Extract Filename (vb6)

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I need to extract a filename from a string.

If my users were to name files exactly as they should be, then I could possibly extract from the length of the string.
i.e. Right$(Filename),13 but users don’t always conform to what they should do.

So the string would be:

L:MMpdfEstPDF12345-est.pdf
L:MMpdfEstPDF12345-int.pdf
L:MMpdfEstPDF12345-aut.pdf

But they on occasion name

L:MMpdfEstPDF12345-est.pdf
L:MMpdfEstPDF12345-int.pdf
L:MMpdfEstPDF12345-auth.pdf
L:MMpdfEstPDF12345-part.pdf

In this occasion the characters would be 14 because of the auth & the part after the number.
Is there a function to extract to the last separator making the filename always extractable in full ?

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I usually use expression or function like this example:

Public Function GetFileNameFromPath(ByRef strPath As String) As String

If Len(strPath) = 0 Or (InStr(1, strPath, “”, vbBinaryCompare) = 0) Then
GetFileNameFromPath = strPath
Else
GetFileNameFromPath = Mid$(strPath, InStrRev(strPath, “”, , vbBinaryCompare) + 1)
End If

End Function

Examples:

? GetFileNameFromPath(“C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOfficeMSAccess.exe”)
MSAccess.exe

? GetFileNameFromPath(“MSAccess.exe”)
MSAccess.exe

? GetFileNameFromPath(“C:BatchFile.txt”)
BatchFile.txt

Using Mid & InStrRev functions are easiest way to do this, just find the last “” and add 1 to determine where to start; with Mid, unlike Right & Left functions, you don’t have to specify how many characters to return; if last argument left blank, will return rest of the original text string from start point. If you are sure a valid path is always going to be provided, you don’t have to use function, just use the Mid$(strPath, InStrRev(strPath, “”, , vbBinaryCompare) + 1) expression, where strPath is variable representing path.

HTH

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Mark, thanks for that.
Does this look OK:

Public Function GetFileNameFromPath(ByRef strPath As String) As String

    If Len(strPath) = 0 Or (InStr(1, strPath, "", vbBinaryCompare) = 0) Then
        GetFileNameFromPath = strPath
    Else
        GetFileNameFromPath = Mid$(strPath, InStrRev(strPath, "", , vbBinaryCompare) + 1)
    End If

End Function

Private Sub procDelDoc_Click(Index As Integer)
     If AcrobatPath.Text = "L:MMPDFUtilitiesPDFViewer.pdf" Then Exit Sub
     
     If MsgBox("You Are About To Archive This Document !!." & _
               " Do You Want To Continue ? ", vbYesNo + vbQuestion, " Archive Document") = vbYes Then
          WriteLog GetComputerName & " " & GetNetUser & _
                    " *** DOCUMENT ARCHIVED ***" & " " & Me.AcrobatPath


          Dim AF As String     'Archive Folder
          Dim FN As String     'File
          Dim strFolderName As String
          Dim File As String


          AF = "L:MMpdfArchive"
          File = Me.AcrobatPath
           
          strFolderName = AF & Me.txtEst.Text & ""

          If Dir(strFolderName, vbDirectory) = "" Then
               MkDir strFolderName
          End If

          FileCopy File, strFolderName & GetFileNameFromPath(File)
          Kill AcrobatPath
          Call cmdList_Click
     End If

End Sub

Or would it be better to create a standard module for the GetfileName routine ?

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I assume this code is running in some kind of form module? If so, and this is the only place in program where you need to use the GetFileNameFromPath function, then may as well leave it in the form module, and should be declared as Private (tho’ OK to leave as is). If function may be needed elsewhere in program, then should move to standard code module and ensure declared as Public so can be called from anywhere in program.

HTH

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Thanks Mark.

It is used in two instances, and could be useful elsewhere at a later date.
I shall take the latter advice.

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Thanks Mark.

It is used in two instances, and could be useful elsewhere at a later date.
I shall take the latter advice.

