c# - How to set extended file properties?

Question

I need to set the Company field value for some Word/PDF documents. I am talking about the extended file properties (summary/author/title, etc.) you see under File Properties.

I know how to get them (by using shell32.dll class library). I assumed that I could also set them with the same class library, but it seems like writing extended properties is a little bit more difficult and shell32.dll doesn't allow that.

I found something about taglib-sharp, which seems to have an option to set extended properties, but I don't really understand how it works.

Answer 1

Add following NuGet packages to your project:

• Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack-Shell by Microsoft
• Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack-Core by Microsoft

Read and Write Properties

using Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack.Shell;
using Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack.Shell.PropertySystem;

string filePath = @"C:empexample.docx";
var file = ShellFile.FromFilePath(filePath);

// Read and Write:

string[] oldAuthors = file.Properties.System.Author.Value;
string oldTitle = file.Properties.System.Title.Value;

file.Properties.System.Author.Value = new string[] { "Author #1", "Author #2" };
file.Properties.System.Title.Value = "Example Title";

// Alternate way to Write:

ShellPropertyWriter propertyWriter =  file.Properties.GetPropertyWriter();
propertyWriter.WriteProperty(SystemProperties.System.Author, new string[] { "Author" });
propertyWriter.Close();

Important:

The file must be a valid one, created by the specific assigned software. Every file type has specific extended file properties and not all of them are writable.

If you right-click a file on desktop and cannot edit a property, you wont be able to edit it in code too.

Example:

• Create txt file on desktop, rename its extension to docx. You can't edit its Author or Title property.
• Open it with Word, edit and save it. Now you can.

So just make sure to use some try catch

Further Topic: MS Docs: Implementing Property Handlers