FileOpen Filtering
Ivan F Moala
Can Do
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| CommonDialog | RW | Description | |
| Property _Action As Integer | Read Only | (undocumented) | iAction |
| Property Action As Integer | Read Only | Returns/sets the type of dialog box to be displayed. | lAPIReturn |
| Property CancelError As Boolean | Read/Write | Indicates whether an error is generated when the user chooses the Cancel button. | bCancelError |
| Property Color As Long | Read/Write | Returns/sets the selected color. | lColor |
| Property Copies As Integer | Read/Write | Returns/sets a value that determines the number of copies to be printed. | lCopies |
| Property DefaultExt As String | Read/Write | Returns/sets the default filename extension for the dialog box. | sDefaultExt |
| Property DialogTitle As String | Read/Write | Sets the string displayed in the title bar of the dialog box. | sDialogTitle |
| Property FileName As String | Read/Write | Returns/sets the path and filename of a selected file. | sFileName |
| Property Filter As String | Read/Write | Returns/sets the filters that are displayed in the Type list box of a dialog box. | sFilter |
| Property FilterIndex As Integer | Read/Write | Returns/sets a default filter for an Open or Save As dialog box. | iFilterIndex |
| Property Flags As Long | Read/Write | Sets the options for a dialog box. | lFlags |
| Property FontBold As Boolean | Read/Write | Returns/sets bold font styles. | bFontBold |
| Property FontItalic As Boolean | Read/Write | Returns/sets italic font styles. | bFontItalic |
| Property FontName As String | Read/Write | Specifies the name of the font that appears in each row for the given level. | sFontName |
| Property FontSize As Single | Read/Write | Specifies the size (in points) of the font that appears in each row for the given level. | lFontSize |
| Property FontStrikeThru As Boolean | Read/Write | Returns/sets strikethrough font styles. | bFontStrikethru |
| Property FontUnderLine As Boolean | Read/Write | Returns/sets underline font styles. | bFontUnderline |
| Property FromPage As Integer | Read/Write | Returns/sets the value for the first page to be printed. | lFromPage |
| Property HelpCommand As Integer | Read/Write | Returns/sets the type of online Help requested. | lHelpCommand |
| Property HelpContext As Long | Read/Write | Returns/sets the context ID of the requested Help topic. | sHelpContext |
| Property HelpFile As String | Read/Write | Returns/sets the name of the Help file associated with the project. | sHelpFile |
| Property HelpKey As String | Read/Write | Returns/sets the keyword that identifies the requested Help topic. | sHelpKey |
| Property InitDir As String | Read/Write | Returns/sets the initial file directory. | sInitDir |
| Property Max As Integer | Read/Write | Returns/sets the maximum font size (Font dialog) or print range (Print dialog). | lMax |
| Property MaxFileSize As Integer | Read/Write | Returns/sets the maximum size of the filename opened using the CommonDialog control. | lMaxFileSize |
| Property Min As Integer | Read/Write | Sets the smallest allowable font size (Font dialog) or print range (Print dialog). | lMin |
| Property PrinterDefault As Boolean | Read/Write | Determines if user selections in the Print dialog box are used to change the default printer settings. | iPrinterDefault |
| Property ToPage As Integer | Read/Write | Returns/sets the value for the first page to be printed. | lToPage |
Filtering Files using the comdlg32.dll
What is Comdlg32.Dll
The Win32® Common Dialog API functions are located in COMDLG32.DLL, which must be in the
Windows system directory for the dialog interface to function.
The Common Dialog functions provide a standard set of Windows dialog boxes for operations such as
opening, saving, and printing files, or selecting colors and fonts. The class creates objects that, with the
exception of an object instantiation line, are code-compatible with Visual Basic's Common Dialog control.
= COMDLG32.OCX.
Programs using the Visual Basic Common Dialog control require that COMDLG32.OCX be available and
correctly registered. (Note this is the control and NOT the Dll, which all Windows systems have)
If the Common Dialog class is included as a class module in a Visual Basic project, no other files are
required. If the class is compiled as an in-process server, the resulting DLL will need to be available at run
time and must be correctly registered.