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I assume this code is running in some kind of form module? If so, and this is the only place in program where you need to use the GetFileNameFromPath function, then may as well leave it in the form module, and should be declared as Private (tho’ OK to leave as is). If function may be needed elsewhere in program, then should move to standard code module and ensure declared as Public so can be called from anywhere in program.

HTH

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Mark, thanks for that.
Does this look OK:

Public Function GetFileNameFromPath(ByRef strPath As String) As String

    If Len(strPath) = 0 Or (InStr(1, strPath, "", vbBinaryCompare) = 0) Then
        GetFileNameFromPath = strPath
    Else
        GetFileNameFromPath = Mid$(strPath, InStrRev(strPath, "", , vbBinaryCompare) + 1)
    End If

End Function

Private Sub procDelDoc_Click(Index As Integer)
     If AcrobatPath.Text = "L:MMPDFUtilitiesPDFViewer.pdf" Then Exit Sub
     
     If MsgBox("You Are About To Archive This Document !!." & _
               " Do You Want To Continue ? ", vbYesNo + vbQuestion, " Archive Document") = vbYes Then
          WriteLog GetComputerName & " " & GetNetUser & _
                    " *** DOCUMENT ARCHIVED ***" & " " & Me.AcrobatPath


          Dim AF As String     'Archive Folder
          Dim FN As String     'File
          Dim strFolderName As String
          Dim File As String


          AF = "L:MMpdfArchive"
          File = Me.AcrobatPath
           
          strFolderName = AF & Me.txtEst.Text & ""

          If Dir(strFolderName, vbDirectory) = "" Then
               MkDir strFolderName
          End If

          FileCopy File, strFolderName & GetFileNameFromPath(File)
          Kill AcrobatPath
          Call cmdList_Click
     End If

End Sub

Or would it be better to create a standard module for the GetfileName routine ?

Reply | Quote

I usually use expression or function like this example:

Public Function GetFileNameFromPath(ByRef strPath As String) As String

If Len(strPath) = 0 Or (InStr(1, strPath, “”, vbBinaryCompare) = 0) Then
GetFileNameFromPath = strPath
Else
GetFileNameFromPath = Mid$(strPath, InStrRev(strPath, “”, , vbBinaryCompare) + 1)
End If

End Function

Examples:

? GetFileNameFromPath(“C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOfficeMSAccess.exe”)
MSAccess.exe

? GetFileNameFromPath(“MSAccess.exe”)
MSAccess.exe

? GetFileNameFromPath(“C:BatchFile.txt”)
BatchFile.txt

Using Mid & InStrRev functions are easiest way to do this, just find the last “” and add 1 to determine where to start; with Mid, unlike Right & Left functions, you don’t have to specify how many characters to return; if last argument left blank, will return rest of the original text string from start point. If you are sure a valid path is always going to be provided, you don’t have to use function, just use the Mid$(strPath, InStrRev(strPath, “”, , vbBinaryCompare) + 1) expression, where strPath is variable representing path.

HTH

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Hi Dave,

Here’s an alternate, platform-independent way to get the filename without the separator:

Function GetFileName(sPath As String) As String
GetFileName = Right$(sPath, (Len(sPath) - (InStrRev(sPath, Application.PathSeparator))))
End Function

Six of one, half dozen of the other …

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Thanks Andrew, I will put this in my collection of Utilities Modules.

Marks function works ok in testing, so for now it will stick with it.

Thanks again all

Reply | Quote

Thanks Andrew, I will put this in my collection of Utilities Modules.

Marks function works ok in testing, so for now it will stick with it.

Thanks again all

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Doesn’t Application.PathSeparator only apply to Word & Excel (& PPT?), that have MacIntosh versions? (The Mac’s path separator is a colon). I think Dave’s application is strictly VB6 – AFAIK there’s no such thing as “Visual Basic for the Mac” (though at one time there was something called “Microsoft QuickBASIC Compiler for the Apple Macintosh 1.0” that you still see referenced in archaic MSKB articles) – I always thought that VB only “did Windows”, with the exception of VBA in those Office apps that have Mac versions. If so, in this case I wouldn’t worry about using backslash () as path separator in function.

