Provide a start path (folder) in a file dialog box

Is there a way to have a file dialog box start in a specific folder without using the File Dialog express VI? (I also don't want to use a system exec).
Thanks.
Richard
Solved!
Go to Solution.

I was refering to functions which support the desired feature. As you already encountered, the Open/Create/Replace File.vi does not support this.
The Express VI "File Dialog.vi" uses the same file dialog as used in the example "Write to Text File.vi". You can find the VI using the link in the help of Open/Create/Replace File.vi.
Please note that the context help of this File Dialog states that "LabVIEW no longer supports this function on the block diagram. National Instruments recommends you use the File Dialog Express VI instead."
I assume that this text is written due to being platform-independent. It still works under Windows, but i can think of future releases of LV not to support this feature anymore (as stated in the help).
And still, you did not answer why you don't want to use the express vi....
Norbert
Message Edited by Norbert B on 09-01-2009 10:08 AM
CEO: What exactly is stopping us from doing this?
Expert: Geometry
Marketing Manager: Just ignore it.

Similar Messages

File dialog box: how get full path and filename

Hello All
i have a problem to save the full path and filename with file dialog box.
I want to save full path and filename in the database for creating a link to a file.
I use a file-dialogbox to choose a file.
I see in the textfiled something like this
\FULLPATH\filename.ppt
but when i save the textvalue in the database or look at the seesionvalue I see
this:
F2087258868/filename.ppt
but I need the full path to create a link. How I can get?
I use version 2.2.1..
Thanks
Putcho

Hi Putcho,
You can create some javascript that puts it into a hidden item.
In HTML Form Element Attributes: onChange="$x('P15_X').value=$x('P15_FILE').value;" Then create another process that stores the value of the hidden item in your own table...
I quickly made an example with a normal text item, so you see it copies itself to the other box: http://apex.shellprompt.net/pls/apex/f?p=286:15
Hope that helps,
Dimitri
http://dgielis.blogspot.com

File dialog box slow down execution

Dear all,
I am using Labview 8.2.1 with Windows XP.
I have a program who's allow the user to select any file or folder thanks to File dialog box.
For a reason that i don't understand when this dialog box is displayed, other parrallel while loop time execution goes slow down.
Put on my LabView front panel File Path command without any code and press "Browse" file button as shown on joined picture_1 birng slow down execution of the while loop.
Does any body could explain why this problem appear ?
By switch off on LabView Tool parameter "Use native file dialogs" (picture_2). the problem disapear. Unfortunately this kind of old dialog box is not practical...
If any body have an idea it could help me.
Thanks.
Solved!
Go to Solution.
Attachments:
picture_1.JPG ‏16 KB
picture_2.JPG ‏71 KB

__KB__ wrote:
Hello,
When the File dialog box is running, other while loop time execution goes down.
Thanks.
This you have already mentioned in your first post... now my question is how you've actually figured it out... or can you share your code here???
I am not allergic to Kudos, in fact I love Kudos.
Make your LabVIEW experience more CONVENIENT.

File dialog box: how get full path and filename (firefox 3.0 problem)

Hi,
I have a smilar problem then discussed in this thread: file dialog box: how get full path and filename
Now this solution doesn't seem to work in firefox 3.0,I only get the filename but not the full path.
I have tried to solve this problem by adding *"netscape.security.PrivilegeManager.enablePrivilege("UniversalFileRead");"* in a javacript function but that doesn't do the trick
Although when i tested it local it does work.
Any idees how to solve this?
Best Regards
Stijn

Actually, that is strange and scarry. With 20% of the browser market share they decide to behave like Microsoft did in the past - they want to decide what users need and what they do not need. With 3.0 I have a real problem with some of my applications. They are all tested in IE6, IE7, FF2.0 and they all work the same way (they even work with Opera and Safari). Now, I will for sure not go there and make it work for 3.0, just because 2 out of 200 users use FF3.0. Up to now I have always recomended FF as the best browser. 3.0 causes my opinion to change completely. Competition is always good but it is a question if it is good if we have 20 different browsers out there with equal market shares.
Denes Kubicek
http://deneskubicek.blogspot.com/
http://www.opal-consulting.de/training
http://apex.oracle.com/pls/otn/f?p=31517:1
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Why Browse File Dialog Box Starts Part-Way Down?

