Is there a way to obtain a list of subdirectories? I've tried the following but it doesn't seem to work:

SetInitDirOptions("D")

initdir driv

List="

loop

SubList=DirList()

until SubList="

List=SubList

repeat

Thanks

Godfrey,

It might be an old problem. See Cameron Purdy's posting and Sprezzatura's subsequent reply.

Myself I often use Sprezzatura's Utility32 for stuff like this. But here's a function I just made for you. It works by letting DirList() find everything, pick out the folders and skip the files. I took it from some old programming where I needed the opposite of what you do - the files and not the folders:

function My_DirList( FolderName )

SubFolderNames="

InitDir FolderName : "\*.*"

loop

FileNames=DirList()

while FileNames

for I=1 to count(FileNames, @FM) + 1

FileName=FileNames[i]

FullName=FolderName : "\" : FileName

DirInfo=Dir(FullName)

Size=DirInfo /* file size. only files, not folders, have file size */

if][size=" then

SubFolderNames=FileName

end

next I

repeat

return SubFolderNames

I leave it to you to test it properly.

- Oystein -

Oystein ..

This is exactly what I do, too. It IS possible the get a zero-length data file this way. You can also check to see whether the extension is null, but this is no guarantee either. It's possible to retrieve the info with DIR *.*/AD which will only retrieve items whose file attribute is Directory.

Don M.

Don,

Zero-length files… Didn't think of that.

But who got zero-length files anyway? What an absurd idea!

Hmmm… …joke aside… …I mean zero-length LH files aside… …are you sure there aren't cases where zero-length files exist and might cause trouble for this way of determining subfolders? I think I have seen files show up in Explorer with size 0 just after they were created, and before they were written and closed. So what if our subfolder determining functions pick up such unfinished files, say from other users on the server in a multi-user environment, or from other running programs, and mistake them for folders? Is that possible?

- Oystein -

Wouldn't it depend on how you are doing your comaparison? I'm not familiar with the file size value returned for directories. If it returns a NULL for a directory, then you should still be okay. The file size for a 0 byte file would still be zero. The only thing that should hurt you in that case is if said Not(FileSize), because then NULL and 0 would evaluate the same. But, if you compare to NULL, then you should be alright.

My $0.02 worth.

[email protected]

Greyhound Lines, Inc.

Oystein ..

]Zero-length files… Didn't think of that.

]But who got zero-length files anyway? What an absurd idea!

Well .. there are any number of them around, particularly in Windows where a file gets created but not written to.

OSOPEN "FOO" TO FILE_OUT THEN

OSWRITE "" TO FILE_OUT

OSCLOSE FILE_OUT

END

That makes a zero-length file with no extension. If you forget to delete it, then it's your red wagon.

]Hmmm… …joke aside… …I mean zero-length LH files aside… …are you sure there aren't cases where zero-length files exist and might cause trouble for this way of determining subfolders? I think I have seen files show up in Explorer with size 0 just after they were created, and before they were written and closed. So what if our subfolder determining functions pick up such unfinished files, say from other users on the server in a multi-user environment, or from other running programs, and mistake them for folders? Is that possible?

Well ..

The way I sometimes do this is via a call to the DOS processor:

DIR \MYPATH\*.* /AD ]] JUNK.TXT

Then I parse the text file

Here's a sample:

