How to write a Windows XP Application that stores user and application data in the correct location by using Visual C++

• Create a Win32 application.
• Add a Save As option to the File menu.
• Use the standard File Save dialog box to default to the correct location.
• Verify the correct file save location.
• Remember the user's previous selection.
• Verify the user's previous selection.

• Classify application data.
• Store application data in the correct location.
• Use the registry judiciously.

Requirements

• Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional
• Visual Studio 2008, Visual Sudio 2005, or Visual Studio .NET.
• Prior knowledge of Win32 application development

Create a Win32 Application

• In Visual Studio .NET, click Visual C++ Projects under Project Types, and then click Win32 Project under Templates. Accept the default application settings that the application setup wizard displays.
• In Visual Studio 2005 or 2008, click Visual C++ under Project Types, and then click Win32 Project under Templates. Accept the default application settings.

Add a Save As Option to the File Menu

1. Click Resource View, and then double-click IDC_SAVINGDATA.
2. Add a Save As menu option to the File menu. Use IDM_FILE_SAVEAS as the ID of the menu item.
3. Locate the application's WndProc window procedure within SavingData.cppm and add a new case statement within the WM_COMMAND section to process the Save As menu option. Call the OnFileSaveAs function, which you will create in the next section. This function takes no parameters.
   
   Your code should appear as follows:

   case WM_COMMAND:
       wmId    = LOWORD(wParam);
       wmEvent = HIWORD(wParam);
       // Parse the menu selections:
       switch (wmId)
       {
       case IDM_ABOUT:
           DialogBox(hInst, MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDD_ABOUTBOX), hWnd, About);
           break;
       case IDM_EXIT:
           DestroyWindow(hWnd);
           break;
       case IDM_FILE_SAVEAS:
           OnFileSaveAs(hWnd);
           break;
       default:
           return DefWindowProc(hWnd, message, wParam, lParam);
       }
       break;
   

Use the standard File Save dialog box to default to the correct location

1. At the top of SavingData.cpp, add the following include statements:

   #include <commdlg.h>   // for GetSaveFileName
   #include <shlobj.h>    // for SHGetFolderPath
   					

2. Add the following prototype for the OnFileSaveAs function:

   void OnFileSaveAs( HWND hWnd );
   					

3. Create the new OnFileSaveAs function. Within this function, use the SHGetFolderPath function in conjunction with the CSIDL_MYPICTURES CSIDL identifier to retrieve the correct folder location to store picture data. Pass this folder location to the GetSaveFileName function to display the standard File Save dialog box.
   
   Your code should appear as follows:

   void OnFileSaveAs(HWND hWnd)
   {
      OPENFILENAME openFile;
      TCHAR szPath[MAX_PATH];
      TCHAR szFile[MAX_PATH];
   
       // Initialize OPENFILENAME structure.
       ZeroMemory( &openFile, sizeof(OPENFILENAME) );
       openFile.lStructSize = sizeof(OPENFILENAME);
   
       szFile[0] = '\0';
       openFile.hwndOwner = hWnd;
       openFile.lpstrFile = szFile;
       openFile.nMaxFile = sizeof(szFile)/sizeof(*szFile);
   
       // Default to My Pictures. First, get its path.
       if ( SUCCEEDED( SHGetFolderPath( NULL, CSIDL_MYPICTURES, 
                                             NULL, 0, szPath ) ) )
       {
          // Set lpstrInitialDir to the path that SHGetFolderPath obtains. 
          // This causes GetSaveFileName to point to the My Pictures folder.
             openFile.lpstrInitialDir = szPath;
       }
       // Display the standard File Save dialog box, defaulting to My Pictures.
       if ( GetSaveFileName( &openFile ) == TRUE )
       {
           // User clicks the Save button.
           // Save the file
       }
       else
       {
          // User cancels the File Save dialog box.
       }
   }
   

Verify the Correct File Save Location

1. Press the F5 key to build the project.
2. Run the application, and click Save As from the File menu.
3. Verify that the standard File Save dialog box defaults to the My Pictures folder, as CSIDL_MYPICTURES specifies.
4. Click Cancel to close the dialog box, and close the application.

Remember the User's Previous Selection

1. Create a static BOOL variable named bFirstSave in the OnFileSaveAs function, and initialize it to TRUE.
2. Modify the code within OnFileSaveAs to call SHGetFolderPath and set the lpstrInitialDir member of the OPENFILENAME structure, only if bFirstSave is TRUE.
3. If the user clicks Save in the File Save dialog box, set bFirstSave to FALSE.
   
