PSO2 SymbolArt Thumbnail Handler

Shell Extension for Windows Explorer to display Symbol Art file thumbnails and in the preview pane

Makes it straightforward to browse your cache and pick which ones you want to import from windows explorer itself

Also a .Sar -> .Png converting utility, with optional high-resolution rendering

Sample Screenshot

Sample High-Res Rendering of the above screenshot

Requirements

• Windows
• Visual C++ 2019 Runtime (v142) ¹
• A OpenGL 3.3 capable card

You can use the included SarConvert application to test if the thumbnail handler should work.

Installation/Removal

• Grab the latest build from the releases page
• Extract the zip file somewhere it won't be moved out of (like alongside your Tweaker/Game executable for instance)

Then either

• Run the provided install/remove script as administrator

Or

• Open a Command Prompt as administrator
• CD into the folder with the dll file
• run regsvr32 Pso2SarThumbnailHandler.x64.dll or regsvr32 Pso2SarThumbnailHandler.x86.dll to install
• run regsvr32 /u Pso2SarThumbnailHandler.x64.dll or regsvr32 /u Pso2SarThumbnailHandler.x86.dll to remove

SarConvert Utility

Included in the release download, you can use it to test if the thumbnail handler should work, or simply to convert .sar files into .pngs for general use

Usage:

Droping one or more .sar files into the executable will create a 1:1 (usually 192x96, or 32x32) .png file of it, For precise size control, run it from a command prompt or script file

Passing a number as parameter will change the out size for the subsequent arguments, if this number is negative, high-resolution rendering will be done, see images above for an example.

Examples:

SarConvert.exe 512 input1.sar input2.sar ... inputN.sar will create 512px .pngs

SarConvert.exe 512 input1.sar 768 input2.sar 1024 input3.sar will create 512, 768, and 1024px pngs respectively

SarConvert.exe -512 input.sar 512 input.sar will create a hd and a non-hd 512px png respectively

Troubleshooting

Q. Some .sar files don't display the thumbnails, or the thumbnails keep disappearing and appearing again when scrolling

A. Try moving the handler dll to somewhere in your system drive (i put mine in the SEGA folder under My Documents), when placed on my secondary drive, things didn't work as expected. Don't ask why.

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Q. The thumbnails don't show at all.

A. Try dropping a .sar file on the SarConvert Utility, if you get a .png out of it (will be in the same folder as the .sar file), check if the thumbnail handler is properly registered by looking at your registry for the entries:

Key	Name	Type	Value
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/.sar/ShellEx/{e357fccd-a995-4576-b01f-234630154e96}	(Default)	REG_SZ	{63424DF1-FAA8-4598-97E5-6E95D4A4ED67}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{63424DF1-FAA8-4598-97E5-6E95D4A4ED67}	(Default)	REG_SZ	PSO2 Symbolart Thumbnail Handler
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{63424DF1-FAA8-4598-97E5-6E95D4A4ED67}/InProcServer32	(Default)	REG_SZ	<Full Path to the Handler DLL>
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{63424DF1-FAA8-4598-97E5-6E95D4A4ED67}/InProcServer32	ThreadingModel	REG_SZ	Apartment

The Path to the DLL Handler should match your operating system architecture, in the case it does not, the install script is probably detecting the wrong architecture, in which case, open an issue (or comment if one is already opened for this reason) and post the values from the following entries under

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0\
  • Identifier
  • ProcessorNameString

So i can try and find a more reliable way to detect system architecture

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Q. Still Nothing

A. Try running the Windows SDK ThumbnailProvider Test Utility (Download):

ThumbnailProvider.<arch>.exe <Path to a .sar file> <thumbnail size, 256 for example>

Try both the x64 and x86 variants:

• On a x64 system, if you get a thumbnail with the x86 tester but not with the x64 one, or the inverse as well, the wrong dll is being registered by the install script, so try the manual installation.
• If you don't get a window showing the thumbnail and the command just exits, the handler is probably not being registered, so check the above entries on the registry
• If you do get a thumbnail in the tester, but not on windows explorer, try enabling the preview pane, also the thumbnails won't show on: Small icons, List, and Details view modes, try Medium/Large/Extra Large Icons, or Tiles/Content

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1: Visual C++ 2019 Runtime: x86 / x64