The Win32 Common Dialog object is easier to use than the Visual Basic Common Dialog control because
it doesn't need to be a part of a form, so there is less over head ie you don't need to have the users
ensure that they have this control. The Common Dialog object (DLL) provides the same methods and
properties as the Common Dialog control (OCX) and it can be used to replace the Common Dialog
control in existing projects with very little modification to code.
Here is a list of the API functions available in the Dll. Note the double Entry points for ANSI or UNICODE
are designated by the last letter A (ANSI) or W(Wide character = UNICODE)
These functions were extracted via the "UsesWhat" utility available HERE
This utility scans import tables of Win32 executables for references to libraries and/or APIs.
- ChooseColorA
- ChooseColorW
- ChooseFontA
- ChooseFontW
- CommDlgExtendedError
- FindTextA
- FindTextW
- GetFileTitleA
- GetFileTitleW
- GetOpenFileNameA
- GetOpenFileNameW
- GetSaveFileNameA
- GetSaveFileNameW
- PageSetupDlgA
- PageSetupDlgW
- PrintDlgA
- PrintDlgExW
- PrintDlgW
- ReplaceTextA
- ReplaceTextW
- Ssync_ANSI_UNICODE_Struct_For_WOW
For VBA users you will note from above the GetOpenFileName & GetSaveFileName,
do these look familiar ?
Yes it is basically the same. Here is the help file info;
Syntax
expression.GetOpenFilename(FileFilter, FilterIndex, Title, ButtonText, MultiSelect)
expression Required. An expression that returns an Application object.
FileFilter Optional Variant. A string specifying file filtering criteria.
This string consists of pairs of file filter strings followed by the MS-DOS wildcard file filter specification,
with each part and each pair separated by commas. Each separate pair is listed in the Files of type
drop-down list box.
For example, the following string specifies two file filters—text and addin:
"Text Files (*.txt),*.txt,Add-In Files (*.xla),*.xla".
To use multiple MS-DOS wildcard expressions for a single file filter type, separate the wildcard expressions with semicolons; for example, "Visual Basic Files (*.bas; *.txt),*.bas;*.txt".
If omitted, this argument defaults to "All Files (*.*),*.*".
FilterIndex Optional Variant. Specifies the index numbers of the default file filtering criteria, from 1 to the
number of filters specified in FileFilter. If this argument is omitted or greater
than the number of filters present, the first file filter is used.
Title Optional Variant. Specifies the title of the dialog box. If this argument is omitted,
the title is "Open."
ButtonText Optional Variant. Macintosh only.
MultiSelect Optional Variant. True to allow multiple file names to be selected.
False to allow only one file name to be selected. The default value is False
Remarks
This method returns the selected file name or the name entered by the user. The returned name may
include a path specification. If MultiSelect is True, the return value is an array of the selected file names
(even if only one filename is selected). Returns False if the user cancels the dialog box.
This method may change the current drive or folder.
Now that we have this out of the way lets look @ why I brought this up.
Using VBA GetOpenFileName, you may wish to filter for certain files eg *.txt = ALL Txt Files, but what
about All Txt files starting with B. You would naturally assume that you can do this via wild card subst
eg B*.txt, or what about ALL Txt files with the letters BE in the file name ??.
Then we would put in *BE*.Txt. Try this and see what happens ?
That's right, it won't work, you are limited with VBA FileOpen function filtering.
FILTERING FILES
Here is a work around for this - using the comdlg32.dll and the API function GetOpenFileNameA.
Private Declare Function GetOpenFileName Lib "comdlg32.dll" _
Alias "GetOpenFileNameA" ( _
pOpenfilename As OPENFILENAME) As Long
Getting started
Before we use this API function we need to define a Type structure for the pOpenfilename.
As this function is similar to the OCX control, then it's properties should be the same, and they are
except for a few minor details. Here are the properties;
My thanks to Mark O'Brien for alerting me to the frustrating fact that the code pages do NOT copy, if at all
[COPY FRIENDLY PAGE]
So now all you have to do is define your filtering to get a list in a specified directory.
eg All .xls files with the letters "Help" in it would be defined as;
strFilter = "My XlFiles (*Help*.xls)" & Chr(0) & "*Help*.xls" & Chr(0)
NOTE: The filtered list needs to be padded with the null character Chr(0) to indicate and end of string.
This page was last updated on; June 10, 2003
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