IShellFolder pointers, how to copy them safely... (COM)

[Henrik]

Hello, I got a small problem (or rather question)... global: ------- SHGetDesktopFolder(&m_pShellFolder) // the nFolde value can be diffrent,, also CSIDL_DESKTOP.. depends what button user press SHGetSpecialFolderLocation(NULL, nFolder, &m_ppidl); func: ----- IShellFolder* pFolder; IEnumIDList* pEnumIds; if (::GetSize(m_ppidl) == 2) { // if the user is in the root path (desktop folder) do this... m_pShellFolder->EnumObjects(NULL, SHCONTF_FOLDERS | SHCONTF_NONFOLDERS, &pEnumIds); pFolder = m_pShellFolder; pFolder->AddRef(); } else { // if the user is in a folder that is BELOW the desktop do this.... the pidl is // a full path list in both cases (ie it holds the desktop id as first entry) m_pShellFolder->BindToObject(m_ppidl, NULL, IID_IShellFolder, (LPVOID *)&pFolder); pFolder->EnumObjects(NULL, SHCONTF_FOLDERS | SHCONTF_NONFOLDERS, &pEnumIds); } // after this the enumaration process starts and I use pFolder->GetAttributesOf // and pFolder->GetDisplayNameOf... . . . pFolder->Release(); I got this code. Anyway as you might notice I do pFolder = m_pShellFolder. My question is, can this be dangerous when I do pFolder->Release(); since both pointers point at the same memloc...? (SIDENOTE) If GetSize returns 2 I assume that the pidl tells you that your in the root (DESKTOP) else your in a subfolder to the root , my code is supposed to add to the pidl list as the user goes down in the folder structure.. (THE QUESTOIN :)) So my question is, as I said, is it safe to do pFolder = m_pShellFolder; and then release pFolder later with pFolder->Release()?.. Will this destroy m_pShellFolder (or make it unusable) (it worked tough i dunno if its safe?)? What im trying to accomplish is basicly to get a copy of the m_pShellFolder structure(the one it points at) to a new IShellFolder object.. I hope someone understood this :) Cheers, Henrik

[Michael Dunn]

You're doing exactly what you should be doing. Calling AddRef() tells the underlying COM object that there is a new reference to it. Just remember to call Release() through both pointers to properly clean up. --Mike-- http://home.inreach.com/mdunn/ The Signature, back by popular demand: Buffy. Pajamas.