OpenFolderDialog

2011-12-312012-05-03 Josip Medved Programming

I hate FolderBrowserDialog. It is limited, ugly and stuck in Windows 2000 GUI. Whenever I had to select folder, I would resort to using SaveFileDialog instead. User would select any file name and I would just use directory part. It was non-optimal but still better than FolderBrowserDialog.

Vista brought new common file dialogs but I pretty much ignored them - most of my programs need to run under XP so there was not much benefit in using Windows Vista specific controls. However, those controls had special mode that finally brings folder selection in normal FileOpenDialog.

Code (after you define all needed COM interfaces) is actually quite straightforward. Once FOS_PICKFOLDERS is set, half of work is done. All other code is just plumbing to show the form and get user's selection in form of path.

var frm = (IFileDialog)(new FileOpenDialogRCW());
uint options;
frm.GetOptions(out options);
options |= FOS_PICKFOLDERS;
frm.SetOptions(options);

if (frm.Show(owner.Handle) == S_OK) {
    IShellItem shellItem;
    frm.GetResult(out shellItem);
    IntPtr pszString;
    shellItem.GetDisplayName(SIGDN_FILESYSPATH, out pszString);
    this.Folder = Marshal.PtrToStringAuto(pszString);
}

Full code with Windows XP compatibility and little bit more error checking is available for download. However do notice that all unneeded COM fat has been trimmed in order to have it concise. Short and sweet I say.

[2012-02-12: Fixed bug in source code.]

16 thoughts to “OpenFolderDialog”

Longman says:

2012-02-02 at 19:48

It crashes when you press cancel.

Reply
1. Josip Medved says:
  
  2012-02-03 at 00:15
  
  That is exercise left for a reader. Hint: I forgot PreserveSig.
  
  Reply
lumangoy says:

2012-02-14 at 01:08

what references do I need?

Reply
1. Josip Medved says:
  
  2012-02-15 at 00:14
  
  Check it in source.
  
  Reply
Sergey says:

2012-06-20 at 12:02

Work fine! How to pick multifolder?

Reply
1. Sergey says:
  
  2012-06-20 at 12:37
  
  Added
  public const uint OFN_ALLOWMULTISELECT = 0x00000200;
  But failed in
  if (frm.GetResult(out shellItem) == NativeMethods.S_OK)
  
  Reply
JuggaloBrotha says:

2012-07-29 at 00:31

Is there a vb.net version of this?

Reply
1. Josip Medved says:
  
  2012-07-29 at 16:26
  
  Not currently.
  
  Reply
Axcontrols says:

2012-07-29 at 09:19

Works good with Windows 7 but with XP it just opens the standard SaveFileDialog showing the box for the file name and even [Save] on the button.

I thought this was supposed to work on XP too?

Reply
1. Josip Medved says:
  
  2012-07-29 at 16:25
  
  XP does not have new common file dialogs.
  Program will work but it will fallback to standard save file dialog.
  
  Reply
Ke says:

2012-08-03 at 17:44

What is the licensing for this code?

Reply
1. Josip Medved says:
  
  2012-08-03 at 17:53
  
  Licence is MIT – in short, do whatever you like with it.
  Of course, if you like it a lot or you include it in a product, I won’t say no to a small donation but it is definitely not required.
  
  Reply
Johan Barboza says:

2015-11-19 at 20:24

Thanks!
This is exactly what I was looking for! :)

Reply

Here is the vb.net version

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Class OpenFolderDialog
    Implements IDisposable

    ''' 
    ''' Gets/sets folder in which dialog will be open.
    ''' 
    Public Property InitialFolder() As String
        Get
            Return m_InitialFolder
        End Get
        Set(ByVal value As String)
            m_InitialFolder = value
        End Set
    End Property
    Private m_InitialFolder As String

    ''' 
    ''' Gets/sets directory in which dialog will be open if there is no recent directory available.
    ''' 
    Public Property DefaultFolder() As String
        Get
            Return m_DefaultFolder
        End Get
        Set(ByVal value As String)
            m_DefaultFolder = value
        End Set
    End Property
    Private m_DefaultFolder As String

