Develop, build and integrate

Developing a plugin

The previewing ability (a.k.a. supported file formats) can be extended by new plugins.

• Read the plugin interface, context object for more information.
• Out-of-box plugins contain more detailed implementation.
• A “Hello World” plugin is available for a starting point.

Note that any plugin must be under the QuickLook.Plugin namespace and has the filename similar to QuickLook.Plugin.YourPlugin.dll.

Integrating with File Managers

QuickLook has been proven to work with these File Managers out of the box. Other file managers might be configured to use QuickLook.

• MSI and ZIP versions:
  • Assign a custom hotkey that fires event QuickLook.exe "c:\a\path\here"
• MSI, ZIP and Windows Store versions:
  • Download the helper: Bridge.zip (compiled EXE & source code).
  • Assign a custom hotkey that calls Bridge.exe "c:\a\path\here".

For developers

Get the code sample from https://github.com/QL-Win/QuickLook/issues/557 or the above Bridge.zip.

Build the code yourself

1. Install Git, VS2022 and Windows SDK.
2. Install WiX and VS2022 extension: https://github.com/wixtoolset/wix3/releases.
3. Clone this repo, do remember to clone submodules (for QuickLook.Common).
4. Set PowerShell execution policy to unrestricted (how-to).
5. Double-click on QuickLook.sln, select build profile Release, and build the solution.
6. Find a MSI packages under Build/.
7. If you want a ZIP package, run the script at Scripts/pack-zip.ps1.

How to use the latest winmd?

Example:

<ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="windows">
        <HintPath>$(SystemRoot)\..\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\UnionMetadata\10.0.26100.0\Facade\windows.winmd</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="Windows.Foundation.FoundationContract">
        <HintPath>$(SystemRoot)\..\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\References\10.0.26100.0\Windows.Foundation.FoundationContract\4.0.0.0\Windows.Foundation.FoundationContract.winmd</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="Windows.Foundation.UniversalApiContract">
        <HintPath>$(SystemRoot)\..\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\References\10.0.26100.0\Windows.Foundation.UniversalApiContract\19.0.0.0\Windows.Foundation.UniversalApiContract.winmd</HintPath>
    </Reference>
</ItemGroup>

How to build a exe type installer?

We use the MicaSetup to build a exe type installer. The config file is micasetup.json and the build script is micasetup.cmd.