how to use "open-file" dialog box in an access 200

gsungur

New Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2004
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2
Hi gurus,

Im making a simple database for stock control process and I have to design Access 2000 forms. I have to use a open file dialog box in the form so that user will choose the picture of the material from .jpeg's and record it. I searched all the commands in access but couldn't find any button that opens file browser. Can you help me please?

thanks a lot!
 

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Re: how to use "open-file" dialog box in an access

Try this: Original attribution included at the top although some of the code lines are slightly altered from the original (commented out I think)
The type declaration must be at the top of a new module. Easiest method is to just make a new module and paste this in.

Code:
Option Compare Database

'This code was originally written by Ken Getz.
'It is not to be altered or distributed,
'except as part of an application.
'You are free to use it in any application,
'provided the copyright notice is left unchanged.
'
' Code courtesy of:
'   Microsoft Access 95 How-To
' Ken Getz and Paul Litwin
' Waite Group Press, 1996

Type tagOPENFILENAME
    lStructSize As Long
    hwndOwner As Long
    hInstance As Long
    strFilter As String
    strCustomFilter As String
    nMaxCustFilter As Long
    nFilterIndex As Long
    strFile As String
    nMaxFile As Long
    strFileTitle As String
    nMaxFileTitle As Long
    strInitialDir As String
    strTitle As String
    Flags As Long
    nFileOffset As Integer
    nFileExtension As Integer
    strDefExt As String
    lCustData As Long
    lpfnHook As Long
    lpTemplateName As String
End Type

Declare Function aht_apiGetOpenFileName Lib "comdlg32.dll" _
    Alias "GetOpenFileNameA" (OFN As tagOPENFILENAME) As Boolean

Declare Function aht_apiGetSaveFileName Lib "comdlg32.dll" _
    Alias "GetSaveFileNameA" (OFN As tagOPENFILENAME) As Boolean
Declare Function CommDlgExtendedError Lib "comdlg32.dll" () As Long

Global Const ahtOFN_READONLY = &H1
Global Const ahtOFN_OVERWRITEPROMPT = &H2
Global Const ahtOFN_HIDEREADONLY = &H4
Global Const ahtOFN_NOCHANGEDIR = &H8
Global Const ahtOFN_SHOWHELP = &H10
' You won't use these.
'Global Const ahtOFN_ENABLEHOOK = &H20
'Global Const ahtOFN_ENABLETEMPLATE = &H40
'Global Const ahtOFN_ENABLETEMPLATEHANDLE = &H80
Global Const ahtOFN_NOVALIDATE = &H100
Global Const ahtOFN_ALLOWMULTISELECT = &H200
Global Const ahtOFN_EXTENSIONDIFFERENT = &H400
Global Const ahtOFN_PATHMUSTEXIST = &H800
Global Const ahtOFN_FILEMUSTEXIST = &H1000
Global Const ahtOFN_CREATEPROMPT = &H2000
Global Const ahtOFN_SHAREAWARE = &H4000
Global Const ahtOFN_NOREADONLYRETURN = &H8000
Global Const ahtOFN_NOTESTFILECREATE = &H10000
Global Const ahtOFN_NONETWORKBUTTON = &H20000
Global Const ahtOFN_NOLONGNAMES = &H40000
' New for Windows 95
Global Const ahtOFN_EXPLORER = &H80000
Global Const ahtOFN_NODEREFERENCELINKS = &H100000
Global Const ahtOFN_LONGNAMES = &H200000


Function RecallFileLocation() As String
    Dim strFilter As String, strLoc As String
    Dim lngFlags As Long, MyDefault As String
    strFilter = ahtAddFilterItem(strFilter, "Access Files (*.mda, *.mdb)", _
                    "*.MDA;*.MDB")
    'strFilter = ahtAddFilterItem(strFilter, "dBASE Files (*.dbf)", "*.DBF")
    strFilter = ahtAddFilterItem(strFilter, "Text Files (*.txt)", "*.TXT")
    strFilter = ahtAddFilterItem(strFilter, "Excel Files (*.xls)", "*.XLS")
    strFilter = ahtAddFilterItem(strFilter, "All Files (*.*)", "*.*")

    MyDefault = FindDefaults("DefaultOpenLocation")
    ' MsgBox ValidateLocations(MyDefault)   Returns results of test to see if exists
      
    RecallFileLocation = ahtCommonFileOpenSave(InitialDir:=MyDefault, _
        Filter:=strFilter, FilterIndex:=3, Flags:=lngFlags, _
        DialogTitle:="Find File to Open!")
    
