Hi,

I have a question. I'm looking for a dialog box where the user can browse for a directory. All I can find is a dialog box where you can open a file.

Is there one to open a directory? If not, how can I solve this so the user can select a directory?

Thanks.

You have a few options. One of these is to use API calls to have the Browse For Folder dialog presented. The book "Solutions Toolkit - 30 Practical Components for .NET" (ISBN: 1-86100-739-6) shows you how to do this.

Alternatively, you can do it the "old way" Create a form that has a DirListBox and a DriveListBox. On the SelectedIndexChanged event of the DriveListBox, update the DirListBox.

The third option is to upgrade to Visual Studio .NET 2003 / .NET Framework 1.1. It has a FolderBrowserDialog which is exactly what you need.

Cheers,

Imar




---------------------------------------
Imar Spaanjaars
Everyone is unique, except for me.

Thanks for your response Imar.

Now, I used a DriveListBox and a DirListBox control because i have .NET Framework 1.0. . They're not really what I want, but i was making do with them when I noticed that they are defined in the code as:

private Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.VB6.DirListBox
dirListBox1;
private
Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.VB6.DriveListB ox
driveListBox1;

When i run the below code, error is
"The type or namespace name 'Compatability' does not exist in the class or namespace 'Microsoft.VisualBasic'(are you missing an assembly reference?)"

How do i add assembly reference?



using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Collections;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Data;

namespace DirectoryPickerDialog1
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Summary description for Form1.
    /// </summary>
    public class Form1 : System.Windows.Forms.Form
    {
        private System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog openFileDialog1;
        private System.Windows.Forms.Button button1;
        private Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.VB6.DirListBox dirListBox1;
        private Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.VB6.DriveListB ox driveListBox1;
        private System.Windows.Forms.TextBox textBox1;
        private System.Windows.Forms.Label label1;
        /// <summary>

        /// </summary>
        private System.ComponentModel.Container components = null;

        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();



        }

        /// <summary>

        /// </summary>
        protected override void Dispose( bool disposing )
        {
            if( disposing )
            {
                if (components != null)
                {
                    components.Dispose();
                }
            }
            base.Dispose( disposing );
        }

                #region Windows Form Designer generated code
        /// <summary>

        /// </summary>
        private void InitializeComponent()
        {
            System.Configuration.AppSettingsReader configurationAppSettings = new System.Configuration.AppSettingsReader();
            this.openFileDialog1 = new System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog();
            this.button1 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
            this.dirListBox1 = new Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.VB6.DirListBox ();
            this.driveListBox1 = new Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.VB6.DriveListB ox();
            this.textBox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.TextBox();
            this.label1 = new System.Windows.Forms.Label();
            this.SuspendLayout();
            //
            // openFileDialog1
            //
            this.openFileDialog1.Filter = "aaa|*|aaaa|*.*";
            //
            // button1
            //
            this.button1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(256, 120);
            this.button1.Name = "button1";
            this.button1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(128, 24);
            this.button1.TabIndex = 0;
            this.button1.Text = "Select";
            this.button1.MouseDown += new System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventHandler(this.OnMous eDown);
            //
            // dirListBox1
            //
            this.dirListBox1.IntegralHeight = false;
            this.dirListBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(16, 56);
            this.dirListBox1.Name = "dirListBox1";
            this.dirListBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(200, 144);
            this.dirListBox1.TabIndex = 1;
            //
            // driveListBox1
            //
            this.driveListBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(16, 16);
            this.driveListBox1.Name = "driveListBox1";
            this.driveListBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(200, 20);
            this.driveListBox1.TabIndex = 2;
            this.driveListBox1.SelectedIndexChanged += new System.EventHandler(this.OnDirSelectChanged);
            //
            // textBox1
            //
            this.textBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(256, 176);
            this.textBox1.Name = "textBox1";
            this.textBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(392, 19);
            this.textBox1.TabIndex = 3;
            this.textBox1.Text = ((string)(configurationAppSettings.GetValue("textB ox1.Text", typeof(string))));
            //
            // label1
            //
            this.label1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(256, 152);
            this.label1.Name = "label1";
            this.label1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(112, 16);
            this.label1.TabIndex = 4;
            this.label1.Text = "Selected Directory";
            //
            // DirectoryPickerDialog
            //
            this.AutoScaleBaseSize = new System.Drawing.Size(5, 12);
            this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(664, 222);
            this.Controls.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.Control[] {
                                                                          this.label1,
                                                                          this.textBox1,
                                                                          this.driveListBox1,
                                                                          this.dirListBox1,
                                                                          this.button1});
            this.Name = "DirectoryPickerDialog";
            this.Text = "DirectoryPickerDialog";
            this.ResumeLayout(false);

        }
                #endregion

        /// <summary>

        /// </summary>
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            Application.Run(new Form1());
        }

        private void OnMouseDown(object sender, System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs e)
        {
            this.textBox1.Text = this.dirListBox1.Path;
        }

        private void OnDirSelectChanged(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {
                this.dirListBox1.Path = this.driveListBox1.Drive;
            }
            catch(System.Exception exc)
            {

                MessageBox.Show(exc.Message, this.Text, MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation);
            }
        }
    }
}


Thanks.

Hi there,

You'll need to add references to the Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility and Microsoft.VisualBasic namespaces.

To do this, expand your project, right-click References and choose Add Reference. Then on the .NET tab, select Microsoft Visual Basic .NET runtime and Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Compatibility runtime to reference both these namespaces.

Funny thing is that my version of Visual Studio (2002 and 2003), adds the references automatically when I add an instance of the Dir/Drive listbox. Did you remove them, or is there another problem?

Cheers,

Imar

---------------------------------------
Imar Spaanjaars
Everyone is unique, except for me.

Thanks for your response Imar.

The code is working perfectly now. Actually I did not add Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility and Microsoft.VisualBasic namespaces in the code, that is why i got such errors.

Instead of doing this length process you can use the Common Dialog Class for open Dialog Box or save dialog box.


Deepesh Jain
VB,VBA & .NET Specialist
Wiley Support Team

Hmmmm, is that true? If I am not mistaken, you then end up with a dialog box that allows you to select a file, and not a folder. I think the original poster meant a solution that allows a user to browser for just a folder in a read-only tree.

Or am I overlooking something??


Imar


---------------------------------------
Imar Spaanjaars
Everyone is unique, except for me.