DIR C:\*.* /AD ]] JUNK.TXT

EDIT JUNK.TXT

Volume in drive C is DCMDEV

Volume Serial Number is 1443-12FC

Directory of C:\

WINDOWS 01-09-01 11:45a WINDOWS

ATI 01-09-01 12:07p ATI

ACROBAT3 01-09-01 1:15p ACROBAT3

MYDOCU~1 01-09-01 12:03p My Documents

PROGRA~1 01-09-01 11:45a Program Files

SPARAM 03-19-01 1:40p SPARAM

CANON DRV 01-09-01 1:15p CANON.DRV

CWSOUNDS 01-09-01 1:15p CWSOUNDS

GREV 01-09-01 1:15p GREV

MSOFFICE 01-09-01 1:15p MSOffice

MYMUSI~1 01-09-01 1:15p My Music

NETSPOT 01-09-01 1:15p NETSPOT

NOVELL 01-09-01 1:15p NOVELL

WINZIP 01-09-01 1:15p winzip

RECYCLED 01-09-01 1:35p RECYCLED

NCDTREE 01-12-01 1:58p NCDTREE

INSECURE 10-29-02 1:10p insecure

REVNPP 11-21-02 9:17a REVNPP

BRIDGE 02-19-02 12:32p BRIDGE

AOLEXT~1 01-18-01 3:17p aolextras

AOLINS~1 01-18-01 3:17p AOL Instant Messenger

TEMP 01-29-01 11:49a temp

INSTAL~2 01-18-01 3:17p Install ICQ

INSTAL~3 01-18-01 3:17p Install Spinner

INSTAL~4 01-18-01 3:17p Install Winamp

GRPHFLT 03-29-01 3:38p GRPHFLT

INCOMP~1 04-24-01 10:23a Incomplete

SPYGURU 03-13-01 9:39a SpyGuru

FONTS 04-26-01 12:00p fonts

XQXSETUP 05-31-01 3:21p xqxsetup

CABS 07-11-01 2:17p Cabs

OIPINST 12-31-02 11:48a OIPINST

PROGRAMF 12-31-02 12:01p PROGRAMF

UPGRADE 01-11-02 10:34a UPGRADE

SWMAP 01-15-02 9:45a SWMap

AOLDOW~1 07-16-02 1:32p AOL Downloads

KODAK_~1 04-22-02 9:27a KODAK_Pictures

KODAKP~1 04-22-02 9:31a Kodak Picture CD

AOLSAV~1 04-29-02 10:14a AOL Saved PFC

RBACKUPS 07-08-02 9:58a RBackups

MYDOWN~1 11-08-02 8:47a My Downloads

DJ940C 07-22-02 2:10p Dj940c

AOLSHARE 08-02-02 12:05p AOLSHARE

BANJOB~1 08-02-02 3:27p banjobackup

BANJOB~2 08-05-02 9:22a banjobackup2

WUTEMP 02-06-03 7:41a WUTemp

TABVIEW 09-04-02 10:23a Tabview

BB 10-01-02 9:25a BB

PRINTS~1 10-10-02 9:53a PrintScreen

MYROBO~1 10-16-02 2:36p My RoboForm Data

NEWCAN~1 12-26-02 11:48a NewCanonPrinter

FILESIZE 02-14-03 7:48a FileSize

FILETIP 02-14-03 10:08a FileTip

WMMATCH 02-14-03 10:14a WmMatch

INSTAL~1 0 03-12-03 9:28a Install CompuServe7.0

       0 file(s)              0 bytes

      55 dir(s)       13,050.89 MB free

Notice that even directory entries with extensions get picked up. Also, note that in the 5th column you can get the long-filename as a side benefit.

Don M.

Function Directories(Root)

* Returns an FM delimited list of directories in Root

If RootLen(Root),1 # "\" Then

Root=Root:"\"

End

InitDir Root:"*."; * Just like Unix….

Return DirList()

Justin,

I tried your version on a folder containing a LH volume, with interesting results. The folder contained a lot of size 0 OV files and a size 0 REVLOCKS file. It erroneously identified REVLOCKS as a directory, but not the OV files.

I wish somebody could put this stuff out of its misery.

- Oystein -

Matt,

I think you're right.

I do hope you're right.

- Oystein -

Don,

Not nice, but OK if it works.

Are there problems with different versions of Windows, or different formatting in different countries?

- Oystein -

Oystein ..

The honest answer is "I don't know!" I don't have any need for multi-lingual support and all the headaches it has brought over the past.

Maybe someone else will know .. or you could try it yourself since you seem to have a lot of language-sets to deal with. Just imagine what it would be like in Farsi ..

Don M.

Many thanks for all your responses. However, I found that the easiest way was to create a DOS textfile on-the-fly and then manipulate that to get what I want. It would be nice to have such a basic service, i.e. obtaining a list of sub-folders, within the INITDIR command itself though.

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