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Table of Contents
Multiple file operations
by Richard Russell, July 2007
The Windows API function SHFileOperation is very flexible, allowing you to perform common file-system operations (delete, copy, move/rename) on one or more files. It can optionally move 'deleted' files to the Recycle Bin, display a handy progress dialogue for lengthy operations and prompt for confirmation.
Initialisation
Before using the SHFileOperation API incorporate the following declarations in your program:
FO_MOVE = 1
FO_COPY = 2
FO_DELETE = 3
FOF_MULTIDESTFILES = 1
FOF_CONFIRMMOUSE = 2
FOF_SILENT = 4
FOF_RENAMEONCOLLISION = 8
FOF_NOCONFIRMATION = 16
FOF_WANTMAPPINGHANDLE = 32
FOF_ALLOWUNDO = 64
FOF_FILESONLY = 128
FOF_SIMPLEPROGRESS = 256 : REM shfo.fFlags.h& = 1
FOF_NOCONFIRMMKDIR = 512 : REM shfo.fFlags.h& = 2
Deleting files
To delete one or more files use code similar to the following:
DEF PROCdeletefiles(afsp$)
LOCAL shfo{}
DIM shfo{hWnd%, wFunc%, pFrom%, pTo%, fFlags{l&,h&}, \
\ fAborted%, hNameMaps%, sProgress%}
afsp$ += CHR$0 + CHR$0
shfo.hWnd% = @hwnd%
shfo.wFunc% = FO_DELETE
shfo.pFrom% = !^afsp$
SYS "SHFileOperation", shfo{}
ENDPROC
As shown the operation will display a progress dialogue and prompt the user for confirmation. If you prefer it to happen 'silently' initialise the fFlags member as follows:
shfo.fFlags.l& = FOF_SILENT OR FOF_NOCONFIRMATION
shfo.fFlags.h& = 0
You can specify that the files are moved to the Recycle Bin rather than permanently deleted as follows:
shfo.fFlags.l& = FOF_ALLOWUNDO OR FOF_NOCONFIRMATION
shfo.fFlags.h& = 0
Copying files
To copy one or more files use code similar to the following:
DEF PROCcopyfiles(from$,dest$)
LOCAL shfo{}
DIM shfo{hWnd%, wFunc%, pFrom%, pTo%, fFlags{l&,h&}, \
\ fAborted%, hNameMaps%, sProgress%}
from$ += CHR$0 + CHR$0
dest$ += CHR$0 + CHR$0
shfo.hWnd% = @hwnd%
shfo.wFunc% = FO_COPY
shfo.pFrom% = !^from$
shfo.pTo% = !^dest$
SYS "SHFileOperation", shfo{}
ENDPROC
The from$ parameter should contain one or more path/filenames separated by NULs (CHR$0); the filenames may include wildcard characters (? or *). The dest$ parameter should contain the path to the destination folder to which you want the files to be copied; this folder will be created if necessary.
As shown the operation will display a progress dialogue and prompt the user for confirmation. If you prefer it to happen 'silently' initialise the fFlags member as follows:
shfo.fFlags.l& = FOF_SILENT OR FOF_NOCONFIRMATION
shfo.fFlags.h& = FOF_NOCONFIRMMKDIR DIV 256
If you want to copy only files, rather than any subdirectories included in the from$ specification, add the “FOF_FILESONLY” flag.
Moving files
To move (or rename) one or more files use code similar to the following:
DEF PROCmovefiles(from$,dest$)
LOCAL shfo{}
DIM shfo{hWnd%, wFunc%, pFrom%, pTo%, fFlags{l&,h&}, \
\ fAborted%, hNameMaps%, sProgress%}
from$ += CHR$0 + CHR$0
dest$ += CHR$0 + CHR$0
shfo.hWnd% = @hwnd%
shfo.wFunc% = FO_MOVE
shfo.pFrom% = !^from$
shfo.pTo% = !^dest$
SYS "SHFileOperation", shfo{}
ENDPROC
The from$ parameter should contain one or more path/filenames separated by NULs (CHR$0); the filenames may include wildcard characters (? or *). The dest$ parameter should contain the path to the destination folder to which you want the files to be moved; this folder will be created if necessary.
As shown the operation will display a progress dialogue and prompt the user for confirmation. If you prefer it to happen 'silently' initialise the fFlags member as follows:
shfo.fFlags.l& = FOF_SILENT OR FOF_NOCONFIRMATION
shfo.fFlags.h& = FOF_NOCONFIRMMKDIR DIV 256
If you want to move only files, rather than any subdirectories included in the from$ specification, add the “FOF_FILESONLY” flag.
If, rather than moving all the files to the same destination folder, you want to move or rename them individually, initialise the fFlags member as follows:
shfo.fFlags.l& = FOF_MULTIDESTFILES
shfo.fFlags.h& = 0
Now the dest$ parameter must contain the same number of path/filename specifications as there are in from$, separated by NULs (CHR$0).