The VideoLAN Forums

Vlc Media player Is a great media player however, I believe an easy way to solidify it's upper hand in the race for the best video media player, and be the windows 7 and 8 user's desktop video player of preference is to build a windows explorer preview pane handler. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library ... 85%29.aspx
As the only software offering the function windows users will flock to your program.
Especially with the advent of windows 8 which will quickly become the most popular windows OS, keeping the leg up in the competition, especially at this time is critical.


Sincerely, Vlc Fan.

Thanks. This under my tasklist, but it will take some time (few weeks hopefully) before I can test this out.

BUMP> I would LOVE to see this feature in an update. Not having it won't stop me using VLC, but it will make it the most amazing player.

This got delayed because my external hard drive didn't arrive in time. Now I have it so I'll post the patch soon.

Was this feature ever implemented? I have the latest VLC 2.02 installed, but don't see any of the files associated with VLC being previewed in the preview pane.

If it has, how do I go about enabling the feature?

Thanks!

Just wanted to add that I've been looking into this feature too - is there any information regarding how to enable the preview pane handler in Windows Explorer? - it doesn't seem like there's any documentation for VLC 2.0.4

This thread on a Microsoft forum suggests that it's possible...

VLC Media Player's preview handler is free and open to use. You should be able to get it by asking VLC team on SourceForge.net.

(From: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/For ... cc981e7c2/)

does anyone know what happened with this?

Same question

can anyone give a response? when you set vlc as your default app in windows 8 it automatically breaks the default handler so you can no longer preview media files in explorer (unless you know how to reset to the original handler manually). in my opinion, this should be a higher priority than it is. vlc breaks a native capability of windows. i realize that you can simply blame microsoft for their decision to do it this way but from a different perspective, it could be seen as perfectly reasonable that a program that takes control of a file association would also take control of the preview handler. i am one of those that can "fix" the problem and reset to the original handler but my real motivation is to have a handler with the option to automatically play audio files rather than clicking the play button (afterall, the preview pane is open so it can be assumed that you actually want to preview the file). it might be seen as a simple thing but it would add to the functionality of the default handler. anyway, i'll manage but it would be cool if this breakage were a greater concern.

+1.

Please can we have a VLC preview handler for Windows Explorer

no response?

windows users need preview handlers - VLC breaks them. at least have the VLC installer prevent breakage of the default preview handlers. seriously, any response even if it's "don't hold your breath" would be appreciated. if this is something that a real person is trying to actively fix, i can certainly wait but this thread gives the impression that this direction has been completely abandoned. why leave us hanging like this?

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library ... 85%29.aspx

I don't see any shellex under VLC.avi and such registrations, to be honest. I don't see how VLC is 'breaking' previews.

Related topic containing screenshots?
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=109916

perhaps I can clarify. windows comes with several default preview handlers for many common file types (docs, audio, video). when you use the preview pane in explorer (or any program that relies on preview handlers) it will display a preview of the file. for example, a preview of a PDF or the ability to play audio and video. when a program is installed that takes over the association of a file (such as VLC) then Windows assumes that it will also take over as the preview handler. when VLC is associated to a file type, you will simply get a thumbnail of the media with the orange cone icon overlay (there is no ability to preview/play the file). this is what i mean by "breaking". it is possible to reset to the default preview handlers built on WMP but it is a pain, must be done on every system you install VLC on, requires special software, and is beyond the scope of your average user.

related exerpt:
"Microsoft already provides the framework / provision for third-party application developers to create and register their own preview generator module. It's up to them to develop the add-on."
"VLC Media Player's preview handler is free and open to use. You should be able to get it by asking VLC team on SourceForge.net" (obviously he was incorrect)
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/For ... cc981e7c2/

another user who doesn't know what's going on because he allowed VLC to assign associations without realizing that it would break preview handlers.
http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-O ... d-p/414295

when a program is installed that takes over the association of a file (such as VLC) then Windows assumes that it will also take over as the preview handler.

That's not what I read on the documentation. It should be 2 different things.

what do you mean by 2 different things?

- association
- preview

but you can confirm that associating VLC to a filetype will disable a meaningful file handler, correct?

btw, thank you for responding

Just wondering if any progress has been made on this issue. It would not appear any action has been taken. It can be confirmed that installing VLC breaks the built in WMP based preview handler. VLC could "fix" the problem by reassigning the preview handler back to WMP for those filetypes is has been assigned as default or it could create its own amazing preview handler (as Windows expects default programs to do). If anyone would like to see what a preview handler can do, just set WMP back as the default for a media filetype, open the preview pane in explorer, and select the file.

VLC could "fix" the problem by reassigning the preview handler back to WMP for those filetypes is has been assigned as default

Do you know how to do that in the registry?

It was indicated this would be developed in 2012. Has VLC indicated whether or not it will develop or support a preview pane handler?

Thanks,
Rob

Hello from the future. Did anything ever happen with this? The ability to have the wide variety of file formats that VLC supports work in File Explorer's preview pane would be great.

BUMP> I would LOVE to see this feature in an update. Not having it won't stop me using VLC, but it will make it the most amazing player.

Agreed!