Function: choosefile( )

Syntax

choosefile( {<mode> {,<file> {,<type> {,<title>}}}} )

Type

string

Returns

Enables the operator to select a file name via an interactive "File Select" window. When this function is invoked, a file selection popup dialog window is displayed and the user can scan directories and choose a file.

Parameters

<mode>
When this has a zero value the window has the title Open File Selection and the activate button has the text Open. If omitted, zero is assumed. A value 1 has a title Save File Selection and Save on the activate button.
<file>
An indication of the start directory and a default file name for the selection if this parameter is a file then the file name part is used as the default file name, and the directory in which the file resides is used as the start directory. If this parameter is a directory then no default file name is used. If this parameter is omitted, the current directory is used for the start directory and no default file name is used.

<type>
An numeric indication of which files are to be displayed in the selection window. The inclusion of this parameter restricts the choice by file extension and is available on Win32 systems only. Possible values for <type> are as follows:

Value Type Extensions

0 All files *.*

1 Entity files *.e

2 Macros and menu files *.cmd *.men

3 Image files *.bmp *.ecw *.gif *.ico *.jpg *.pcx
*.png *.ras *.sun *.tif *.wbmp
*.xpm *.xwd

4 Application files *.fsa *.mxa

5 XML files *.xml

6 Import files *.eim

7 Binary executables *.exe

8 Text data files *.csv *.dat *.txt

9 Dynamic libraries *.dll

10 AutoCad files *.dwg *.dxf

11 Cursor files *.ani *.cur *.xbm *.xpm

12 Audio files *.wav

13 HTML files *.htm *.html

<title>
A string value providing a title for the file selection dialog window. If this is omitted, the text Open File Selection or Save File Selection will be used depending on the value of n indication of the <mode> parameter.

Notes

The value returned by this function is the name of the chosen file, usually selected by pressing the Open or Save button in the popup window.

Pressing the Cancel button will abort the operation and return an empty string.

No action is done to the selected file. This is the responsibility of the caller.

The system numeric identifier found is set by this function. It gets set to true on a successful file selection, or false on dialog cancel or error.