   Your code should appear as follows:

   void OnFileSaveAs(HWND hWnd)
   {
       OPENFILENAME openFile;
       TCHAR szPath[MAX_PATH];
       TCHAR szFile[MAX_PATH];
       static BOOL bFirstSave = TRUE;
   
       // Initialize OPENFILENAME structure.
       ZeroMemory( &openFile, sizeof(OPENFILENAME) );
       openFile.lStructSize = sizeof(OPENFILENAME);
   
       szFile[0] = '\0';
       openFile.hwndOwner = hWnd;
       openFile.lpstrFile = szFile;
       openFile.nMaxFile = sizeof(szFile)/sizeof(*szFile);
   
       // The first time the user saves a document, default to My Pictures.
       if ( TRUE == bFirstSave )
       {
           if ( SUCCEEDED( SHGetFolderPath( NULL, CSIDL_MYPICTURES, 
               NULL, 0, szPath ) ) )
           {
               // Set lpstrInitialDir to the path that SHGetFolderPath obtains.
               // This causes GetSaveFileName to point to the My Pictures folder.
               openFile.lpstrInitialDir = szPath;
           }
       }
       // Display standard File Save dialog box, defaulting to My Pictures
       // or the user's previously selected location.
       if ( GetSaveFileName( &openFile ) == TRUE )
       {
           // User clicks Save.
           // Save the file.
           bFirstSave = FALSE;
       }
       else
       {
           // User cancels the File Save dialog box.
       }
   }
   

Verify the User's Previous Selection

1. Build the project, and run the application.
2. From the File menu, click Save As.
3. Browse from the My Pictures folder to the My Documents folder, select a file, and click Save.
4. From the File menu, click Save As again.
5. Verify that the dialog box defaults to your previous selection (in this case, My Documents).
6. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box, and close the application.
7. Run the application, and click Save As from the File menu.
8. Verify that the dialog box defaults back to the My Pictures folder.
9. Close the dialog box, and quit the application.

Classify Application Data

• For each user (roaming): This category describes application data that is specific to a particular user and should be available to the user as he or she moves between computers within a domain (for example, a custom dictionary). Note that this setting does not apply to applications that are not designed to run in a domain environment.
• For each user (non-roaming): This category describes application data that is specific to a particular user but applies only to a single computer (for example, a user-specified monitor resolution).
• For each computer (non-user specific and non-roaming): This category describes application data that applies to all users and to a specific computer (for example, an application dictionary, a log file, or a temporary file).

Store Application Data in the Correct Location

• For each user (roaming) data, use the CSIDL_APPDATA value. This defaults to the following path:
  \Documents and Settings\<User Name>\Application Data
• For each user (non-roaming) data, use the CSIDL_LOCAL_APPDATA value. This defaults to the following path:
  \Documents and Settings\<User Name>\Local Settings\Application Data
• For each computer (non-user specific and non-roaming) data, use the CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA value. This defaults to the following path:
  \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data

include <shlwapi.h>
#pragma comment(lib,"shlwapi.lib")
void CreateTemporaryFile()
{
   TCHAR szPath[MAX_PATH];
   // Get path for each computer, non-user specific and non-roaming data.
   if ( SUCCEEDED( SHGetFolderPath( NULL, CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA, 
                                    NULL, 0, szPath ) ) )
   {
      TCHAR szTempFileName[MAX_PATH];
      // Append product-specific path - this path needs to already exist
      // for GetTempFileName to succeed.
      PathAppend( szPath, _T("\\My Company\\My Product\\1.0\\") );
      // Generate a temporary file name within this folder.
      if (GetTempFileName( szPath, 
                           _T("PRE"),
                           0,
                           szTempFileName ) != 0 )
      {
         HANDLE hFile = NULL;
         // Open the file.
         if (( hFile = CreateFile( szTempFileName, 
                                   GENERIC_WRITE, 
                                   0, 
                                   NULL, 
                                   CREATE_ALWAYS, 
                                   FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, 
                                   NULL )) != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE )
         {
            // Write temporary data (code omitted).
            CloseHandle( hFile );
         }
      }
      else
          DWORD err = GetLastError();
   }
}

Use the Registry Judiciously

• For small amounts of user data, use the HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU) registry key.
• For small amounts of computer data, use the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM) registry key. Your application should not write to HKLM at run time because, by default, non-administrator users only have read-only access to the HKLM tree.
• At installation time, your application must not store more than a total of 128 KB across HKCU and HKLM.
• Component Object Model (COM) components are registered beneath the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (HKCR) registry key. The 128 KB maximum does not include HKCR.
• When you write to HKLM or HKCU, you must create keys for the company name, product name, and product version number, as follows:
  HKLM\Software\Company Name\Product Name\Product Version
  HKCU\Software\Company Name\Product Name\Product Version
• Use the registry functions (such as RegCreateKeyEx and RegSetValueEx) to read and write registry entries.

Troubleshooting

• To help ensure that applications run on earlier versions of Windows in addition to Windows XP, always link to the SHGetFolderPath implementation in Shfolder.dll. Although Windows XP includes SHGetFolderPath in Shell32.dll, earlier versions of Windows may not support the function within this dynamic-link library (DLL).
• Shfolder.dll is a redistributable component and may be distributed with your applications.
• Do not store fully-qualified paths to the My Documents folder (or other system folders) within an application-specific place such as a file list of most recently used files because a user or Administrator may relocate these folders between successive uses of your application.

Back to the top | Give Feedback