ExecuteCommand-Pipe

A simple tool to run arbitrary commands with paths (of files or directories) passed from various context menus in Windows Explorer. Paths can be passed to the commands either as arguments or through stdin/stdout (pipe). Implemented with COM (Component Object Model) technology to avoid limitations for path length or number of files.

Usage

Register as a class

Simply double-click to run ExecuteCommandXXXX.exe with no arguments, and it properly registers itself in the registry.

• Each released executable ExecuteCommandXXXX.exe has CLSID {FFA07888-75BD-471A-B325-59274E73XXXX}.
  • Since the CLSID must be determined in compile time and we have no method to pass arguments from outside the CLSID, we need a separate executable file for each command.
• When run without admin right, it registers itself in HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{FFA07888-75BD-471A-B325-59274E73XXXX}.
  • The full path of the executable is stored in the default value of HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{FFA07888-75BD-471A-B325-59274E73XXXX}\LocalServer32.
• When run with admin right, it asks if it should use HKLM instead of HKCU.
  • But user-specific HKCU will be safer than system-wide HKLM.
  • If you use HKLM, you should not place the executable file inside C:\Users\username.
• You can also register it manually.
• Note that HKCR is the result of merging HKCU\Software\Classes and HKLM\Software\Classes together.
  • You can edit things in HKCR, but you should be aware which of HKCU or HKLM they come from.
• If you move the executable file, you should update the path in registry.

Modify the argument

Once the CLSID is registered, you can append any argument to the executable path in [HKCU or HKLM]\Software\Classes\CLSID\{FFA07888-75BD-471A-B325-59274E73XXXX}\LocalServer32, according to your purpose (see examples below).

After the modification, rename the "LocalServer32" to any other name and then return it back (this seems the easiest way to reset some cache and apply the change).

Available Options for ExecuteCommandXXXX.exe

• beginning with d or - ... for debugging; show the first and last files given and exit (execution through LocalServer32 automatically add "-Embedding" argument, so appending no argument also result in this debug mode).
• a xxxx commandline ... runs the given commandline, replacing "xxxx" with the list of quoted paths. xxxx can be any string that don't include space. xxxx can appear any times in commandline. Note that Windows has 32767 character command line length limit. if xxxx begins with the character h, the console window will be hidden.
• p commandline (or other characters) ... runs the given command, passing paths through pipe. "\n" is appended to each path (including the last one).
• h commandline ... similar to p, but the console window will be hidden.

Examples

• For a single directory
  • Open Git Bash
    • C:\path\to\ExecuteCommand4000.exe h cmd /c ""C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\cygpath" -f - | "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\xargs" -d '\n' -I {} "C:\Program Files\Git\git-bash.exe" -c "cd \"{}\";exec bash""
  • Open Git Bash in Windows' default terminal
    • C:\path\to\ExecuteCommand4000.exe h cmd /c ""C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\cygpath" -f - | "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\xargs.exe" -d '\n' -I {} cmd /c start "" "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\env.exe" MSYSTEM=MINGW64 "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\bash.exe" --login -i -c "cd \"{}\";exec bash""
    • You need // in order for Git Bash's executables to pass / to Windows executables. You won't need it if you use Cygwin's xargs instead.
  • Open Cygwin bash
    • C:\path\to\ExecuteCommand4000.exe h cmd /c ""C:\cygwin64\bin\cygpath" -f - | "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\xargs" -d '\n' -I {} "C:\cygwin64\bin\mintty.exe" -e "C:\cygwin64\bin\bash.exe" --login -i -c "cd \"{}\";exec bash""
    • Here you can use cygwin's xargs instead.
  • Open Cygwin Bash in Windows' default terminal
    • C:\path\to\ExecuteCommand4000.exe h cmd /c ""C:\cygwin64\bin\cygpath" -f - | "C:\cygwin64\bin\xargs.exe" -d '\n' -I {} cmd /c start "" C:\cygwin64\bin\bash.exe --login -i -c "cd \"{}\";exec bash""
  • Open VS Code
    • C:\path\to\ExecuteCommand4000.exe h "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\xargs" -d '\n' "/c/Program Files/Microsoft VS Code/Code.exe"
• For multiple files or directories
  • pass files as a string argument (with xargs)
    • C:\path\to\ExecuteCommand4000.exe h "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\xargs.exe" -d '\n' -- "C:\path\to\script.bat"
      • Currently not successfull if both input files' and batch file's path contain spaces, mainly because recent cygwin made it difficult (maybe impossible) to pass arbitrary string with double quotation " (cf. https://cygwin.com/pipermail/cygwin/2020-June/245226.html). This also applies to the next example.
  • pass files as a string argument, opening interactive window
    • C:\path\to\ExecuteCommand4000.exe a xxx "C:\path\to\script.bat" xxx
      • script.bat may contain interactive commands (like pause)
      • If you use pipe, you need some other command to keep alive the desired program after EOF input.
        • C:\path\to\ExecuteCommand4000.exe h "C:\cygwin64\bin\xargs.exe" -d '\n' -- cmd /c start "" cmd /c "C:\path\to\script.bat"
  • pass to mpv's stdin
    • C:\path\to\ExecuteCommand4000.exe p C:\path\to\mpv\mpv.exe --player-operation-mode=pseudo-gui --playlist=-
  • write paths to file
    • C:\path\to\ExecuteCommand4000.exe h busybox sh -c "cat > $HOME/out.txt"
  • run a GUI application for each file (don't run this for too many files!) (use cygwin's xargs in recent Windows 11; refer to #3)
    • C:\path\to\ExecuteCommand4000.exe h "C:\cygwin64\bin\xargs.exe" -d '\n' -n1 -P0 "/cygdrive/c/Program Files/Windows NT/Accessories/wordpad.exe"

Invoke the class by DelegateExecute

If properly registered as a class, it can be invoked by writing the CLSID (include {}) to the DelegateExecute value of command keys for respective context menus. At least the following registry keys work. Tested in Windows 11.

• HKCR\SystemFileAssociations\.xxx\shell or HKCR\SystemFileAssociations\XXXXXXX\shell (right-click)
• HKCR\*\shell (right-click, for all files)
• HKCR\Directory\shell (right-click, for directories)
• HKCR\Directory\Background\shell (right-clicking blank area in directories)
• HKCR\XXXXXXX\shell, specified by HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.xxx\UserChoice (right-click or as default apps (double-click or return key))
  • Since the values of UserChoice cannot be directly changed (even by administrators), you should use a dummy file to associate .xxx with and then change value in HKCR\XXXXXXX\shell.

Example .reg files

• for .txt

  Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
  
  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\SystemFileAssociations\.txt\shell\mycommand]
  @="mycommand_name"
  "Icon"="C:\\WINDOWS\\notepad.exe"
  
  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\SystemFileAssociations\.txt\shell\mycommand\command]
  "DelegateExecute"="{FFA07888-75BD-471A-B325-59274E734000}"
  
  

• for directory background

  Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
  
  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Directory\Background\shell\VSCode]
  @="MyVSCode"
  "Icon"="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft VS Code\\Code.exe"
  
  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Directory\Background\shell\VSCode\command]
  "DelegateExecute"="{FFA07888-75BD-471A-B325-59274E734000}"
  
  

Building

Use Visual Studio or MSBuild.exe. build.sh generates multiple exe files with different UUIDs.

License

• MIT (derived from the original Microsoft sample)
• public domain for my revision