Shell Folders Unit

Contents

• Description
• Compatibility
• Installation
• Known Issues
• Update History
• License and Disclaimer
• About the Author

Description

This unit provides various components, classes and routines for handling Windows shell folders. It contains:

• A component that provides information about a specified special shell folder.
• A class that enumerates all the special shell folders.
• Routines to manipulate special shell folder information.
• A component that encapsulates the Windows Browse for Folder dialog box.
• A property editor for special shell folder identifiers.

Compatibility

The unit is compatible with Delphi 3 to 7. It has been tested in Delphi 4, 6 and 7.

Installation

In these instructions $(DELPHI) is to be taken to represent the path where the appropriate version of Delphi was installed. For example, if you have Delphi 4 installed on the default installation path then $(DELPHI) is equivalent to C:\Program Files\Borland\Delphi4.

Installation with Delphi 3 to 7

1. Unzip the file pjshfldr.zip into a folder.
2. Copy the files PJShellFolders.pas, PJShellFolders.dcr and PJShellFoldersDsgn.pas to where you wish to install into Delphi. This will probably be a sub-folder of the $(DELPHI)\lib folder.
3. Install the unit's components and property editor into the palette by chosing the Component | Install Component menu option to display the Install Component dialog box. Then:
   • Select the Into existing package tab.
   • Click the Browse button next to the Unit file name edit box to display the Unit file name dialog box.
   • Select PJShellFolders.pas and PJShellFoldersDsgn.pas files from the file dialog and click OK to return to the Install Component dialog box.
   • Choose the package into you wish to install from the Package file name drop down list.
   • Click OK.
   • A confirmation dialog box, querying whether it is OK to rebuild and reinstall the package may displayed. Click Yes to proceed.
   • The package will now be built and a dialog box stating that the TPJBrowseDialog and TPJSpecialFolderInfo components have been installed should be displayed. Click OK to dismiss the dialog box.
4. You can now delete PJShellFolders.pas and PJShellFoldersDsgn.pas from the place where you copied it if you wish (but ensure that the .dcu files are not deleted). The components will appear on a palette called DelphiDabbler. The other code in the unit can be made available simply by use-ing the unit in your projects. You can move the components to a different palette as required.
5. The simplest way to install the help file is to use my Component Help Installer Expert. To install manually, proceed as follows:
   • Copy PJShellFolders.hlp to whichever folder you wish to install it to.
   • In Delphi 3 to 6 (where X is the Delphi version 3..6):
     • Edit DelphiX.ohl (in $(DELPHI)\Help), adding the line :Link PJShellFolders.hlp to the end of the section labelled "Third party help".
     • Edit DelphiX.ohi (in $(DELPHI)\Help), adding the line :Index DelphiDabbler Shell Folders=PJShellFolders.hlp towards the end of the index section.
     • Edit DelphiX.cnt (in $(DELPHI)\Help), ensuring that the lines :Include delphiX.ohi and :Include delphiX.ohl appear somewhere in the file.
   • In Delphi 7
     • Edit D7.ohl (in $(DELPHI)\Help), adding the line :Link PJShellFolders.hlp to the end of the section labelled "Third party help".
     • Edit D7.ohi (in $(DELPHI)\Help), adding the line :Index DelphiDabbler Shell Folders=PJShellFolders.hlp towards the end of the index section.
     • Edit D7.cnt (in $(DELPHI)\Help), ensuring that the lines :Include d7.ohi and :Include d7.ohl appear somewhere in the file.
   • Using RegEdit open the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Help and add a new string value named PJShellFolders.hlp whose value is the path where you copied the help file (probably ($DELPHI)\Help).

Known Issues

No bugs reported to date.

Update History

Release 1.0 of 06/04/2001
PJShellFolders v1.0 of 01/04/2001

• Original version with help file and HTML documentation.

Release 2.0 of 15/06/2003
PJShellFolders v2.0 of 15/06/2003

• Fixed bug that meant that display name wasn't being shown correctly in Win NT OSs.
• Added new OnSelChangeEx event to TPJBrowseDialog component that exposes selected folder's PIDL.
• Enabled TPJBrowseDialog to display and accept virtual as well as file system folders.
• TPJBrowseDialog now displays disabled help button when HelpContext is 0.
• Additional shell folder identifiers missing from Delphi 3 are now conditionally placed in interface of unit in Delphi 3.
• Added new public functions to get folder path and display name from PIDLs.
• All errors in components and routiens now raise EPJShellFolder exceptions.
• Property editor and component registration moved to separate design time unit.
• Help file corrected and updated.

License & Disclaimer

This unit and help file are copyright © P.D.Johnson, 2001.

The source code and help files can be freely distributed on a not-for-profit basis providing that:

1. the source code is not altered.
2. this file is distributed with it unchanged

By not-for-profit I mean that you may recover out of pocket expenses incurred in distributing the code, but should not make a profit from this.

If you discover any bugs in this implementation, or if you have any update suggestions, please contact me via my website.

Please do modify the code for you own use. I'd like to see any changes you make - I could incorporate them into future versions. Please notify me of changes on at the above e-mail address.

This software is provided as is - no warranty is given as to its suitability for any purposes to which you may wish to put it.

About the Author

I'm Peter Johnson - a hobbyist programmer living in Ceredigion in West Wales, UK. I write mainly in Delphi. My programs are available for download on my web-site: http://www.delphidabbler.com/.

I can be contacted via the website.