Whenever I am presented with a dialog box to browse files, the list of
files always starts up showing the filename about 1/5 the way down
the list, even though I always (at least recently) have had to access
a file at the beginning of the list. This is a minor annoyance but I was
wondering why. I'd expect it to default to either the approximate area
of the list where I'd last selected a file, or perhaps come up with the
file at the top of the list selected or at least visible. Seems strange
to me, and I was wondering if there was a way of changing that.

__KB__ wrote:
Hello,
When the File dialog box is running, other while loop time execution goes down.
Thanks.
This you have already mentioned in your first post... now my question is how you've actually figured it out... or can you share your code here???
I am not allergic to Kudos, in fact I love Kudos.
Make your LabVIEW experience more CONVENIENT.

Home view major bug: Home view navigation not available in Common File Dialog Box (i.e. Java, Adobe Photoshop etc)

Homeview major bug: Homeview navigation not available in Common File Dialog Box (i.e. Java, Adobe Photoshop etc)
Hi
All though provisioning somewhat more flexsible and pointing forward ... things are starting to go wrong here ... i.e. pointing to a very potential lack of success introducing users to the new Home namespace/concept ...
0) Situation if you do not fix 1 + 2:
You can not release the Homeview feature like this - without fixing 1 + 2.
If not 1 +2 is fixed you might just as well leave the release of the Homeview feature out of the roadmap for Windows 10. I.e. not ready for use ... or promotion in the UI
1) How come Homeview has not been included - like other namespaces i.e. Libraries into the Common File Dialog Box?
How can such a trivial thing to do be missed? I.e. like forgetting to include Homeview into Explorer (would be absurd).
If not included into the Places Bar of the Common File Dialog Box ... Home View will be unusable - because some very visible applications like Java, Photoshop will not be able to navigate that space easily at all.
2) Finally, please fix obscure situation in the UI namespace in Explorer
Please fix obscures like having Home view, Favorites and Libraries (side-by-side complexity and confusion obscuring usability) - all similar concepts but on a different evolutionary step. I.e. have Favorites and Libraries
hidden - and add i.e. view control like to small buttons whatever to unhide/show the legacy concepts.
In any case - Home view already seem to migrate/move links from Favorites to the Homeview container.
Additionally, Home view should migrate links from Libraries to Home view - and provide similar and better functionality.
Thus going the evolutionary way from Libraries > Favorites > Home - with the later concept of Home providing links to the cloud. Even better, sync relation ships could then later (extended features for Home) be set up among the pins - i.e. concerning
cloud/network syncing.
The UI should always reflect the 1 essentional concept - and not under the hood technologies or different evolutionary stages of the same basic/essential concept (technology/implementation free - abstract: "Home with pining of user data space"
- was previously favorites or libraries (thus obsoleted)). Now the name for that concept is Home. Have it include the technology that replaces Libraries too - i.e. categorization/nesting ... and some whitespace inbetween the nesting (alike some whitespace
already there inbetween the namespaces in the Explorer UI ... provides easy "modular" reading)

Hi,
Please clarify the following:
* "X: is a network drive, but it's actually a network drive on my machine." - Is "X" a mapped drive to one of your shared folder on network?
* What is the project directory structure with respect to WEB-INF/web.xml? Are you able to see the three pages (from web & pages folder) in NitroX Editor?
* Does the modified content appear in "Design view" of index.jsp upon restarting NitroX?
Ex:
- modify one of the pages in "web" folder > save the file (alert appears)
- restart NitroX, does index.jsp display the modified content of included page?
* If possible please send the test case project which exhibits the behavior to [email protected]
Thanks,
M7 Support

How do I get back to the newest file dialog box style in LabVIEW?

