How to use the Windows 95/98/Me Copy and Recycle functions in VB

Through the Microsoft Windows API, you can copy, move, rename, or delete a file system object by using the SHFileOperation API function that Shell32.dll exports. This article describes how to copy a list of files into a named folder and then move them to the Recycle Bin.

You can use the SHFileOperation API function to move, to rename, or to delete a file system object based on the flags that are passed to this function. You can also set the title of the progress dialog box by assigning a custom string to the lpszProgressTitle member of the SHFILEOPSSTRUCT structure. However, to do this requires some special handling. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: In Visual Basic 6.0, you can use the FileSystemObject object to copy, to move, to rename, and to delete files. However, you cannot use the FileSystemObject object to move files to the Recycle Bin.

The following example creates a single form Microsoft Visual Basic project that uses the SHFileOperation API function.

Step-by-step example

1. Start a new Standard EXE project. By default, a form that is named Form1 is created.
2. Add two CommandButton objects to Form1. Name them Command1 and Command2.
3. On the Project menu, click Add Module to add a module to the project.
4. Add the following code to Module1. This code is made up of the function, the type, and the constant declarations
   
   Note This sample uses VB.HLP and VB.CNT that are installed with a complete installation of Microsoft Visual Basic. If you do not have these files, you can change this sample to copy other existing files.

         Public Const FO_MOVE As Long = &H1
         Public Const FO_COPY As Long = &H2
         Public Const FO_DELETE As Long = &H3
         Public Const FO_RENAME As Long = &H4
   
         Public Const FOF_MULTIDESTFILES As Long = &H1
         Public Const FOF_CONFIRMMOUSE As Long = &H2
         Public Const FOF_SILENT As Long = &H4
         Public Const FOF_RENAMEONCOLLISION As Long = &H8
         Public Const FOF_NOCONFIRMATION As Long = &H10
         Public Const FOF_WANTMAPPINGHANDLE As Long = &H20
         Public Const FOF_CREATEPROGRESSDLG As Long = &H0
         Public Const FOF_ALLOWUNDO As Long = &H40
         Public Const FOF_FILESONLY As Long = &H80
         Public Const FOF_SIMPLEPROGRESS As Long = &H100
         Public Const FOF_NOCONFIRMMKDIR As Long = &H200
   
         Type SHFILEOPSTRUCT
            hwnd As Long
            wFunc As Long
            pFrom As String
            pTo As String
            fFlags As Long
            fAnyOperationsAborted As Long
            hNameMappings As Long
            lpszProgressTitle As String
         End Type
   
         Declare Function SHFileOperation Lib "Shell32.dll" _
            Alias "SHFileOperationA" (lpFileOp As SHFILEOPSTRUCT) As Long

5. Add the following code behind Form1.

         Private Sub Command1_Click()
            Dim result As Long
            Dim fileop As SHFILEOPSTRUCT
            With fileop
               .hwnd = Me.hwnd
   
               .wFunc = FO_COPY
   
               'The files to copy. They are separated by nulls and are terminated by using
               'two nulls. The files VB.HLP and VB.CNT are installed by performing a complete
               'installation of Microsoft Visual Basic. If you do not have
               'these files, you can change this sample to point to existing
               'files.
   
               .pFrom = "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC\VB.HLP" & _
                  vbNullChar & _
                  "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC\VB.CNT" & _
                  vbNullChar & vbNullChar
   
               'or to copy all files use this line
               '.pFrom = "C:\*.*" & vbNullChar & vbNullChar
   
               'The directory or the filenames to copy into. They are terminated by using
               'two nulls.
               .pTo = "C:\testfolder\" & vbNullChar & vbNullChar
   
               .fFlags = FOF_SIMPLEPROGRESS Or FOF_FILESONLY
            End With
   
            result = SHFileOperation(fileop)
   
            If result <> 0 Then        'Operation failed
               MsgBox result, , "Copy Operation Failed"
            Else
               If fileop.fAnyOperationsAborted <> 0 Then
                  MsgBox fileop.fAnyOperationsAborted, , "Operation Aborted"
               End If
            End If
         End Sub
   
         Private Sub Command2_Click()
            Dim DelFileOp As SHFILEOPSTRUCT
            Dim result As Long
            With DelFileOp
               .hwnd = Me.hwnd
               .wFunc = FO_DELETE
               'Delete the files that you just moved to the C:\TestFolder folder.
               'The files VB.HLP and VB.CNT are installed by a complete
               'installation of Microsoft Visual Basic. If you do not have
               'these files, you can change this sample to point to existing
               'files.
   
               .pFrom = "C:\testfolder\vb.hlp" & vbNullChar & _
                        "c:\testfolder\vb.cnt" & vbNullChar & vbNullChar
               'Allow undo--in other words, place the files into the Recycle
               'Bin
               .fFlags = FOF_ALLOWUNDO
            End With
            result = SHFileOperation(DelFileOp)
            If result <> 0 Then        'Operation failed
               MsgBox result, , "Delete Operation Failed"
            Else
               If DelFileOp.fAnyOperationsAborted <> 0 Then
                  MsgBox DelFileOp.fAnyOperationsAborted, , "Operation Aborted"
               End If
            End If
         End Sub
   
         Private Sub Form_Load()
            Command1.Caption = "Copy Test"
            Command2.Caption = "Recycle Test"
         End Sub

6. On the Run menu, click Start, or press F5 to run the application.
7. Click Copy Test. If the destination folder does not exist, a prompt to create the folder appears. The copy animation appears if the operation requires sufficient time to display it.
8. Click Recycle Test. A confirmation message about the deleted files appears.