ordering of files in a FileListBox

FileListBox reads the files by sorting them by their name.

OK, so a filelistbox is populated in alphabetical order. If the filelistbox remains open and is not repopulated, and some files are renamed, does the file order stay the same in the listbox, or are they re-ordered ?

You can add ShellChangeNotifier and add the code below on files change:

procedure TForm1.ShellChangeNotifier1Change;
begin
  FileListBox1.Update;
end;

Select allOpen in new window

Or use ShellListView that has AutoRefresh property.

FileListBox is always sorted alphabetically even if a new item is added

If you want a different sort, you have to implement it yourself

Here's the thing,
I have written a program that renames and renumbers files,.I have used it successfully a few times on folders containing 3500 files each. I use a while-do loop to run through the files until all the files have been renamed. I retrieve the file names like this: name = FileListBox1.Items.Strings[filenumber], and then rename it. The file number increments and I go to the next name until filenumber = FileListBox1.Items.Count - 1. What I understand now is that if I rename a file so it is no longer in the same postion alphabetically, it will move in the FileListBox. For example, If I rename the first file, FileListBox1.Items.Files[0], from A0001.tif, to Z0001.tif, it would move to the end of the list and the third file would become FileListBox.Items.Strings[1], the second file on the list. Now my program would rename the third file, A0003.tif to Z0002.tif, thinking it was the second file, and so on. Now the files would be out of order, incorrectly numbered, and only every other file would be renamed. This would be a disaster.
What should I do to make the program bulletproof ? Is there a way to make the FileListBox freeze the ordering process while my program runs ? Should I copy the filenames from the FilelLstBox to something else, another kind of listbox, or an array for example, so the files will stay in the same order while being renamed ? Or do I need to make sure the new filename will never take the files out of order ? Generally, I want the files in the list box to be listed alphabetically, but to stay in the same order even though they may now be out of order allphabetically, until the renaming is done and I refresh the FileListBox.

If you call BeginUpdate and EndUpdate, the list will not be modified until you are done, this will e even faster

FileListBox1.Item.BeginUpdate;
try
  //do your loop here
finally
  FileListBox1.Item.EndUpdate;
end;

But my recommendation is to save the list to a temporary list then work from that eg
var
  TempList: TStringList;
begin
  TempList := TStringList.Create;
  try
    TempList.Assign(FileListBox.Items);
    FileListBox1.Item.BeginUpdate;
   try
      //here do your loop accessing the TempList
     while filenumber < TempList.Count do
     begin
           FileName := TempList.Items.Strings[filenumber];

           //your rename code
         Inc(filenumber);
      end;
   finally
     //refresh the list box then endupdate
     FileListBox1.Item.EndUpdate;
   end;
  finally
    FreeAndNil(TempList);
  end;
end;