I have LabVIEW 7.1 and LabVIEW 6.0.2 installed on the same machine. When I doubleclick a .vi file it tries to open in LV602. Of course, if it is a LV71 VI I get an error and it doesn't open. Then I run LV71 and load the desired VI--in this case by using the Open arrow to find it in the "recently opened" list. Now, I've made this mistake before, especially when I don't remember whether I used LV602 or LV71 to create the VI, and nothing bad has happened.
But this time something undesirable did happen: all Open File dialog boxes are of the old funky style. How do I get the file dialog boxes back that I've grown used to seeing when I use LV71?
CLUES:
1. I get the old style dialog box even when I try to open a VI--not just when a running VI invokes it.
2. The built version of the VI brings up the correct, new style, file dialog box--unlike the development environment.
I haven't found any settings in the options area that would appear to affect the file dialog box style. Has anyone ever seen anything like this?

RudyRed wrote:
Thanks for the response,
Warren. I think all my problems with LV versions coexisting
peacefully have been related to NIDAQ--and I think the workaround (for
supporting the different levels of LV DAQ VIs--see my response to
Benoit, above) shows that it is not NECESSARY for NI to orphan old LV
versions' DAQ functionality on the development computer, though it is
still painful to be able to have only one version of NIDAQ available on
a given target computer. It's probably a marketting decision
meant to encourage users to stay on the straight-and-narrow upgrade
path.
NI-DAQ has usually been working fine in
several different installed LabVIEW versions on my computer. What is
important is the order of installation. Start first with the lowest
LabVIEW version and install the latest NI-DAQ that supports that
LabVIEW version. Then go to the next LabVIEW version and install again
the latest NI-DAQ version that supported this LabVIEW version and so
on. I'm regularly working with 6.1 up to 7.1 and starting with 8.0
slowly and haven't had real show stoppers yet.
Rolf Kalbermatter
Rolf Kalbermatter
CIT Engineering Netherlands
a division of Test & Measurement Solutions

File Dialog Box Position

Hi there,
I've been unable to find anyone else mention this problem, but then again, I'm not exactly what to search for.
Since installing Lion, I've had a problem where when I try to open the file dialog box to save or open a file, it's position is always further down. This is annoying, especially for programs that open files from my Download folder, which is continuinally growing as I add more stuff. The sort on this is by date, and so usually I want to open the most recently downloaded file, which I have to scroll further and further up each time.
Is there any way I can get it to jump to the top?
See the attached image to see what I mean exactly.
Thanks!

the length of the session is not the problem. it is set to 50bpm at 29.97 drop frame which gives me 2138 bars at 3 hours 51 minutes record time. I only used 1896 bars at 2.5 hours to record the program and there were only 5 tracks recorded. the problem starts when I try to bounce the session to an interleaved stereo file either online or offline. a dialog window says it will exceed 2gigs and prevents me from performing the bounce. only when I select split stereo instead of interleaved within the bounce window does it let me bounce. I think it is because the 2 resulting mono files(left and right)are each less than 2gigs. Is there a limit to the file size you can create when bouncing?
a 2gig file sounds small to me when there are video files much larger within video editing software.

How to Shw Open File Dialog Box

Hi all,
Can anyone help me plz.
I am designing an interface using forms 9i where data entry operator has to insert data for products in the database. Also we want to store the image of the product. so I want to show an open File Dialog box from where user can pick a file and click ok & if it returns the file name with complete path, then i can read the contents of image using read_image_file.
So, is there any Oracle built-in for that???
Thanks in advance

Thanks Ronald webutil worked successfully.
But i am facing following error when i try to go to the Canvas provided by the Webutil setup(olb).
Error is given Below:
1. FRM-13008; Can't find java bean with name 'oracle.forms.webutil.ole.OleFunction'.
Previously it was giving errors on all JavaBean classes then i put the path of webutil.jar file in registry as given in the documention. It works ok for other java beans but why above error is coming.
plz Help.

Open File Dialog Box (JS)

I know that in order to open a file dialog box and get a file I have to use this code:
myFile = File(File.openDialog("Import XML","XML Files: *.xml"))
This is what I use to open XML files. Now I want to be able to open a folder based on the label of the textFrame. I can get the label and build the file path. How can I open a dialog box that already points to a specific folder? Also, how can I check with the script if there are files within the folder?
Thanks,
Justin M.