    ''' 
    ''' Gets selected folder.
    ''' 
    Public Property Folder() As String
        Get
            Return m_Folder
        End Get
        Private Set(ByVal value As String)
            m_Folder = value
        End Set
    End Property
    Private m_Folder As String


    Public Function ShowDialog(ByVal owner As IWin32Window) As DialogResult
        If Environment.OSVersion.Version.Major >= 6 Then
            Return ShowVistaDialog(owner)
        Else
            Return ShowLegacyDialog(owner)
        End If
    End Function

    Private Function ShowVistaDialog(ByVal owner As IWin32Window) As DialogResult
        Dim frm = DirectCast(New NativeMethods.FileOpenDialogRCW(), NativeMethods.IFileDialog)
        Dim options As UInteger
        frm.GetOptions(options)
        options = options Or NativeMethods.FOS_PICKFOLDERS Or NativeMethods.FOS_FORCEFILESYSTEM Or NativeMethods.FOS_NOVALIDATE Or NativeMethods.FOS_NOTESTFILECREATE Or NativeMethods.FOS_DONTADDTORECENT
        frm.SetOptions(options)
        If Me.InitialFolder IsNot Nothing Then
            Dim directoryShellItem As NativeMethods.IShellItem
            Dim riid = New Guid("43826D1E-E718-42EE-BC55-A1E261C37BFE")
            'IShellItem
            If NativeMethods.SHCreateItemFromParsingName(Me.InitialFolder, IntPtr.Zero, riid, directoryShellItem) = NativeMethods.S_OK Then
                frm.SetFolder(directoryShellItem)
            End If
        End If
        If Me.DefaultFolder IsNot Nothing Then
            Dim directoryShellItem As NativeMethods.IShellItem
            Dim riid = New Guid("43826D1E-E718-42EE-BC55-A1E261C37BFE")
            'IShellItem
            If NativeMethods.SHCreateItemFromParsingName(Me.DefaultFolder, IntPtr.Zero, riid, directoryShellItem) = NativeMethods.S_OK Then
                frm.SetDefaultFolder(directoryShellItem)
            End If
        End If

        If frm.Show(owner.Handle) = NativeMethods.S_OK Then
            Dim shellItem As NativeMethods.IShellItem
            If frm.GetResult(shellItem) = NativeMethods.S_OK Then
                Dim pszString As IntPtr
                If shellItem.GetDisplayName(NativeMethods.SIGDN_FILESYSPATH, pszString) = NativeMethods.S_OK Then
                    If pszString  IntPtr.Zero Then
                        Try
                            Me.Folder = Marshal.PtrToStringAuto(pszString)
                            Return DialogResult.OK
                        Finally
                            Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(pszString)
                        End Try
                    End If
                End If
            End If
        End If
        Return DialogResult.Cancel
    End Function

    Private Function ShowLegacyDialog(ByVal owner As IWin32Window) As DialogResult
        Using frm = New SaveFileDialog()
            frm.CheckFileExists = False
            frm.CheckPathExists = True
            frm.CreatePrompt = False
            frm.Filter = "|" & Guid.Empty.ToString()
            frm.FileName = "any"
            If Me.InitialFolder IsNot Nothing Then
                frm.InitialDirectory = Me.InitialFolder
            End If
            frm.OverwritePrompt = False
            frm.Title = "Select Folder"
            frm.ValidateNames = False
            If frm.ShowDialog(owner) = DialogResult.OK Then
                Me.Folder = Path.GetDirectoryName(frm.FileName)
                Return DialogResult.OK
            Else
                Return DialogResult.Cancel
            End If
        End Using
    End Function


    Public Sub Dispose() Implements IDisposable.Dispose
    End Sub
    'just to have possibility of Using statement.
End Class

Friend Module NativeMethods


#Region "Constants"

    Public Const FOS_PICKFOLDERS As UInteger = &H20
    Public Const FOS_FORCEFILESYSTEM As UInteger = &H40
    Public Const FOS_NOVALIDATE As UInteger = &H100
    Public Const FOS_NOTESTFILECREATE As UInteger = &H10000
    Public Const FOS_DONTADDTORECENT As UInteger = &H2000000

