Question

Access VBA - Looking for API for Folder Dialog Form

Asked by: jdana

I'm working on an Access project where I need the VBA API for the "Folder Dialog."  I'm not sure what the recognized name of the dialog form is, but it's the form that allows the user to select a directory.  (I already have an API for the "Common Dialog" that allows the user to work with files.)

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Asked On
2009-09-15 at 06:00:30ID24732677
Tags

MS Access

,

MS Excel

Topic

Access Coding/Macros

Participating Experts
3
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Answers

 

by: cwood-wm-comPosted on 2009-09-15 at 06:09:37ID: 25334453

If you are using Office XP or 2007, you can use the FileDialog object with the Folder Picker Dialog (msoFileDialogFolderPicker).
-Chuck

To use a FileDialog object, you must first call the FileDialog property of an Office XP or 2007 
Application object and provide an argument for the DialogType. There are four types of file 
dialogs: 
 * Open Dialog (msoFileDialogOpen) - allows users to select one or more files. If you choose to do so, 
   you can then open the selected file or files in the host application by using the Execute method. 
 * SaveAs Dialog (msoFileDialogSaveAs) - allows users to select a single file. If you choose to do so, 
   you can then save the current file by using the Execute method. 
 * File Picker Dialog (msoFileDialogFilePicker) - allows users to select one or more files. The file 
   paths that the user selects are captured in the FileDialogSelectedItems collection. 
 * Folder Picker Dialog (msoFileDialogFolderPicker) - allows users to select a folder. The path for the 
   selected folder is captured in the FileDialogSelectedItems collection. 
 
Each host Office application can only instantiate a single instance of a FileDialog object. Many 
of the properties of the FileDialog object persist even when you create multiple FileDialog 
objects. Therefore, you should initialize all of the dialog properties appropriately for your 
purpose before you display the dialog box. 
 
Once you have a reference to a FileDialog object, you can display the dialog box by using the 
Show method. All FileDialog objects are modal so once a dialog box is displayed, no code 
continues to execute until the dialog box is dismissed. Your code can also check the return value 
of the Show method to determine if the user accepts or cancels the file (or folder) selection and 
then to handle that condition as needed.
 
The following sample VBA code creates and shows a File Picker dialog box. When you run the 
code to display the dialog box, select one or more files and click OK to dismiss the dialog box. 
Each of your file selections is displayed in a message box. Note that you can use the 
CTRL+SHIFT keyboard combination in the dialog box to select multiple files.
 
Sub Main()
    'Declare a variable as a FileDialog object.
    Dim fd As FileDialog
    'Create a FileDialog object as a File Picker dialog box.
    Set fd = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFilePicker)
    'Declare a variable to contain the path
    'of each selected item. Even though the path is a String,
    'the variable must be a Variant because For Each...Next
    'routines only work with Variants and Objects.
    Dim vrtSelectedItem As Variant
    'Use a With...End With block to reference the FileDialog object.
    With fd
        'Use the Show method to display the File Picker dialog box
        'The user pressed the action button.
        If .Show = -1 Then
 
            'Step through the FileDialogSelectedItems collection.
            For Each vrtSelectedItem In .SelectedItems
 
                'vrtSelectedItem contains the path of each selected item.
                'Here use any file I/O functions you want on the path.
                'This example simply displays the path in a message box.
                MsgBox "The path is: " & vrtSelectedItem
 
            Next vrtSelectedItem
        'The user pressed Cancel.
        Else
        End If
    End With
    'Set the object variable to Nothing.
    Set fd = Nothing
End Sub
 
After you call the Show method to display a file dialog box, if the dialog box is type 
msoFileDialogOpen or msoFileDialogSaveAs, you can call the Execute method to carry out the 
default Open or Save action. For example, if the file dialog box type is msoFileDialogOpen, you 
can call the Execute method to open the file selected by the user.
 
Additional Note
Because a file dialog box can only be accessed by calling the FileDialog property of an Office 
Application object, use of an Office XP or 2007 file dialog box requires a running instance of an Office 
XP or 2007 application. Therefore, you cannot use the Office XP or 2007 file dialog boxes from a non-Office 
application without Automation to an Office application.
                                              
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by: LSMConsultingPosted on 2009-09-15 at 07:28:34ID: 25335262

Here's code that will allow you to use the API calls, if you'd rather do that:

http://www.mvps.org/access/api/api0002.htm

 

by: jdanaPosted on 2009-09-15 at 20:29:47ID: 31628882

LSM,

Perfecto.

 

by: Helen_FeddemaPosted on 2009-10-30 at 08:11:21ID: 25703729

Here is some code for a FilePicker dialog:

Public Function SelectFile() As String
'Requires Office XP (2002) or higher
'Requires a reference to the Microsoft Office Object Library
'Created by Helen Feddema 3-Aug-2009
'Last modified 3-Aug-2009
 
On Error GoTo ErrorHandler
 
   Dim fd As Office.FileDialog
   Dim varSelectedItem As Variant
   Dim strFileNameAndPath As String
   
   'Create a FileDialog object as a File Picker dialog box.
   Set fd = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFilePicker)
   
   With fd
      'Set AllowMultiSelect to True to allow selection of multiple files
      .AllowMultiSelect = False
      .Title = "Browse for File"
      .ButtonName = "Select"
      .Filters.Clear
      .Filters.Add "Documents", "*.doc; *.txt", 1
      .InitialView = msoFileDialogViewDetails
      If .Show = -1 Then
         'Get selected item in the FileDialogSelectedItems collection
         For Each varSelectedItem In .SelectedItems
            strFileNameAndPath = CStr(varSelectedItem)
         Next varSelectedItem
      Else
         Debug.Print "User pressed Cancel"
         strFileNameAndPath = ""
      End If
   End With
   
   SelectFile = strFileNameAndPath
   
ErrorHandlerExit:
   Set fd = Nothing
   Exit Function
 
ErrorHandler:
   MsgBox "Error No: " & Err.Number & "; Description: " & Err.Description
   Resume ErrorHandlerExit
 
End Function
                                              
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by: LSMConsultingPosted on 2009-10-30 at 14:10:14ID: 25706825

Helen: Looks like Chuck already posted code that uses the FileDialog object.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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