Procedure FileSelect(filename[, directory][, extension][, title])

FileSelect

With the procedure FileSelect you can let the user select an existing file name using Windows’ standard file selection dialog box. Usually you use this procedure to select some input file (i.e. a file for reading), because other than FileSelectNew, this procedure only allows the user to select existing files.

FileSelect(
        filename,        ! (input/output) scalar string identifier
        [directory,]     ! (optional) scalar string expression
        [extension,]     ! (optional) scalar string expression
        [title]          ! (optional) scalar string expression
        )

Arguments

filename

A scalar string identifier holding the file name that the user selected. If on entry this strings represents a valid file name, then this file name is used to initialize the dialog box.

directory (optional)

A scalar string representing an existing directory. The dialog box will initially only show the files that are located in this directory. If this argument is omitted, then the current project directory will be used.

extension (optional)

A scalar string representing a file extension. The dialog box will initially only show those files that match this extension. If this argument is omitted, then all files are shown.

title (optional)

A scalar string that is used as the title of the selection dialog box. If this argument is omitted, then a default title is used.

Return Value

The procedure returns 1 if the user actually has selected a file. If some error occurs or if the user presses the Cancel button, the procedure returns 0.

Note

If FileSelect returns 0, then the first argument may not contain a valid file name. So you must always check the return value, and, if it is 0, either abort the current procedure or continue with some default file name.

See also

The procedure FileSelectNew.