    '    MsgBox "You selected: " & ahtCommonFileOpenSave(InitialDir:="S:\Assignment List\", _
    '    Filter:=strFilter, FilterIndex:=3, Flags:=lngFlags, _
    '    DialogTitle:="Find File to Open!")
    ' Since you passed in a variable for lngFlags,
    ' the function places the output flags value in the variable.
    Debug.Print Hex(lngFlags)
End Function

Function GetOpenFile(Optional varDirectory As Variant, _
    Optional varTitleForDialog As Variant) As Variant
' Here's an example that gets an Access database name.
Dim strFilter As String
Dim lngFlags As Long
Dim varFileName As Variant
' Specify that the chosen file must already exist,
' don't change directories when you're done
' Also, don't bother displaying
' the read-only box. It'll only confuse people.
    lngFlags = ahtOFN_FILEMUSTEXIST Or _
                ahtOFN_HIDEREADONLY Or ahtOFN_NOCHANGEDIR
    If IsMissing(varDirectory) Then
        varDirectory = ""
    End If
    If IsMissing(varTitleForDialog) Then
        varTitleForDialog = ""
    End If

    ' Define the filter string and allocate space in the "c"
    ' string Duplicate this line with changes as necessary for
    ' more file templates.
    strFilter = ahtAddFilterItem(strFilter, _
                "Access (*.mdb)", "*.MDB;*.MDA")
    ' Now actually call to get the file name.
    varFileName = ahtCommonFileOpenSave( _
                    OpenFile:=False, _
                    InitialDir:=varDirectory, _
                    Filter:=strFilter, _
                    Flags:=lngFlags, _
                    DialogTitle:=varTitleForDialog)
    MsgBox varFileName
    If Not IsNull(varFileName) Then
        varFileName = TrimNull(varFileName)
    End If
    GetOpenFile = varFileName
End Function

Function ahtCommonFileOpenSave( _
            Optional ByRef Flags As Variant, _
            Optional ByVal InitialDir As Variant, _
            Optional ByVal Filter As Variant, _
            Optional ByVal FilterIndex As Variant, _
            Optional ByVal DefaultExt As Variant, _
            Optional ByVal FileName As Variant, _
            Optional ByVal DialogTitle As Variant, _
            Optional ByVal hwnd As Variant, _
            Optional ByVal OpenFile As Variant) As Variant
' This is the entry point you'll use to call the common
' file open/save dialog. The parameters are listed
' below, and all are optional.
'
' In:
' Flags: one or more of the ahtOFN_* constants, OR'd together.
' InitialDir: the directory in which to first look
' Filter: a set of file filters, set up by calling
' AddFilterItem. See examples.
' FilterIndex: 1-based integer indicating which filter
' set to use, by default (1 if unspecified)
' DefaultExt: Extension to use if the user doesn't enter one.
' Only useful on file saves.
' FileName: Default value for the file name text box.
' DialogTitle: Title for the dialog.
' hWnd: parent window handle
' OpenFile: Boolean(True=Open File/False=Save As)
' Out:
' Return Value: Either Null or the selected filename
Dim OFN As tagOPENFILENAME
Dim strFileName As String
Dim strFileTitle As String
Dim fResult As Boolean
    ' Give the dialog a caption title.
    If IsMissing(InitialDir) Then InitialDir = CurDir
    If IsMissing(Filter) Then Filter = ""
    If IsMissing(FilterIndex) Then FilterIndex = 1
    If IsMissing(Flags) Then Flags = 0&
    If IsMissing(DefaultExt) Then DefaultExt = ""
    If IsMissing(FileName) Then FileName = ""
    If IsMissing(DialogTitle) Then DialogTitle = ""
    If IsMissing(hwnd) Then hwnd = Application.hWndAccessApp
    If IsMissing(OpenFile) Then OpenFile = True
    ' Allocate string space for the returned strings.
    strFileName = Left(FileName & String(256, 0), 256)
    strFileTitle = String(256, 0)
    ' Set up the data structure before you call the function
    With OFN
        .lStructSize = Len(OFN)
        .hwndOwner = hwnd
        .strFilter = Filter
        .nFilterIndex = FilterIndex
        .strFile = strFileName
        .nMaxFile = Len(strFileName)
        .strFileTitle = strFileTitle
        .nMaxFileTitle = Len(strFileTitle)
        .strTitle = DialogTitle
        .Flags = Flags
        .strDefExt = DefaultExt
        .strInitialDir = InitialDir
        ' Didn't think most people would want to deal with
        ' these options.
        .hInstance = 0
        '.strCustomFilter = ""
        '.nMaxCustFilter = 0
        .lpfnHook = 0
        'New for NT 4.0
        .strCustomFilter = String(255, 0)
        .nMaxCustFilter = 255
    End With
    ' This will pass the desired data structure to the
    ' Windows API, which will in turn it uses to display
    ' the Open/Save As Dialog.
    If OpenFile Then
        fResult = aht_apiGetOpenFileName(OFN)
    Else
        fResult = aht_apiGetSaveFileName(OFN)
    End If

