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Windows Explorer API or Namespace??

I am building a utility application that uses much of the same functionality as already exists in the Windows Explorer. It would therefore make sense to use (if possible) the Windows Explorer as the base component for my application. Since some of the treeview functionality of Windows Explorer is used in the folder browse dialog I make the assumption that this functionality is possibly exposed for use by developers who require the type of network and folder browsing functionality provided by Windows Explorer.

So my question is, is there an exposed API or namespace which I could use to access the network and folder browsing capabilities of Windows Explorer?

Many thanks
Stev

Nov 16 '05 #1
1 3101
Hi Steve,

There's so called Shell API. It is plain Windows API so it has to be used
through P/Invoke from a .NET application.
Some of the shell controls, as far as I remember, are available as ActiveX
controls. For example, when Windows Explorer creates a customized view for a
folder, it actually creates an HTML page with ActiveX controls embedded into
it. These ActiveX controls are responsible for displaying the folder tree
(hmm, not sure here) and the file list. So you can create such a view and
examine/grab the GUIDs/ProgIDs and then use them in your application.

--
Sincerely,
Dmitriy Lapshin [C# / .NET MVP]
Bring the power of unit testing to the VS .NET IDE today!
http://www.x-unity.net/teststudio.aspx

"Steve Randall" <ra*****@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3A**********************************@microsof t.com...
I am building a utility application that uses much of the same functionality as already exists in the Windows Explorer. It would therefore
make sense to use (if possible) the Windows Explorer as the base component
for my application. Since some of the treeview functionality of Windows
Explorer is used in the folder browse dialog I make the assumption that this
functionality is possibly exposed for use by developers who require the type
of network and folder browsing functionality provided by Windows Explorer.
So my question is, is there an exposed API or namespace which I could use to access the network and folder browsing capabilities of Windows Explorer??
Many thanks.
Steve


Nov 16 '05 #2

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