C# open folder dialog (FolderBrowserDialog)

In .Net GUI Applications, Interaction with User on selecting files is a very basic topic. In the following code samples, I have demonstrate how to select files ( in comment code), more importantly, give an example code on how to get a folder name form the windows open dialog box. Something Interesting here is that you actually can’t get the folder name easily. (I mean select a folder, you can still select the file then get the full path, which include the folder name) The best option is to use FolderBrowserDialog !

Ok, now here is the sample code. Enjoy.

        private void importToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {
                string startupPath = Application.StartupPath;
                using (FolderBrowserDialog dialog = new FolderBrowserDialog())
                {
                    dialog.Description = "Open a folder which contains the xml output";
                    dialog.ShowNewFolderButton = false;
                    dialog.RootFolder = Environment.SpecialFolder.MyComputer;
                    if(dialog.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
                    {
                        string folder = dialog.SelectedPath;
                        foreach (string fileName in Directory.GetFiles(folder, "*.xml", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly))
                        {
                            SQLGenerator.GenerateSQLTransactions(Path.GetFullPath(fileName));
                        }
                    }
                }
                //using (OpenFileDialog dialog = new OpenFileDialog())
                //{
                //    dialog.Filter = "xml files (*.xml)|*.xml";
                //    dialog.Multiselect = false;
                //    dialog.InitialDirectory = ".";
                //    dialog.Title = "Select file (only in XML format)";
                //    if (dialog.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
                //    {
                //        SQLGenerator.GenerateSQLTransactions(Application.StartupPath + Settings.Default.xmlFile);
                //    }
                //}
            }
            catch (Exception exc)
            {
                MessageBox.Show("Import failed because " + exc.Message + " , please try again later.");
            }
            
        }