The Daily Newbie - Using the Dir() Function

Depending on the paramters set,
   returns:

• The Name of a file in a folder that matches a
      patten (*.txt)
  
• The name of a sub folder within a folder.
  
• The name of a hard drive.

To get a file name from a
   directory:   strFile = Dir
   ("c:MyFolder*.txt")

• Path - The root directory to search from.
  
• Attribute - One of the following VB attribute
      values: vbNormal (default), vbReadOnly, vbHidden, VbSystem,
      vbVolume, vbDirectory

Today's copy and paste code lists
   all of the files in a directory to the debug window. For details on usage
   of the Dir ()command in this example, see the Notes below.

  Dim strPathAndPattern As String
    Dim strFileName As String
   
    strPathAndPattern = InputBox("Enter a path and search pattern (ex: c:windows*.exe):")
   
    strFileName = Dir(strPathAndPattern)
    Debug.Print strFileName
   
    While strFileName > ""
       strFileName = Dir
         Debug.Print strFileName     
  Wend

• IMPORTANT: To find multiple
      files, you must do a "two step" proccess. In the example above, notice
      that the first time Dir() is called (before the While...Wend loop), the
      parameter strPathAndPatten is used. After that, the call is
      simply Dir. (strFileName = Dir). This is sort of confusing if
      you don't know what is going on. When I first used the Dir command, I
      kept getting the same file name over and over. This is because using
      Dir() with a path parameter will always return the FIRST match. To
      get subsequent matches, you simply call Dir(). It remembers the last
      pattern and passes the NEXT match. Really screwy.
  
  
• Dir can be used to see if a file already
      exists:
  
           If Dir
      ("c:MyFolderlog.txt") > ""
      Then
                 
      MsgBox "File Already
      Exists!"
           End
      If
  
  This is because Dir() will return an empty string ("") if
      a match is not found, but will return the file name if a match
      is found.
  
  
• Dir can also be used to see if a folder exists, but
      this is a little different. Because of the way Windows handles folder
      names, there is always a folder named "." and another named ".." . As
      odd as that seems, these names represent the current folder and the
      parent folder. So to find out if a certain folder exists, you can do
      this:
  
  If Dir ("c:windowssystem",
      vbDirectory) > ".." Then
       MsgBox "Folder
      Already Exists!"
  End If
  
  
• For a downloadable project using the Dir command,
      Click Here