OpenFileDialog Save Last Directory for each event

Question

I currently have 3 buttons I use to select and open various text files using openfiledialog (see code below).  Although openfiledialog will remember the last directory that was selected by each button event, since each button actually is used to open files from 3 different directories, I would like each instance of openfiledialog to remember the path it last visited.  How can I best acheive this?  Thanks in advance for any help.

    Private Sub LoadBTN_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles LoadBTN.Click
        Dim ofd_load As New OpenFileDialog()
        ofd_load.Filter = "TXT Files (*.TXT)|*.TXT"

        If ofd_load.ShowDialog = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
            CurrentFile = ofd_load.FileName
            ReadFile(ofd_load.FileName)
        Else
            Exit Sub
        End If

    End Sub



    Private Sub SaveBTN_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles SaveBTN.Click
        Dim ofd_save As New OpenFileDialog()
        ofd_save.Filter = "TXT Files (*.TXT)|*.TXT"

        If ofd_save.ShowDialog = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
            CurrentFile = ofd_save.FileName
            ReadFile(ofd_save.FileName)
        Else
            Exit Sub
        End If

    End Sub



    Private Sub RunBTN_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles RunBTN.Click
        Dim ofd_run As New OpenFileDialog()
        ofd_run .filter= "TXT Files (*.TXT)|*.TXT"

        If ofd_run .ShowDialog = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
             CurrentFile = ofd_run .FileName
            ReadFile(ofd_run .FileName)
        Else
            Exit Sub
        End If

    End Sub

Answer 1

if I'm understanding this correctly, you can get the path of the selected file with the Path class and set it to a class level variable. Then you can use that next time you call the OpenFileDialog.


Try this in an app with 2 buttons. click button1 and select a file. then click button2

Dim ofdPath As String
    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Dim ofd_load As New OpenFileDialog()
        ofd_load.Filter = "TXT Files (*.TXT)|*.TXT"

        If ofd_load.ShowDialog = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
            ofdPath = Path.GetDirectoryName(ofd_load.FileName)

        Else
            Exit Sub
        End If

    End Sub

    Private Sub Button2_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button2.Click
        MessageBox.Show(ofdPath)
    End Sub

Answer 2

I see how this grabs the path from the opened file but I'm not sure how to pass this path to the OpenFileDialog the next time it is called.

Answer 3

have you looked at the properties for the OpenFileDialog?

there is one called InitialDirectory:

Dim ofd_load As New OpenFileDialog()
        ofd_load.Filter = "TXT Files (*.TXT)|*.TXT"
        ofd_load.InitialDirectory = ofdPath

Answer 4

If I understand well, you want that each button open the openfiledialog with 'its' distinct initialdirectory,
these different values can be assigned the button.tag property.

  Private Sub Button_Click(ByVal sender As Object, _
                           ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
                           Handles button1.Click, button2.Click, button3.Click
    Dim ofd As New OpenFileDialog
    ofd.InitialDirectory = DirectCast(sender, Button).Tag.ToString
    'etcetera
  End Sub

---

please, mark this as answer if it is THE answer
----------------
Diego Cattaruzza
Microsoft MVP - Visual Basic: Development
blog: http://community.visual-basic.it/Diego
web site: http://www.visual-basic.it

Answer 5

I can get the each openfiledialog to retain its' current directory but it won't remember it the next time the form/program is executed.  That is, each time the form/program is executed it defaults to: C:\test\input (this was the directory selected by 3 of 4 buttons) for all 4 of the buttons even though one of the buttons selected C:\test\output  the last time the program/form was executed.  In the end, it would be great if each button remembered the last directory it accessed and carried that through each time the program/form was run.  Any suggestions on how this can be achieved?

Answer 6

use a Setting of type string

create a setting for each button and store the Path there. Then use the setting as the ofd.InitialPath

using the above code example, try this:

right click your app name in Solution Explorer, click on the Settings tab
Name = Button1Path
Type = String
Scope = User

then use this:

Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Dim ofd_load As New OpenFileDialog()
        ofd_load.Filter = "TXT Files (*.TXT)|*.TXT"
        ofd_load.InitialDirectory = My.Settings.Button1Path
        If ofd_load.ShowDialog = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
            My.Settings.Button1Path = Path.GetDirectoryName(ofd_load.FileName)
        Else
            Exit Sub
        End If

    End Sub

Answer 7

Very cool.  This worked like a charm and taught me a lot about establishing application settings that carry across time.  Thanks for your help with this.