Windows 7 Taskbar support with the MsiShortcutProperty table

Starting with Windows 7, Windows Installer enables native support for setting properties on shortcuts created during installation or re-installation. The MsiShortcutProperty table can be used to set any property defined by the IPropertyStore interface.

In order to use the new table, you need to specify the PropertyKey and PropVariantValue for the shortcut you want to set the properties on (you can set multiple properties on a shortcut). The properties allowed are the ones registered in the current property schema. The system-supplied properties are defined in propkey.h: many of them are new in Windows 7. Properties supplied by 3^rd parties are also supported, as long as they have been registered with the schema subsystem (for eg. via PSRegisterPropertySchema). 

You can use string representations for both – e.g. System.AppUserModel.ID for the PropertyKey PKEY_AppUserModel_ID, and a corresponding string representation for the PropVariantValue. Windows will automatically coerce the value to the correct type.

These properties are consumed by shell, not windows installer.

Examples:

1. Allow an app to glom onto its shortcut on the taskbar

System.AppUserModel.ID property in Windows 7 defines an AppUserModelID. Applications can use this property to group its windows together with the shortcut on the Windows taskbar. This means that if the application sets an AppUserModelID in its process, and same AppUserModelID in the shortcut, then when the shortcut is pinned to the taskbar and the application is launched from it, the application icon will group together with the shortcut. This property is particularly useful for applications that wish to override the taskbar’s default grouping and unification – apps running under a host process, or an app that owns several different processes. PropertyKey, PropVariantValue that you would author in the MsiShortcutProperty table of your package would be “System.AppUserModel.ID” and “CompanyName.ProductName.SubProduct”, respectively.

2. Prevent pinning of shortcuts

Setting “System.AppUserModel.PreventPinning” property to “1” prevents a shortcut from being pinned to the taskbar.

FAQs

Q: Is there a new standard action that I need to schedule?

A: No, setting of shortcut properties will be a part of the CreateShortcuts standard action.

Q: Can I set properties on shortcuts that are not a part of my installation?

A: No, you can only set properties on shortcuts created by your installation.

Q: What happens if the setting of a property fails?

A: If Windows Installer fails to set a shortcut property, it will return a warning and the installation will continue.

Q: What happens on downlevel platforms?

A: This functionality is only available on Windows Installer 5.0 and above. The MsiShortcutProperty table – if present – is ignored on Windows Installer 4.5 and below.

[Author: Ashish Awasthi]
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