    Public Const S_OK As UInteger = &H0

    Public Const SIGDN_FILESYSPATH As UInteger = &H80058000UI

#End Region


#Region "COM"

     _
    Friend Class FileOpenDialogRCW
    End Class


     _
    Friend Interface IFileDialog
         _
         _
        Function Show( ByVal hwndOwner As IntPtr) As UInteger
        'IModalWindow 

         _
        Function SetFileTypes( ByVal cFileTypes As UInteger,  ByVal rgFilterSpec As IntPtr) As UInteger

         _
        Function SetFileTypeIndex( ByVal iFileType As UInteger) As UInteger

         _
        Function GetFileTypeIndex(ByRef piFileType As UInteger) As UInteger

         _
        Function Advise( ByVal pfde As IntPtr, ByRef pdwCookie As UInteger) As UInteger

         _
        Function Unadvise( ByVal dwCookie As UInteger) As UInteger

         _
        Function SetOptions( ByVal fos As UInteger) As UInteger

         _
        Function GetOptions(ByRef fos As UInteger) As UInteger

         _
        Sub SetDefaultFolder( ByVal psi As IShellItem)

         _
        Function SetFolder( ByVal psi As IShellItem) As UInteger

         _
        Function GetFolder( ByRef ppsi As IShellItem) As UInteger

         _
        Function GetCurrentSelection( ByRef ppsi As IShellItem) As UInteger

         _
        Function SetFileName( ByVal pszName As String) As UInteger

         _
        Function GetFileName( ByRef pszName As String) As UInteger

         _
        Function SetTitle( ByVal pszTitle As String) As UInteger

         _
        Function SetOkButtonLabel( ByVal pszText As String) As UInteger

         _
        Function SetFileNameLabel( ByVal pszLabel As String) As UInteger

         _
        Function GetResult( ByRef ppsi As IShellItem) As UInteger

         _
        Function AddPlace( ByVal psi As IShellItem, ByVal fdap As UInteger) As UInteger

         _
        Function SetDefaultExtension( ByVal pszDefaultExtension As String) As UInteger

         _
        Function Close( ByVal hr As UInteger) As UInteger

         _
        Function SetClientGuid( ByRef guid As Guid) As UInteger

         _
        Function ClearClientData() As UInteger

         _
        Function SetFilter( ByVal pFilter As IntPtr) As UInteger
    End Interface


     _
    Friend Interface IShellItem
         _
        Function BindToHandler( ByVal pbc As IntPtr,  ByRef rbhid As Guid,  ByRef riid As Guid,  ByRef ppvOut As IntPtr) As UInteger

         _
        Function GetParent( ByRef ppsi As IShellItem) As UInteger

         _
        Function GetDisplayName( ByVal sigdnName As UInteger, ByRef ppszName As IntPtr) As UInteger

         _
        Function GetAttributes( ByVal sfgaoMask As UInteger, ByRef psfgaoAttribs As UInteger) As UInteger

         _
        Function Compare( ByVal psi As IShellItem,  ByVal hint As UInteger, ByRef piOrder As Integer) As UInteger
    End Interface

#End Region

     _
     Public Function SHCreateItemFromParsingName( _
          ByVal pszPath As String, _
         ByVal pbc As IntPtr, _
          ByVal riid As Guid, _
          ByRef ppv As IShellItem) As Integer
    End Function
End Module

Brian says:

2019-09-11 at 17:36

I’m getting an error on the line

Dim frm = DirectCast(New NativeMethods.FileOpenDialogRCW(), NativeMethods.IFileDialog)

“Unable to cast object of type ‘FileOpenDialogRCW’ to type ‘IFileDialog’.”

I don’t know what to do to fix it.

