PSTip : Open file and open folder dialog

Did you had issues whenever the users were expected to provide the full path for the file or folder to work on with a script?

Well, instead of asking them to type the path, you can use the Winforms API to choose the file/ folder. I have create couple of methods to add into my PS modules for using in this scenario.

Function Open-File

{

      param

      (

            [String] $Title = "Choose the file",

            [String] $Filter = "*.*",

            [String] $InitialDirectory = "C:\"

      )

      [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Windows.Forms") | Out-Null

      $dialog = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog

      $dialog.Title = $Title

      $dialog.Filter= $Filter

      $dialog.InitialDirectory = $InitialDirectory

      $result = $dialog.ShowDialog()

      if($result -eq [System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult]::OK)

      {

            $dialog.FileName

      }

      else

      {

            [String]::Empty

      }

}

Function Open-Folder

{

      [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Windows.Forms") | Out-Null

      $dialog = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.FolderBrowserDialog

      $dialog.RootFolder = "Desktop"

      $dialog.ShowNewFolderButton = $true

      $result = $dialog.ShowDialog()

      if($result -eq [System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult]::OK)

      {

            $dialog.SelectedPath

      }

      else

      {

            [String]::Empty

      }

}