We Keep Coding

C# custom file extension filter

I'm trying to read a list of documents in a directory. I understand how the filter modifiers work at a high level and have used them before. However, this time I need to filter something that doesn't have a standardized extension (i.e. "*.txt" or *.pdf").
I'm using the example as found on....
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.windows.forms.filedialog.filter?view=net-5.0
using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace COMS2412_Readin
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
string Serial_num = null;
string INI_file_dir_temp = null;
string CONFIG_data = null;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//Allow user to enter serial number and load it for useage later.
Serial_num = Serial_number_text.Text;
try
{
using (OpenFileDialog COMS_file_dialog = new OpenFileDialog())
{
COMS_file_dialog.InitialDirectory = "c:\\";
//Have dialog box filter out all files without the .INI extention.
COMS_file_dialog.Filter = "txt files (*.INI)|*.INI|All files (*.*)|*.*"; //Failed
// COMS_file_dialog.Filter = "*.INI"; //Failed
// COMS_file_dialog.Filter = "(*.INI)"; //Failed
// COMS_file_dialog.Filter = "(INI files | *.INI)"; //Failed
COMS_file_dialog.FilterIndex = 2;
COMS_file_dialog.RestoreDirectory = true;
if (COMS_file_dialog.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
//Check to make sure it was the correct file type.
INI_file_dir_temp = COMS_file_dialog.FileName;
}
}
}
catch
{
//Sorry there was an error with opening the file. Please ensure the file is not currently open.
}
}
}
}
The project I'm working on imports config files from an external piece of equipment. The problem is there are literally thousands of files, each with unusual file extensions. For example *.INI is one of the extensions I want to filter. I've tried just entering `*.INI as the argument but it didn't work. What am I missing? Is there a way to alter...
openFileDialog.Filter = "txt files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files (*.*)|*.*";
to filter specific file extensions?

Finally, have something that works...
openFileDialog.Filter = "(*.INI)|*.INI";
This filters out everything that isn't of the .INI extension. For me specifically, I had to run VS as admin and ensure the files were not hidden.

Display Filename in button text

How to get the string in the button text?
private void btn_open_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
openFileDialog1.ShowDialog();
ReadCSV(openFileDialog1.FileName);
btn_open.Text = "filename here";
string targetdirectory = "D:\\Projects";
string filename = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(target directory);
}
thanks for your help

When you select a file using OpenFileDialog, the OpenFileDialog.FileName contains the full path of the file selected.
Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension() does just that, getting the file name without extension. However you need to pass an actual file path, not a directory. If you pass a directory path, it will simply retrieve the innermost directory name which is not what your desired outcome.
So what you should do is;
Get file name from OpenFileDialog.
Pass that to the Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension() method.
Set the resulting string as the button text.
Also the correct usage of ShowDialog() is to check the return value; it returns true if the user clicked OK button, and false otherwise.
if(openFileDialog1.ShowDialog() == true)
{
string file = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(openFileDialog1.FileName);
btn_open.Text = file;
}

Try to load a picture from an array of pictures

I'm trying to load a picture into a pictureBox from a string array of pictures I created using Directory.GetFiles(). I believe I am not setting properly setting the picFile correctly.
I've than created a pictureBox_Click event to load subsequent pictures but have not written that event handler
string fileEntries = "";
private void showButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// First I want the user to be able to browse to and select a
// folder that the user wants to view pictures in
string folderPath = "";
FolderBrowserDialog folderBrowserDialog1 = new FolderBrowserDialog();
if (folderBrowserDialog1.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
folderPath = folderBrowserDialog1.SelectedPath;
}
// Now I want to read all of the files of a given type into a
// array that from the path provided above
ProcessDirectory(folderPath);
// after getting the list of path//filenames I want to load the first image here
string picFile = fileEntries;
pictureBox1.Load(picFile);
}
public static void ProcessDirectory(string targetDirectoy)
{
// Process the list of files found in the directory.
string[] fileEntries = Directory.GetFiles(targetDirectoy);
}
// event handler here that advances to the next picture in the list
// upon clicking
}
If I redirect the string array to the Console I see the list of files in that directory but it also has the full path as part of the string - not sure if that is the issue.

string[] fileEntries = ProcessDirectory(folderPath);
if (fileEntries.Length > 0) {
string picFile = fileEntries[0];
pictureBox1.Load(picFile);
}
You have fileEntries declared twice.
public static string[] ProcessDirectory(string targetDirectoy) {
return Directory.GetFiles(targetDirectoy);
}

Now I want to read all of the files of a given type into a
array that from the path provided above
So you have to change the signature of the method ProcessDirectory to return a string affy that includes all the picture files, you can use the search pattern to get files with specific extension as well. You can use the following signature:
public static string[] ProcessDirectory(string targetDirectoy)
{
return Directory.GetFiles(targetDirectoy,"*.png");
}
after getting the list of path//filenames I want to load the first image here
So you can call the method to get all files in that specific directory with specific extensions. And then load the first file to the picturebox if the array having any files, you can use the following code for this:
var pictureFiles = ProcessDirectory(folderPath);
if (pictureFiles.Length > 0)
{
// process your operations here
pictureBox1.Load(pictureFiles[0]);
}