>How can I open a dialog box that already points to a specific folder?
var myFolder=Folder("/C/XYZ");
var myMask="INDD:*.indd";
var myFile=myFolder.openDlg("Select Files To Open", myMask, true);
>Also, how can I check with the script if there are files within the folder?
var myFolder = Folder.selectDialog("Please select path to files");
if (myFolder!=null) {
var fileList = myFolder.getFiles();
alert("The selected folder contains " + fileList.length + " files.");

Please fix: Common Open File Dialog Box to support Favorites (Follow-up: Better provisioning in the Windows client)

One more thing:
What's missing is favorites is a way to use the favorites space in the Common Open File Dialog Box.
Please obsolete or (re)develop components in Windows, so those components support any new workflows in Windows!
On example of an application where you cannot use Favorites is Adobe Photoshop. It uses the Common Open File Dialog Box in Windows (which does not support Favorites).
Comparing Finder (MacOS) with Windows Explorer - you "seem" to have the option of using favorites to pin folders.
Well, if your application calls Windows to use the Common Open File Dialog Box - it's actually NOT POSSIBLE AT ALL to navigate to the user concepts (user folders) pinned to favorites.
Again, the favorites namespace is completely unused (not provisioned) out-of-the-box. That's may be ok, however it's not fully implemented across Windows and just another example of stuff accumulating up to being unusable.
What's missing is favorites is a way to use the favorites space in the Common Open File Dialog Box.
Ref.: Better provisioning in the Windows client
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/dbb2102f-00b7-47ca-88f2-4f88cd9d3409/followup-starting-launching-and-switching-?forum=WinPreview2014Feedback#2aba34e9-6074-4750-8f66-425bdeacc705
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/168bb9f9-ab18-42e6-9f20-5e36e71f742c/merging-the-task-bar-and-the-start-screen-area?forum=WinPreview2014Feedback#168bb9f9-ab18-42e6-9f20-5e36e71f742c
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/59a5bb6a-0368-4f34-bea4-b9811ac0bf8c/dont-forget-development-of-the-start-screen-remember-virtualization-of-it-too-purpose-is-hud?forum=WinPreview2014Feedback#59a5bb6a-0368-4f34-bea4-b9811ac0bf8c
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/c10168fe-a534-44aa-a0ec-e9defc71da5f/better-provisioning-in-windows-client-remember-templates-for-the-start-screen-like-the-need-for?forum=WinPreview2014Feedback#c10168fe-a534-44aa-a0ec-e9defc71da5f

Congrats to Carmelo!
Windows Phone and Windows Store Apps Technical Guru - February 2015
Carmelo La Monica
Windows Phone 8: control Nokia Maps (Part 3)
JH: "Part 3 of the series how to work with the Nokia maps control. As the previous articles this one contains a lot of code snippets and some pictures. Good work!"
Ed Price: "A great topic, a fantastic breakdown of sections with clear descriptions, and a nice mix of code formatting and helpful images! Another stellar article from Carmelo! Great job including the link back at the end to the portal
article!"
Ed Price, Azure & Power BI Customer Program Manager (Blog,
Small Basic,
Wiki Ninjas,
Wiki)
Answer an interesting question?
Create a wiki article about it!

File Dialog Box often takes a long time to execute

Hi all
The Labview File Dialog Box Express VI sometimes takes 5 to 10 seconds to execute. On other occasions, it executes in a blink of an eye. Why is that so?
I have tried to use the older Open/Create/Replace File VI as suggested in one of the forum's posts...but it behaves exactly the same way. Another problem is the trimming of the filename, which has also been reported and has NOT YET been solved.
(By the way...Recently, I updated to LV 2012 SP2 by suggestion of the NI Update Manager, only to find out that I was not entitled to this SP (which apparently only includes bug fixes) and I will have to roll back to LV 2012. Still, in the evaluation version I can see that the bug is not fixed. Labview must have a lot of serious bugs for NI to ask for a paid bug fix, in which some bugs remain after having been reported a long time ago..well...)
What worries me now is that intermittent lag in the execution of the File Dialog (such a basic basic function of a program...). Anyone have any idea about this? The support menu said "Ask an engineer"...any of the NI engineers has any suggestion?
Regards
Helder
Attachments:
FileDialogTest.vi ‏26 KB