Reply
1. Manikandan Thiyagarajan says:
  
  2019-12-24 at 23:18
  
  Hi Brian,
  
  Following code works better… just checked few minutes ago
  
  Option Infer On
  
  ‘Copyright (c) 2011 Josip Medved http://www.jmedved.com
  
  Imports System
  Imports System.IO
  Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices
  Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
  Imports System.Windows.Forms
  
  Public Class OpenFolderDialog
  Implements IDisposable
  
  ”’
  ”’ Gets/sets folder in which dialog will be open.
  ”’
  Public Property InitialFolder() As String
  
  ”’
  ”’ Gets/sets directory in which dialog will be open if there is no recent directory available.
  ”’
  Public Property DefaultFolder() As String
  
  ”’
  ”’ Gets selected folder.
  ”’
  Private privateFolder As String
  Public Property Folder() As String
  Get
  Return privateFolder
  End Get
  Private Set(ByVal value As String)
  privateFolder = value
  End Set
  End Property
  
  Public Function ShowDialog(ByVal owner As IWin32Window) As DialogResult
  If Environment.OSVersion.Version.Major >= 6 Then
  Return ShowVistaDialog(owner)
  Else
  Return ShowLegacyDialog(owner)
  End If
  End Function
  
  Private Function ShowVistaDialog(ByVal owner As IWin32Window) As DialogResult
  Dim frm = DirectCast(New NativeMethods.FileOpenDialogRCW(), NativeMethods.IFileDialog)
  Dim options As UInteger = Nothing
  frm.GetOptions(options)
  options = options Or NativeMethods.FOS_PICKFOLDERS Or NativeMethods.FOS_FORCEFILESYSTEM Or NativeMethods.FOS_NOVALIDATE Or NativeMethods.FOS_NOTESTFILECREATE Or NativeMethods.FOS_DONTADDTORECENT
  frm.SetOptions(options)
  If Me.InitialFolder IsNot Nothing Then
  Dim directoryShellItem As NativeMethods.IShellItem = Nothing
  Dim riid = New Guid(“43826D1E-E718-42EE-BC55-A1E261C37BFE”) ‘IShellItem
  If NativeMethods.SHCreateItemFromParsingName(Me.InitialFolder, IntPtr.Zero, riid, directoryShellItem) = NativeMethods.S_OK Then
  frm.SetFolder(directoryShellItem)
  End If
  End If
  If Me.DefaultFolder IsNot Nothing Then
  Dim directoryShellItem As NativeMethods.IShellItem = Nothing
  Dim riid = New Guid(“43826D1E-E718-42EE-BC55-A1E261C37BFE”) ‘IShellItem
  If NativeMethods.SHCreateItemFromParsingName(Me.DefaultFolder, IntPtr.Zero, riid, directoryShellItem) = NativeMethods.S_OK Then
  frm.SetDefaultFolder(directoryShellItem)
  End If
  End If
  
  If frm.Show(owner.Handle) = NativeMethods.S_OK Then
  Dim shellItem As NativeMethods.IShellItem = Nothing
  If frm.GetResult(shellItem) = NativeMethods.S_OK Then
  Dim pszString As IntPtr = Nothing
  If shellItem.GetDisplayName(NativeMethods.SIGDN_FILESYSPATH, pszString) = NativeMethods.S_OK Then
  If pszString IntPtr.Zero Then
  Try
  Me.Folder = Marshal.PtrToStringAuto(pszString)
  Return DialogResult.OK
  Finally
  Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(pszString)
  End Try
  End If
  End If
  End If
  End If
  Return DialogResult.Cancel
  End Function
  
  Private Function ShowLegacyDialog(ByVal owner As IWin32Window) As DialogResult
  Using frm = New SaveFileDialog()
  frm.CheckFileExists = False
  frm.CheckPathExists = True
  frm.CreatePrompt = False
  frm.Filter = “|” & Guid.Empty.ToString()
  frm.FileName = “any”
  If Me.InitialFolder IsNot Nothing Then
  frm.InitialDirectory = Me.InitialFolder
  End If
  frm.OverwritePrompt = False
  frm.Title = “Select Folder”
  frm.ValidateNames = False
  If frm.ShowDialog(owner) = DialogResult.OK Then
  Me.Folder = Path.GetDirectoryName(frm.FileName)
  Return DialogResult.OK
  Else
  Return DialogResult.Cancel
  End If
  End Using
  End Function
  
  Public Sub Dispose() Implements IDisposable.Dispose
  End Sub ‘just to have possibility of Using statement.
  