    ' The function call filled in the strFileTitle member
    ' of the structure. You'll have to write special code
    ' to retrieve that if you're interested.
    If fResult Then
        ' You might care to check the Flags member of the
        ' structure to get information about the chosen file.
        ' In this example, if you bothered to pass in a
        ' value for Flags, we'll fill it in with the outgoing
        ' Flags value.
        If Not IsMissing(Flags) Then Flags = OFN.Flags
        ahtCommonFileOpenSave = TrimNull(OFN.strFile)
    Else
        ahtCommonFileOpenSave = vbNullString
    End If
End Function

Function ahtAddFilterItem(strFilter As String, _
    strDescription As String, Optional varItem As Variant) As String
' Tack a new chunk onto the file filter.
' That is, take the old value, stick onto it the description,
' (like "Databases"), a null character, the skeleton
' (like "*.mdb;*.mda") and a final null character.

    If IsMissing(varItem) Then varItem = "*.*"
    ahtAddFilterItem = strFilter & _
                strDescription & vbNullChar & _
                varItem & vbNullChar
End Function

Private Function TrimNull(ByVal strItem As String) As String
Dim intPos As Integer
    intPos = InStr(strItem, vbNullChar)
    If intPos > 0 Then
        TrimNull = Left(strItem, intPos - 1)
    Else
        TrimNull = strItem
    End If
End Function
 
Upvote 0
Re: how to use "open-file" dialog box in an access

Thank you very much sir! This was just what I wanted. Your code solved my problem ! (y)
 
Upvote 0
What libraries do you need to run this?

I tried to use this code b/c i want to open a dialog browser to return the path name of a file so I can set up a hyperlinkn in another table. Upon compliation, I get an error consistent with not having the right references/libraries selected. Can anyone help me with this? Is there an easier way to do this? How can I get this to run from within a form?

Thanks in advance!
 
Upvote 0
Found alternate method

I found an alternate method. By using the Excel Object Library, and the command

Location=Excel.Application.GetOpenFilename("All Files (*.*), *.*")

I can return a string of the file path with extension. Works like a charm!
 
Upvote 0
There's also an:

Excel.Application.FindFile

Never occurred to me that Excel2K would have something that A2K didn't.
More recent versions of Access have a built in findfile dialog - couple lines of code - much improved or at least equivalent to the above.

Considering the source of dialog code (Ken Getz) - I'd wonder if there was a reason he didn't want to use the Excel option (portability?) or if he was just demonstrating an API based technique.

Just fiddling with the above two lines, noticed there wasn't any way to pick your starting folder - but it did seem to remember the last folder opened. Perhaps that's one of the reasons also (choosing start point)

Thanks for the addition - I'll remember that.

Mike
 
Upvote 0
I found this piece of code on MSN's help site

HRESULT SHParseDisplayName( LPCWSTR pszName,
IBindCtx *pbc,
LPITEMIDLIST *ppidl,
SFGAOF sfgaoIn,
SFGAOF *psfgaoOut
)

link to site: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d...ll/reference/functions/shparsedisplayname.asp

This appears to return the pidl of a folder. However, I really don't understand anything about this topic. I have the standard BROWSEINFO code that everyone uses to return the path name of a folder. However, everyone sets the root directory to the desktop. I would like to set the root directory to a path stored in a table. How can I use this code to the pidl of my path, which I can use to set my pidlRoot?

Guamlet
 
Upvote 0
Not sure but, if you go back to the original code by Ken Getz and (very slightly) modified by me, there is this line that does exactly as you request buried inside RecallFileLocation

Code:
MyDefault = FindDefaults("DefaultOpenLocation")

At the time I posted the above, I believe FindDefaults looked like this:

Code:
Public Function FindDefaults(ByVal MyDefaults As String) As String

Dim dbs As DAO.Database
Dim rst As DAO.Recordset

Set dbs = CurrentDb
If Not ObjectExists("Table", "tblDefaults") Then
  FindDefaults = "C:\"            ' If tbl does not exist, default to c:\
  GoTo ExitHere
End If
Set rst = dbs.OpenRecordset("Select * from tblDefaults", dbOpenSnapshot)

With rst
    .FindFirst "TypeOfDefault='" & MyDefaults & "'"
    If !TypeOfDefault = MyDefaults Then
        FindDefaults = !DefaultInfo
    Else
        MsgBox "Information Not Found"
    End If
End With

ExitHere:
Set rst = Nothing
Set dbs = Nothing
    Exit Function

End Function

Here's another relevant post:

http://www.mrexcel.com/board2/viewtopic.php?t=127101&highlight=specification
 
Upvote 0

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