special folders

[ossama]

hi,
is there a way to get the desktop folder path without using these functions
SHGetSpecialFolderLocation()
and
SHGetPathFromIDList()

for example to get the system folder path we call a simple function
GetSystemDirectory

[donkey]

They are stored in the registry in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

Donkey

[ossama]

They are stored in the registry in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

Donkey

is it for all versions of windows?

[ossama]

i have looked in that key,but it does not give me other special folders like Program Files folder

[donkey]

Don't know, I use the functions that are designed to obtain the information rather than write a kludge that may not be supported in other versions. I am pretty sure it doesn't work on Vista, I think the key name in Vista is "User Shell Folders" or something like that.

[donkey]

i have looked in that key,but it does not give me other special folders like Program Files folder

Oh well, you will have to do it another way, like perhaps use the actual API function that is DESIGNED TO DO IT.

[ramguru]

In addition to what donkey said

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

another reg key is:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

[ossama]

Oh well, you will have to do it another way, like perhaps use the actual API function that is DESIGNED TO DO IT.

i am agree with donkey,
using api functions is the best way,
so to get for example the desktop folder,one can use the functions
SHGetSpecialFolderLocation()
and
SHGetPathFromIDList()

is it the only way (using api)?

[donkey]

Oh well, you will have to do it another way, like perhaps use the actual API function that is DESIGNED TO DO IT.

i am agree with donkey,
using api functions is the best way,
so to get for example the desktop folder,one can use the functions
SHGetSpecialFolderLocation()
and
SHGetPathFromIDList()

is it the only way (using api)?

There is no conceivable reason not to use these functions. Very few programs do not load Shell32.DLL and those API's are included for all versions of Windows so they are guaranteed to be available.

Donkey

[Jackal]

there is another api function but i forget what it is and to be honest its more of a pain to use. to retrieve the desktop folder i use

Code Select Expand

Invoke SHGetSpecialFolderPath, NULL, addr DeskBuffer, CSIDL_DESKTOPDIRECTORY, 0

to get the startmenu folder i use

Code Select Expand

Invoke SHGetSpecialFolderPath, NULL, addr StartMBuff, CSIDL_STARTMENU, 0

[donkey]

There are of course other APIs and methods to extract the information, however they can be cumbersome and difficult to find supporting documentation for, one method is using the IShellFolder interface using COM. Here is an example in GoAsm using the interface to extract the My Documents path...

Code Select Expand

GetMyDocumentsFolderA FRAME lpOutput
uses edi
LOCAL psfDesktop :D
LOCAL pidlDocFile[64] :D
LOCAL chEaten :D

// Get a pointer to the IShellFolder interface
invoke SHGetDesktopFolder, offset psfDesktop

// Parse the name of the My Documents folder using its CLSID
CoInvoke(psfDesktop,IShellFolder.ParseDisplayName,0,0, \
L"::{450d8fba-ad25-11d0-98a8-0800361b1103}",offset chEaten, \
offset pidlDocFile,0)

// Release the interface
CoInvoke(psfDesktop, IShellFolder.IUnknown.Release)

// Convert the pidl to a fully qualified path
invoke SHGetPathFromIDListA,[pidlDocFile],[lpOutput]

ret
endf

As I said there is little documentation for this type of extraction and there may not be CLSIDs for every folder but I suspect that the SHGet*** functions are simply flat API wrappers for the COM call above.

Donkey

[zooba]

Those registry keys exist only for backwards compatibility. The SHGetSpecialFolderPath function is the recommended method for retrieving these folders.

Cheers,

Zooba :U

[ossama]

thank you for help,
i will use SHGetSpecialFolderPath.