  End Class
  
  Friend Module NativeMethods
  
  #Region “Constants”
  
  Public Const FOS_PICKFOLDERS As UInteger = &H20
  Public Const FOS_FORCEFILESYSTEM As UInteger = &H40
  Public Const FOS_NOVALIDATE As UInteger = &H100
  Public Const FOS_NOTESTFILECREATE As UInteger = &H10000
  Public Const FOS_DONTADDTORECENT As UInteger = &H2000000
  
  Public Const S_OK As UInteger = &H0
  
  Public Const SIGDN_FILESYSPATH As UInteger = &H80058000UI
  
  #End Region
  
  #Region “COM”
  
  Friend Class FileOpenDialogRCW
  End Class
  
  Friend Interface IFileDialog
  
  Function Show( ByVal hwndOwner As IntPtr) As UInteger ‘IModalWindow
  
  Function SetFileTypes( ByVal cFileTypes As UInteger, ByVal rgFilterSpec As IntPtr) As UInteger
  
  Function SetFileTypeIndex( ByVal iFileType As UInteger) As UInteger
  
  Function GetFileTypeIndex(ByRef piFileType As UInteger) As UInteger
  
  Function Advise( ByVal pfde As IntPtr, ByRef pdwCookie As UInteger) As UInteger
  
  Function Unadvise( ByVal dwCookie As UInteger) As UInteger
  
  Function SetOptions( ByVal fos As UInteger) As UInteger
  
  Function GetOptions(ByRef fos As UInteger) As UInteger
  
  Sub SetDefaultFolder( ByVal psi As IShellItem)
  
  Function SetFolder( ByVal psi As IShellItem) As UInteger
  
  Function GetFolder( ByRef ppsi As IShellItem) As UInteger
  
  Function GetCurrentSelection( ByRef ppsi As IShellItem) As UInteger
  
  Function SetFileName( ByVal pszName As String) As UInteger
  
  Function GetFileName( ByRef pszName As String) As UInteger
  
  Function SetTitle( ByVal pszTitle As String) As UInteger
  
  Function SetOkButtonLabel( ByVal pszText As String) As UInteger
  
  Function SetFileNameLabel( ByVal pszLabel As String) As UInteger
  
  Function GetResult( ByRef ppsi As IShellItem) As UInteger
  
  Function AddPlace( ByVal psi As IShellItem, ByVal fdap As UInteger) As UInteger
  
  Function SetDefaultExtension( ByVal pszDefaultExtension As String) As UInteger
  
  Function Close( ByVal hr As UInteger) As UInteger
  
  Function SetClientGuid( ByRef guid As Guid) As UInteger
  
  Function ClearClientData() As UInteger
  
  Function SetFilter( ByVal pFilter As IntPtr) As UInteger
  End Interface
  
  Friend Interface IShellItem
  
  Function BindToHandler( ByVal pbc As IntPtr, ByRef rbhid As Guid, ByRef riid As Guid, ByRef ppvOut As IntPtr) As UInteger
  
  Function GetParent( ByRef ppsi As IShellItem) As UInteger
  
  Function GetDisplayName( ByVal sigdnName As UInteger, ByRef ppszName As IntPtr) As UInteger
  
  Function GetAttributes( ByVal sfgaoMask As UInteger, ByRef psfgaoAttribs As UInteger) As UInteger
  
  Function Compare( ByVal psi As IShellItem, ByVal hint As UInteger, ByRef piOrder As Integer) As UInteger
  End Interface
  
  #End Region
  
  Friend Function SHCreateItemFromParsingName( ByVal pszPath As String, ByVal pbc As IntPtr, ByRef riid As Guid, ByRef ppv As IShellItem) As Integer
  End Function
  
  End Module
  
  Reply

16 thoughts to “OpenFolderDialog”

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