How can I display different icons for same file extension

Question

Visual Studio has *.SLN files for 2008, and 2010.

In explorer, the icon associated with the file is based on the version somehow. I was always under the impression that the associated icon just looked at the extension, but obviously there is more going on.

I'm asking on stack overflow as a developer - for my application, but if you feel this belongs on another forum, I'm happy to move the discussion elsewhere.

Thank you!

Answer 1

Have a look at HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VisualStudio.Launcher.sln\ShellEx\IconHandler. The icon is handled by a shell extension, not the usual way with a DefaultIcon.

MSDN's Creating Icon Handlers page shows you how to create the shell extension DLL that provides the icons.

Answer 2

I found some Delphi code at http://www.delphi3000.com/articles/article_3285.asp that seems to do the job. Maybe this can give you some inspiration.

EDIT: site does not exist anymore, using web.archive.org provided by @samir105