My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles does not find all files

Question

I'm currently working on a program, and it needs to find desktops .lnk and .exe files. At this moment, it finds them, but not all.

Here's bit of code, where the problem seems to be.

 For Each foundFile As String In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles(
  My.Computer.FileSystem.SpecialDirectories.Desktop, SearchOption.SearchTopLevelOnly, "*")

            If IO.Path.GetExtension(foundFile).ToLower = ".lnk" Then
                If IO.Path.GetExtension(GetTargetPath(foundFile)).ToLower = ".exe" Then

                    ListBox1.Items.Add(GetTargetPath(foundFile) & "*|*" & IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(foundFile))


                End If


            ElseIf IO.Path.GetExtension(foundFile).ToLower = ".exe" Then
                ListBox1.Items.Add(foundFile & "*|*" & IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(foundFile))
            End If
        Next

This is all what it finds:

http://i.imgur.com/nYmcWUe.png

(it resolves .lnk's to exe url, eg. Office16 items were originally in .lnk)

There should be for example WinSCP which has also .lnk

http://i.imgur.com/Tehx2wN.png

BUT: when I removed WinSCP from desktop and bringed it back again, it showed up in list?!?

there's much more programs similar to WinSCP, that do not show up in my list

Answer 1

P0,

You can use a string array as the file filter so that you can include .url also. That way you don't need that extra stuff to test the file extension.

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In the middle of difficulty ... lies opportunity. -- Albert Einstein

Answer 2

P0,

Try this and see how it fares for you:

Option Strict On
Option Explicit On
Option Infer Off

Public Class Form1
    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As System.Object, _
                           e As System.EventArgs) _
                           Handles MyBase.Load

        Dim filePaths As IEnumerable(Of String) = _
            GetShortcutsFromDesktop()

        Stop


    End Sub



    Private Function _
        GetShortcutsFromDesktop(Optional ByVal fileFilter() As String = Nothing) As IEnumerable(Of String)

        Dim retVal As IEnumerable(Of String) = Nothing

        Try
            Dim filter() As String = Nothing

            If fileFilter IsNot Nothing AndAlso fileFilter.Length > 0 Then
                filter = fileFilter
            Else
                filter = New String() {"*.lnk", "*.url"}
            End If

            Dim filesList As New List(Of String)
            Dim desktop As String = My.Computer.FileSystem.SpecialDirectories.Desktop

            For Each s As String In filter
                Dim files As IEnumerable(Of String) = IO.Directory.EnumerateFiles(desktop, s)

                If files IsNot Nothing AndAlso files.Count > 0 Then
                    filesList.AddRange(files)
                End If
            Next

            If filesList.Count > 0 Then
                filesList.Sort()
                retVal = filesList.ToArray
            End If

        Catch ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show(String.Format("An error occurred:{0}{0}{1}", _
                                          vbCrLf, ex.Message), _
                                          "Exception Thrown", _
                                          MessageBoxButtons.OK, _
                                          MessageBoxIcon.Warning)
        End Try

        Return retVal

    End Function
End Class

---

In the middle of difficulty ... lies opportunity. -- Albert Einstein

Answer 3

 This is because the Desktop directory gives you a path to the Desktop folder in your user folder. For example, 

C:\Users\YourUserName\Desktop

 However,  the WinSCP shortcut is actually placed in the Public Desktop folder (path shown below) when you install it.

C:\Users\Public\Desktop

 So in short, you will see it on your desktop but,  it is not actually located in your desktop folder,  the one you are getting the .lnk files from.  So,  if you are using a newer version of Visual Studio that will allow you to target (.Net Framework 4.0) or above you can get the shortcuts from that directory too by using the CommonDesktopDirectory.

I changed your code around a little to add the files to the ListBox inside a Sub.  Then you can easily call that sub twice,  once with the Desktop directory and the second time with the CommonDesktop directory. That will list all the files.  Give it a try in a new Form project with 1 Button and 1 ListBox added to the form.  You need to add a reference to (Windows Script Host Object Model) as explained at the top of the code.  I assume you know that though.