First of all: Thank you very much for the objective answer. I suppose that yor actually ARE a NI engineer, as I had hoped for.
lease find my comments above (helder---------------------)
helder wrote:
The Labview File Dialog Box Express VI sometimes takes 5 to 10 seconds to execute. On other occasions, it executes in a blink of an eye. Why is that so?
What worries me now is that intermittent lag in the execution of the File Dialog (such a basic basic function of a program...). Anyone have any idea about this?
The file dialog is provided by the OS, so if it is slow it is not LabVIEW's fault.
What kind of computer do you have? Is this a laptop that spins down the HD to save power? In this case it needs to wait for the HD to spin up. (You can change the windows power profile or you can spend more money and get an SSD).
Are you very low on memory?
Does your LabVIEW program waste 100% CPU in parallel doing nothing due to bad coding?
Are you pointing to a location that has millions of files?
Are you pointing to a network location?
helder:---------------------------------------
I understand that the File Dialog is provided by the OS. But I have other applications on my PC and this doesn't happen - just in Labview. Sorry! And sometimes it
doesn't happen. Every 10 times I open the File dialog Box, 5 times it takes long and 5 times it is immediate.
(I am not low on memory, my coding is not bad>-look at the VI I sent, it just contains the fragment which uses the File Dialog Box and it behaves the same way! I am pointing to the same location that the other applications point to, I am not pointing to a network location, the PC is not spinning the disk down, etc etc.)
But yes, I will try it on another PC
(There was another post on the forum on this issue, but can't seem to find it now, just find my own post )
I attach a video demo of what happens.
helder wrote:
Another problem is the trimming of the filename, which has also been reported and has NOT YET been solved.
What problem is that? Can you elaborate? There is a known bug in the windows dialog box that sometimes the pre-filled file names are shifted and not fully visible. This is a windows bug documented by Microsoft and LabVIEW has no control over it. It is not NIs job to fix OS problems.
helder:-------------------------------------------
Of course you can't fix the OS.
If it is a windows bug, we will have to live with it.
A previous post on your forum did not provide me with that information (http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/File-dialog-trimming-the-default-name/td-p/2189874). The fact that it is a windows bug was not mentioned there.
helder wrote:
Hi all
(By the way...Recently, I updated to LV 2012 SP2 by suggestion of the NI Update Manager, only to find out that I was not entitled to this SP (which apparently only includes bug fixes) and I will have to roll back to LV 2012. Still, in the evaluation version I can see that the bug is not fixed.
Patches are included, service packs are not included. I think this is well documented. Most users are on SSP, this way you are always entitled to the newest version.
As with anything else, software has bugs. It is impossible to test a huge, complex system like LabVIEW under all scenarios. The possible number of combinations of hardware and other installed software on any particular computer probably exceeds the number of atoms in the universe. It is actually amazing how few bugs there are and how well it works. What "bug" are you talking about? Bugs are prioritized according to rules. Critical bugs are typically fixed very quickly. A cosmetic issue that only affects you and nobody else will take longer or might not even get fixed. Are you talking about a confirmed bug that could be reproduced by NI? Do you have a CAR#?
helder:----------------------------------------
I was referring to the file-name-shifting-cosmetic-bug that the October-2012 post had indicated. But if it is a Windows-bug, NI does not have any responsibility, of
course.
Regarding the bugs, of course they are unavoidable.
helder wrote:
Labview must have a lot of serious bugs for NI to ask for a paid bug fix, in which some bugs remain after having been reported a long time ago..well...)
That sentence makes no sense! Why would the number of serious bugs depend on the cost of upgrading?? You are just rambling here....
In an ideal world, NI would have an unlimited number of programmers that can work 24/7 to immediately fix any discovered bug. This would only be possible if all users are willing to pay an unlimited amount of money for the software. As I mentioned, bug fixes are free in the form of patches, and they come out regularly. Service packs include new features and are not free.
helder:---------------------------------------
"....include new features"..????
---->>From http://www.ni.com/labview/release-details/
"LabVIEW 2012 Service Pack 1 is an exclusive update to LabVIEW 2012 for NI Standard Service Program (SSP) customers. There are no new product features introduced in service pack releases; instead, these releases provide bug fixes and improved stability for LabVIEW 2012. For a list of these bug fixes, click here."
No new features, just bug fixes!"
Moreover: If it isn't free, it shouldn' have let me update if I am not a SSP costumer.
Now I have a 45 days evaluation version. After that, I have to uninstall and reinstall everything.That takes some time and effort.
If there is a more direct way of rolling back t the previous version, please let me know.
Thank you

