Capture order of files selected in file dialog box by OS-Hook

[Gantos22]

I had exactly the same problem but I exclusively program using the WIN32 API functions and in PureBasic

I solved the problem by enabling a Hook procedure for the WIN32 OpenFile Dialog function and intercepting the CDN_SELCHANGE notifcations that are sent for every file name that is clicked, this includes contiguous or non-contiguous blocks. By sending the CDM_GETSPEC message the currently selected file as well as the group of files selected (if any) is obtained.

The problem with the group of files is that the list is dynamically re-sorted in alphabetical order as files are being selcted whilst holding down the control key but, and an important but, the first file in the list is always the present selection or to put it another way, the lastest file addd to the group.

The code to then correctly return the file names in the order in which they were selected is however non-trivial but I have been able to do it.

The easiest way to see what is going on is to simply bring up a debug window from the Hook procedure when the CDN_SELCHANGE notifcation is received and the CDM_GETSPEC message sent to retrieve the currently selected file(s).

Hope this helps for future readers that stumble upon this post.

[zmbd]

Gantos22

This is a very old thread to zombie; however, your solution is somewhat interesting and may have some applications.

However, you really haven't provided a lot of detail about the the method you have offered, which is quite advanced for a lot of our readers.

I would certainly be willing to move your post to its own thread where you would have the "room" to explain the method in detail, code snipit, and perhaps offer an example where this would be a useful tool.

-z

[Gantos22]

Hi zmbd I didn't think anyone would read this so quickly!

I have produced a DLL version of my code that I use in applications where it is important to know the order in which files were selected. The code is written in PureBasic format but nevertheless the WIN32 API calls are in the format of the MS SDK so can be easily reconciled.

As I mentioned, the task turned out to be non-trivial because you need to take into account files that were clicked but ended up not being selected and files that were block highlighted with the "Shift" key so there is quite a bit of code to make it work but I'm willing to provide more details as I'm sure many other people have similar needs from time to time.

In order to replicate what I have done, users will need to be familiar with calling WIN32 functions and setting up a Hook procedure that the standard MS OpenFile Dialog will call.

I have also used "Linked Lists" to store and sort the returned and selected files but alternatively static arrays could be used.

The need to know what order files were selected arose in several projects, the first for my wife's Library cataloguing business where she has a need to concatenate library MARC21 format (machine readable catalogue) files in a particular order. The program that I originally wrote to produce the MARC21 files allowed drag & drop to change the order of concatenation but it was much better that at the file selection stage the order in which they were selected was preserved.

The second application was for an RCDATA MS resource compiler that I wrote and I wanted to be able to keep ICONS, Cursors and other bitmap files in a particular order so that the generated resource file (.rc) would have say a given button UP positon bitmap and the same button DOWN position bit map following sequentially.

[zmbd]

Absolutly cool...
Have you read Rabbit's current work with WMI?
http://bytes.com/topic/access/insigh...n-wmi-tutorial

Your work really deserves it's own thread and topic
With your kind permision, we can split your posts out into their thread as I offered earlier...

-z

[Gantos22]

Yes I'm happy for you to do that and I presume that I will receive an auto Email letting me know where you have created the new message.

I have not read Rabbits work with WMI but will do so, please be aware tough that I program using the PureBasic language and not MS Visual Studio/Visual Basic anymore so people will have to translate what I have done into the MS OOP/.net world however its the strategy that's important.

Best regards