DOCUMENT:Q179497  19-JAN-1998  [vbwin]
TITLE   :HOWTO: Select a Directory Without the Common Dialog Control
PRODUCT :Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
PROD/VER:WINDOWS:5.0
OPER/SYS:WINDOWS
KEYWORDS:vb5all vb5howto VBKBWinAPI

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Visual Basic Learning, Professional, and Enterprise Editions
   for Windows, version 5.0
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SUMMARY
=======

This article demonstrates how to display the directory structure of a
computer and allow a user to select a directory without using the Common
Dialog control.

MORE INFORMATION
================

The sample project uses the following API functions to display the
directory structure of a computer:

 - SHBrowseForFolder - displays a dialog box that enables the user to
   select a shell folder.

 - SHGetPathFromIDList - converts an item identifier list to a file system
   path.

Create the Sample Project
-------------------------

1. Start a new Standard EXE project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by
   default.

2. Add a CommandButton to Form1.

3. Copy the following code to the Code window of Form1:

      Option Explicit

      Private Const BIF_RETURNONLYFSDIRS = 1
      Private Const BIF_DONTGOBELOWDOMAIN = 2
      Private Const MAX_PATH = 260

      Private Declare Function SHBrowseForFolder Lib "shell32" _
                                        (lpbi As BrowseInfo) As Long

      Private Declare Function SHGetPathFromIDList Lib "shell32" _
                                        (ByVal pidList As Long, _
                                        ByVal lpBuffer As String) As Long

      Private Declare Function lstrcat Lib "kernel32" Alias "lstrcatA" _
                                        (ByVal lpString1 As String, ByVal _
                                        lpString2 As String) As Long

      Private Type BrowseInfo
         hWndOwner      As Long
         pIDLRoot       As Long
         pszDisplayName As Long
         lpszTitle      As Long
         ulFlags        As Long
         lpfnCallback   As Long
         lParam         As Long
         iImage         As Long
      End Type

      Private Sub Command1_Click()
      'Opens a Treeview control that displays the directories in a computer

         Dim lpIDList As Long
         Dim sBuffer As String
         Dim szTitle As String
         Dim tBrowseInfo As BrowseInfo

         szTitle = "This is the title"
         With tBrowseInfo
            .hWndOwner = Me.hWnd
            .lpszTitle = lstrcat(szTitle, "")
            .ulFlags = BIF_RETURNONLYFSDIRS + BIF_DONTGOBELOWDOMAIN
         End With

         lpIDList = SHBrowseForFolder(tBrowseInfo)

         If (lpIDList) Then
            sBuffer = Space(MAX_PATH)
            SHGetPathFromIDList lpIDList, sBuffer
            sBuffer = Left(sBuffer, InStr(sBuffer, vbNullChar) - 1)
            MsgBox sBuffer
         End If
      End Sub

5. On the Run menu, click Start or press the F5 key to start the program.
   Click the CommandButton to display the directory structure of the
   computer. Select a directory and click the OK button to display the
   directory you selected in a message box.

Additional query words: directory chooser picker

(c) Microsoft Corporation 1998, All Rights Reserved.
Contributions by Arsenio Locsin, Microsoft Corporation
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Keywords          : vb5all vb5howto VBKBWinAPI
Version           : WINDOWS:5.0
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto

=============================================================================

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