Directory could not be found

I have recently started to get an error which states my directory can not be found I have tried a number of ways to solve this but have yet to find a solution.
The method should allow the user to select an image for their computer and add it to a folder called images inside the applications folder structure. The problem is that when using the File.copy(imageFilename, path); it throws the error. I have tried changing the path and you will see from the code snip it. It is even doing it when the program itself has passed the file path for the application and is still throwing me the error.
this is the method.
private void btnImageUpload_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
OpenFileDialog imageFile = new OpenFileDialog();
imageFile.InitialDirectory = #"C:\";
imageFile.Filter = "Image Files (*.jpg)|*.jpg|All Files(*.*)|*.*";
imageFile.FilterIndex = 1;
if (imageFile.ShowDialog() == true)
{
if(imageFile.CheckFileExists)
{
string path = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;
System.IO.File.Copy(imageFile.FileName, path);
}
}
}
I am using VS2013 and have included the using Microsoft.win32
Any further information needed please ask.
Thanks

There are 2 things need to be taken into consideration
private void btnImageUpload_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
OpenFileDialog imageFile = new OpenFileDialog();
imageFile.InitialDirectory = #"C:\";
imageFile.Filter = "Image Files (*.jpg)|*.jpg|All Files(*.*)|*.*";
imageFile.FilterIndex = 1;
if (imageFile.ShowDialog() == true)
{
if(imageFile.CheckFileExists)
{
string path = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory; // You wont need it
System.IO.File.Copy(imageFile.FileName, path); // Copy Needs Source File Name and Destination File Name
}
}
}
string path = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory; You won need this because the default directory is your current directory where your program is running.
Secondly
System.IO.File.Copy(imageFile.FileName, path); Copy Needs Source File Name and Destination File Name so you just need to give the file name instead of path
so your updated code will be
private void btnImageUpload_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
OpenFileDialog imageFile = new OpenFileDialog();
imageFile.InitialDirectory = #"C:\";
imageFile.Filter = "Image Files (*.jpg)|*.jpg|All Files(*.*)|*.*";
imageFile.FilterIndex = 1;
if (imageFile.ShowDialog() == true)
{
if(imageFile.CheckFileExists)
{
System.IO.File.Copy(imageFile.FileName, SomeName + ".jpg"); // SomeName Must change everytime like ID or something
}
}
}

I'm not sure if that's the problem, but the File.Copy method expects a source file name and a target file name, not a source file name and directory: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/c6cfw35a(v=vs.110).aspx
So, to make this work, in your case you'd have to do something like the following (namespaces omitted):
File.Copy(imageFile.FileName, Path.Combine(path, Path.GetFileName(imageFile.FileName));
Note that this will fail if the destination file exists, to overwrite it, you need to add an extra parameter to the Copy method (true).
EDIT:
Just a note, the OpenFileDialog.CheckFileExists does not return a value indicating if the selected file exists. Instead, it is a value indicating whether a file dialog displays a warning if the user specifies a file name that does not exist. So instead of checking this property after the dialog is closed, you should set it to true before you open it (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.win32.filedialog.checkfileexists(v=vs.110).aspx)

How to open a jpg file with your application?

I am developing an application and I need to read the EXIF details of JPG file.
I am able to do so with an OpenFileDialog button but, I want it to be so that a user can open a JPG file with my application (right click>Open with) and I could get the path of the JPG file in string.
I just want to know how to get the path of the file on which the user right clicked ad selected open with "My Application"

You need to register your application for the JPG file extension in the Registry as described here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/cc144175(v=vs.85).aspx

If you know how to get the EXIF data already and just want users to be able to right-click a JPG file > Open with > Select your application and then get the filename they're trying to open, you can do this:
private void testButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string[] cmdLineArgs = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs();
string jpgFilenameToOpen = "None";
if (cmdLineArgs.Length > 1)
{
jpgFilenameToOpen = cmdLineArgs[1];
}
YourGetEXIFDetailsMethod(jpgFilenameToOpen);
}
The Environment.GetCommandLineArgs() returns an array with all command line arguments that was passed to your application on load. Normally, if they just pass a filename, it should be the 2nd item in the array.
You can also loop through the arguments if needed by doing this:
foreach (var arg in cmdLineArgs)
{
MessageBox.Show(arg.ToString());
}
Edit:
I just realized I'm not sure if you need to accept only one JPG filename at a time or if you need to accept multiple JPG files at once. If it's the latter, here's some updated code that can loop through all the command-line arguments and do something with only JPG/JPEG files:
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string[] cmdLineArgs = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs();
List<string> jpgFilenamesToAnalyze = new List<string>();
foreach (var arg in cmdLineArgs)
{
if (arg.Contains(".jpg") || arg.Contains(".jpeg"))
{
jpgFilenamesToAnalyze.Add(arg);
}
}
if (jpgFilenamesToAnalyze.Count > 0)
{
StringBuilder sbJPGFiles = new StringBuilder();
sbJPGFiles.AppendLine("Found " + jpgFilenamesToAnalyze.Count + " images to analyze:\n\nFiles:");
foreach (var jpgFilename in jpgFilenamesToAnalyze)
{
// YourGetEXIFDataMethod(jpgFilename)
sbJPGFiles.AppendLine(jpgFilename);
}
MessageBox.Show(sbJPGFiles.ToString());
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("No images found to analyze");
}
}