Imports IWshRuntimeLibrary 'add a reference to (Windows Script Host Object Model) in the Com tab of the Add Reference dialog window

Public Class Form1
    Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        ListFilesFrom(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Desktop)) 'list them from your desktop folder
        ListFilesFrom(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonDesktopDirectory)) 'list the files from the public desktop folder
    End Sub

    Private Sub ListFilesFrom(ByVal FolderPath As String)
        For Each foundFile As String In IO.Directory.GetFiles(FolderPath)
            Dim ext As String = IO.Path.GetExtension(foundFile).ToLower
            If ext = ".lnk" Then
                If IO.Path.GetExtension(GetTargetPath(foundFile)).ToLower = ".exe" Then
                    ListBox1.Items.Add(GetTargetPath(foundFile) & "*|*" & IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(foundFile))
                End If
            ElseIf ext = ".exe" Then
                ListBox1.Items.Add(foundFile & "*|*" & IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(foundFile))
            End If
        Next
    End Sub

    Private Function GetTargetPath(ByVal ShortcutFilename As String) As String
        Dim theShell As New WshShell()
        Dim theShortcut As WshShortcut = CType(theShell.CreateShortcut(ShortcutFilename), WshShortcut)
        Return theShortcut.TargetPath
    End Function
End Class

 

 "BUT: when I removed WinSCP from desktop and bringed it back again, it showed up in list?!?  there's much more programs similar to WinSCP, that do not show up in my list"

 If you delete the Shortcut and then create another on for that exe on the desktop,  it will be added to your Desktop folder instead of the Public Desktop folder.  This may very well be where the rest of your shortcuts are probably at too.

 

---

If you say it can`t be done then i`ll try it

Answer 4

IR,

I'm not familiar with the new stuff so you're probably right.

---

In the middle of difficulty ... lies opportunity. -- Albert Einstein

Answer 5

IR,

I'm not familiar with the new stuff so you're probably right.

---

In the middle of difficulty ... lies opportunity. -- Albert Einstein

 I have that program installed and it baffled me for a second but,  as soon as i looked in my user\desktop folder and did not see the shortcut for it there,  i knew what the problem was.

 I don`t have it installed on my older XP computer so,  i`m not sure where it would place the shortcut on there.  8)

---

If you say it can`t be done then i`ll try it

Answer 6

I'm currently working on a program, and it needs to find desktops .lnk and .exe files. At this moment, it finds them, but not all.

Here's bit of code, where the problem seems to be.

 For Each foundFile As String In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles(
  My.Computer.FileSystem.SpecialDirectories.Desktop, SearchOption.SearchTopLevelOnly, "*")

            If IO.Path.GetExtension(foundFile).ToLower = ".lnk" Then
                If IO.Path.GetExtension(GetTargetPath(foundFile)).ToLower = ".exe" Then

                    ListBox1.Items.Add(GetTargetPath(foundFile) & "*|*" & IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(foundFile))


                End If


            ElseIf IO.Path.GetExtension(foundFile).ToLower = ".exe" Then
                ListBox1.Items.Add(foundFile & "*|*" & IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(foundFile))
            End If
        Next

This is all what it finds:

http://i.imgur.com/nYmcWUe.png

(it resolves .lnk's to exe url, eg. Office16 items were originally in .lnk)

There should be for example WinSCP which has also .lnk

http://i.imgur.com/Tehx2wN.png

BUT: when I removed WinSCP from desktop and bringed it back again, it showed up in list?!?

there's much more programs similar to WinSCP, that do not show up in my list

As for your actual issue, "My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles does not find all files", disregarding the desktop GetFiles can be disallowed from accessing various folders, for various users including admin users, on a system depending on the settings for the folders properties. Even then I believe it can be disallowed from retrieving file information in an allowed folder if the files properties disallow your user, even with admin priviliges, to access the file(s) in question.

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La vida loca