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Finding the path to the pictures

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Visual Basic
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  • L Lost User

    The names are localized. I got a folder "My Pictures", one called "Pictures" and one "Mijn Afbeeldingen". To make things worse, this does not say anything about the actual location, as my "Mijn Afbeeldingen" points to a completely different harddrive. More on Wikipedia[^].

    Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

    Richard DeemingR Online
    Richard DeemingR Online
    Richard Deeming
    wrote on last edited by
    #10

    I'd expect the names of the folders to be localized. But what about the names of the values in the "User Shell Folders" registry key?


    "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

    "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined" - Homer

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    • Richard DeemingR Richard Deeming

      I'd expect the names of the folders to be localized. But what about the names of the values in the "User Shell Folders" registry key?


      "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

      L Offline
      L Offline
      Lost User
      wrote on last edited by
      #11

      Richard Deeming wrote:

      I'd expect the names of the folders to be localized

      Yup.

      Richard Deeming wrote:

      But what about the names of the values in the "User Shell Folders" registry key?

      Yes, my apologies for not thinking. English, both on a Dutch and a German machine. Called "CommonPictures" on this machine, pointing to the correct physical path. Keys are usually not translated, because that would defeat the purpose of having one. ..so, remotely reading the registry as an admin, just to find a path? Still sounds like a bad idea :)

      Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

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      • Richard DeemingR Richard Deeming

        I don't think the names would be localized, but I don't have a non-English version of Windows to check. I've just added a link to a blog post from Raymond Chen, who explains that the "Shell Folders" key exists solely to permit four programs written in 1994 to continue running on the RTM version of Windows 95. :wtf:


        "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

        D Offline
        D Offline
        Dave Kreskowiak
        wrote on last edited by
        #12

        Ow! I just fell out of my chair laughing. :laugh: That's one hell of a "fix". :wtf:

        A guide to posting questions on CodeProject

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        • L Lost User

          Richard Deeming wrote:

          I'd expect the names of the folders to be localized

          Yup.

          Richard Deeming wrote:

          But what about the names of the values in the "User Shell Folders" registry key?

          Yes, my apologies for not thinking. English, both on a Dutch and a German machine. Called "CommonPictures" on this machine, pointing to the correct physical path. Keys are usually not translated, because that would defeat the purpose of having one. ..so, remotely reading the registry as an admin, just to find a path? Still sounds like a bad idea :)

          Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

          D Offline
          D Offline
          Dave Kreskowiak
          wrote on last edited by
          #13

          Eddy Vluggen wrote:

          nglish, both on a Dutch and a German machine. Called "CommonPictures" on this machine, pointing to the correct physical path. Keys are usually not translated, because that would defeat the purpose of having one.

          Considering the "fix" that this key was created for, would it really surprise anyone if someone at MS did something that stupid?

          A guide to posting questions on CodeProject

          Click this: Asking questions is a skill. Seriously, do it.
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          • D Dave Kreskowiak

            Ow! I just fell out of my chair laughing. :laugh: That's one hell of a "fix". :wtf:

            A guide to posting questions on CodeProject

            Click this: Asking questions is a skill. Seriously, do it.
            Dave Kreskowiak

            L Offline
            L Offline
            Lost User
            wrote on last edited by
            #14

            His blog is filled with those kind of examples. Well worth the read if you have some time to kill :)

            Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

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            • L Lost User

              His blog is filled with those kind of examples. Well worth the read if you have some time to kill :)

              Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

              D Offline
              D Offline
              Dave Kreskowiak
              wrote on last edited by
              #15

              "Time"? What is this "time" you speak of? I'm in the middle of a 6 week stint of being a single parent while the wife travels for work. 24 hours in a day isn't enough. I have to give credit to those who do this full-time. It ain't easy.

              A guide to posting questions on CodeProject

              Click this: Asking questions is a skill. Seriously, do it.
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              • Richard DeemingR Richard Deeming

                For VBA, you'll need to use either SHGetFolderPath[^] or the newer SHGetKnownFolderPath[^]. How To Use the SHGetFolderPath Function from Visual Basic[^]

                Option Explicit

                Private Const S_OK = &H0
                Private Const S_FALSE = &H1
                Private Const E_INVALIDARG = &H80070057

                Private Const MAX_PATH = 260
                Private Const SHGFP_TYPE_CURRENT = 0
                Private Const CSIDL_MYPICTURES = &H27

                Private Declare Function SHGetFolderPath Lib "shfolder" _
                Alias "SHGetFolderPathA" _
                (ByVal hwndOwner As Long, ByVal nFolder As Long, _
                ByVal hToken As Long, ByVal dwFlags As Long, _
                ByVal pszPath As String) As Long

                Private Function GetFolderPath(ByVal csidl As Long) As String
                Dim path As String
                Dim returnValue As Long

                path = String(MAX\_PATH, 0)
                returnValue = SHGetFolderPath(0, csidl, 0, SHGFP\_TYPE\_CURRENT, path)
                
                Select Case returnValue
                    Case S\_OK
                        GetFolderPath = Left(path, InStr(1, path, Chr(0)) - 1)
                    
                    Case S\_FALSE
                        ' The CSIDL in nFolder is valid, but the folder does not exist.
                        ' Use CSIDL\_FLAG\_CREATE to have it created automatically
                        GetFolderPath = vbNullString
                    
                    Case E\_INVALIDARG
                        ' nFolder is invalid
                        Err.Raise 5, "csidl", "Invalid folder"
                End Select
                

                End Function

                Public Function GetPicturesFolderPath() As String
                GetPicturesFolderPath = GetFolderPath(CSIDL_MYPICTURES)
                End Function

                For script running locally, you could read the folder path from the registry (HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders). However, there is a warning in that key telling you not to do that! :) Since you can't call Windows functions directly from script, you'd need to create a COM object to call the Windows API, and invoke that object from your script. For script running in the browser, there is no way to

                J Offline
                J Offline
                JR212
                wrote on last edited by
                #16

                i'll give this a try thanks to all btw I already found that reg key:) Jan

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                • J JR212

                  i'll give this a try thanks to all btw I already found that reg key:) Jan

                  J Offline
                  J Offline
                  JR212
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #17

                  I've got this mail

                  Your message 'Re: Finding the path to the pictures' has been marked as potentially being spam and is currently in the moderation queue pending approval.

                  Why????

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                  • J JR212

                    I've got this mail

                    Your message 'Re: Finding the path to the pictures' has been marked as potentially being spam and is currently in the moderation queue pending approval.

                    Why????

                    D Offline
                    D Offline
                    Dave Kreskowiak
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #18

                    Because the site spam filters don't trust you nor your message. Yes, it does come up with a bunch of false positives. No, there's nothing you can do about it.

                    A guide to posting questions on CodeProject

                    Click this: Asking questions is a skill. Seriously, do it.
                    Dave Kreskowiak

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                    • D Dave Kreskowiak

                      Because the site spam filters don't trust you nor your message. Yes, it does come up with a bunch of false positives. No, there's nothing you can do about it.

                      A guide to posting questions on CodeProject

                      Click this: Asking questions is a skill. Seriously, do it.
                      Dave Kreskowiak

                      J Offline
                      J Offline
                      JR212
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #19

                      thx Dave

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