How to create a custom file dialog box/vi (win)??

Hello,
I'd like to create a custom file dialog box to handle the reading of my tdms files. Basicly I want to extend the existing file select dialog box with a graphical preview of the data in the selected file. I know I can create all the logic for file selection by hand and use a list box to display the filelist, but I would rather prefer to somehow use the existing windows controls. So is it possible to get the windows file selector on the front panel of a vi and react to the user selection? If so, is there any example available on how to do this? Any other options? I'm using labview 8.2
thanks for your input!
klaus

Klaus,
I wouldn't know that Microsoft provides access to the controls that Explorer and file dialog consist of.
There might be a different and more powerful solution though. The
WINDOWS Explorer / file dialog have a plugin API that allows you to
associate your own application for thumbnail creation with a particular
file extension. That way, TDMS thumbnails will show in any instance of
Explorer and
File Dialog without you having to make your own dialog. Basically, you
would need to compile the VI that creates the thumbnail into a
LabVIEW-built DLL and then wrap this DLL with some C++ boilerplate code
that Microsoft provides. You might want to have a look at the bottom of
this article to get an idea of how the whole thing works:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/0600/w2kui2/default.aspx.
Hope that helps,
Herbert

How to open a save file dialog box in form

hi
all
I have prob in form desing , i have open the save file dialog box , how to open a save dialog box
and path of the select file to save in disk
help
thx

hi
user this query when-button-pressed trigger
:txtfile := GET_FILE_NAME(directory_name =>'d:\ali_raza\backup\', file_filter=> 'DMP Files (*.dmp)|*.dmp|');
Rizwan

Problem using the File Dialog Box in a Client/Server application

I am developping a client-server application using Labview 5.1 . The application on the server acquires data from some instruments and saves it on file, while the application on the clients displayes such acquired data. For doing this I call some routines on the server via the "Open Application vi" (remote connection). All goes well except when I open on the server the "File Dialog Box vi" : in this case the application on the clients is blocked (is blocked the execution of the called vi on the server). Only when
the File Dialog Box on the server is closed, the execution of the called vi on the server starts again.
I need to use the File Dialog Box on the server, but I don' t want to stop at the same time
the clients !!
I need help for resolving such problem.
Many thanks in advance !!!

Hi!
waldemar.hersacher wrote:
"It seems that the VIs called by the clients are running in the user interface thread.
A call to the file dialog box will call a modal system dialog. So LV can't go on executing VIs in the user interface thread."
Are you sure? I think, that File Dialog, called by LabVIEW File Dialog from Advanced File Functions Palette doesn't blocking any cycles in subVI, which running in UI Thread. Look in my old example (that was prepared for other topic, but may be good for this topic too).
2 linus:
I think, you must a little bit reorganize you application for to do this. You must put your File Dialog into separated cycle. This cycle, of course, will be blocked when File Dialog appear on the screen. But other cy
cle, which responsible for visualization will run continuosly at the same time...
Attachments:
no_block_with_file_open_dialog.zip ‏42 KB

Provide a start path (folder) in a file dialog box

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