear partly black and partly white, when the dark mode is activated for apps in Windows.
ExplorerBrowser: Fixed bug when trying to access items in "C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History".
ShellCombo: The "Background" property now also applies to the background of the drop-down list.
ShellListView: Drag-and-Drop of files from an attached mobile phone to a ShellList now works as expected in 32-bit applications.
ShellListView: Folders are not affected by a set filter. In the last version, they were accidentally filtered too.
ShellListView: Instead of remaining empty, the ShellList now displays the contents of a folder even if it is disabled.
ShellListView: Fixed a problem that wrong or too small columns were displayed after browsing a folder on an attached mobile phone.
ShellListView: The "New" menu item in the background context menu is now disabled in zip folders.
ShellListView: Fixed a sorting problem when pasting files into a folder - instead of respecting the sort order, the files were alphabetically sorted between the subfolders in the same parent folder.
ShellTreeView: The "Favorites" folder in Windows 7 is filled again instead of appearing empty.
ShellTreeView: When selecting a path, the ShellTree now fully expands all relevant nodes, instead of just inserting nodes for this path only. The problem that sometimes the destination node appeared twice in the ShellTree was fixed.
ShellTreeView: The "Desktop" node in the ShellTree now has a context menu too.
ShellTreeView: If a node beneath "Quick Access" is selected, controls connected via the same ShellControlConnector instance will now display the link target of the selected node, instead of remaining in the Quick Access scope. The ShellTree keeps the selection in Quick Access if the "Expand to current folder" setting is false in Windows Explorer.
ShellTreeView: Fixed a flickering problem that was caused by the asynchronous loading of the network node when navigating to a network path while the network node was still collapsed.
ShellListView, ShellTreeView: The "Focus()" method is now correctly passed to the controls.

2 July 2019

Quick Navigation;