Suggestion: Use the registry value as the tooltip instead of the key

[TMA-2]

Description

So this is just what I'd personally prefer over the key path, as I often have to widen the side bar to see the value at a glance — but perhaps it could be both separated by a newline. Also, the remote machine name isn't included in the current path.

Or, a setting that configures whether it uses the full key, the value/data, or both (or even a configurable string with accepted quasi-variable VS Code-style placeholders like ${Key}\n${Value}). Just an idea!

Example

A full breakdown might be nice:

Host: Server01
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Epic Systems Corporation\114HotFix
Value: WelcomeCPVer
Data: 3

Or, a simpler version:

Key: \\Server01\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Epic Systems Corporation\114HotFix\WelcomeCPVer
Value: 3

Or, a single line:

\\Server01\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Epic Systems Corporation\114HotFix\WelcomeCPVer = 3

Just a screenshot of the current tooltip.

[adrianstephens]

OK, good idea. Can you see if the attached package works? (change the extension to vsix and use 'install from VSIX from the extensions panel).

regedit-explorer-0.7.1-rc.0.zip

[TMA-2]

It's working both locally and remotely, and appears to work with all types (qword, binary, etc) and looks great:

One caveat: This almost certainly isn't related to your custom reg.exe, but I had to set "regedit.useCustomReg": false, as it initially wouldn't open keys, throwing an "Error: spawn EPERM" toast notification. That appears to be down to a change within my company's Defender rules blocking it as a "risky action" according to the log. But it's working without it, so all seems to be well. Although maybe if it was signed?

Two minor suggestions:

• Perhaps the value name could go on another line, as those with paths/backslashes in the name could sometimes be hard to differentiate from the key, e.g. HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\AppVISV\c:\program files\microsoft office, albeit it's not often there's a path in the name itself. I just happened upon this example as an edge case.

  [\\remotemachine\]HKLM\Software\Microsoft\AppVSIV
  • Name: c:\program files\microsoft office
  • Type: SZ
  • Value: "f9c80c9b-0d5f-4e0f-9740-6dfa53b2584e"
  

• The value having the type prepended is a little redundant when it's already shown on its own line. Plus, this seems to already be done for REG_SZ values which don't have sz: beforehand. So perhaps something like the following, optionally with 0x prepended to denote how it's formatted.

  [\\remotemachine\]Hive\Key\Path
  • Type: DWORD
  • Value: 0x0539
  

Anyway, thanks for both considering and implementing my suggestions so quickly.

[adrianstephens]

took me a while to get round to this!

regedit-explorer-0.7.1-rc.1.zip

re signing: I looked into it and it involves buying a certificate from a trusted Certificate Authority, which is a bridge too far for my free software altruism! I thought the standard one couldn't edit remote registries though?

[TMA-2]

I think it can, since it's working remotely, although I haven't tested it thoroughly. At the very least, it can read, but I haven't tested remote writing/editing yet.

Regarding the custom reg.exe, it's fine if it's not signed since the system reg is working -- security must have changed the Defender rules. Although I wouldn't mind donating the cost of a cert! I'll test rc1 today and see how it works.

Thanks again for the responsiveness. If only the PSScriptAnalyzer contributors were as good about that, considering it's the only game in town for PS static analysis... I should really parlay my PS knowledge to C# so I could meaningfully contribute to that and related projects.