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Hi Mark,

Yeah, that’s correct. The Application object is not part of VB, it comes from the hosted application. That particluar function came from some code I used in a Word template that was to be run on Windows and Mac. My bad.

Maybe a better choice would be to provide the path separator as an argument to the function:

Function GetFileName(sPath As String, sSeparator As String) As String
GetFileName = Right$(sPath, (Len(sPath) - (InStrRev(sPath, sSeparator))))
End Function

That would provide a more generally usable function that might come in handy when parsing a URL, etc.

Reply | Quote

Hi Mark,

Yeah, that’s correct. The Application object is not part of VB, it comes from the hosted application. That particluar function came from some code I used in a Word template that was to be run on Windows and Mac. My bad.

Maybe a better choice would be to provide the path separator as an argument to the function:

Function GetFileName(sPath As String, sSeparator As String) As String
GetFileName = Right$(sPath, (Len(sPath) - (InStrRev(sPath, sSeparator))))
End Function

That would provide a more generally usable function that might come in handy when parsing a URL, etc.

Reply | Quote

Doesn’t Application.PathSeparator only apply to Word & Excel (& PPT?), that have MacIntosh versions? (The Mac’s path separator is a colon). I think Dave’s application is strictly VB6 – AFAIK there’s no such thing as “Visual Basic for the Mac” (though at one time there was something called “Microsoft QuickBASIC Compiler for the Apple Macintosh 1.0” that you still see referenced in archaic MSKB articles) – I always thought that VB only “did Windows”, with the exception of VBA in those Office apps that have Mac versions. If so, in this case I wouldn’t worry about using backslash () as path separator in function.

Reply | Quote

Hi Dave,

Here’s an alternate, platform-independent way to get the filename without the separator:

Function GetFileName(sPath As String) As String
GetFileName = Right$(sPath, (Len(sPath) - (InStrRev(sPath, Application.PathSeparator))))
End Function

Six of one, half dozen of the other …

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Attached ia a module containing a function GetSingleFileInfo that takes 2 parameters, the file name and a structure declared in the module that describes the file.

It doesn’t use any delimiters to get the information but uses the Scripting.FileSystemObject and a couple of API calls instead.

Regards,
Kevin Bell

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Thanks, Kevin

FYI:
From “VB & VBA in a Nutshell”
[indent]

---

In stripping the “file extension” and returning the base name of Path, GetBaseName has no intelligence. That is, it doesn’t know whether the last component of Path is a path or a filename. If the last component includes one or more dots, it simply removes the last one, along with any following text. Hence, GetBaseName returns a null string for a Path of “.” and it returns “.” for a Path of “..”. It is, in other words, really a string manipulation function, rather than a file function.

---

[/indent]

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MsgBox Dir(“C:ExcelFilesHelpactionscript_dict.pdf”)

Will yield the File name if it exists

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However, it *only* works on files that already exist. If you need to get the filename only so you can locate it in another folder or move it, etc., that doesn’t help.

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Yes, and I stated that when posting.

Original Q was
” need to extract a filename from a string…..”

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Yes, and I stated that when posting.

Original Q was
” need to extract a filename from a string…..”

Reply | Quote

However, it *only* works on files that already exist. If you need to get the filename only so you can locate it in another folder or move it, etc., that doesn’t help.

Reply | Quote

MsgBox Dir(“C:ExcelFilesHelpactionscript_dict.pdf”)

Will yield the File name if it exists

Reply | Quote

Thanks, Kevin

FYI:
From “VB & VBA in a Nutshell”
[indent]

---

In stripping the “file extension” and returning the base name of Path, GetBaseName has no intelligence. That is, it doesn’t know whether the last component of Path is a path or a filename. If the last component includes one or more dots, it simply removes the last one, along with any following text. Hence, GetBaseName returns a null string for a Path of “.” and it returns “.” for a Path of “..”. It is, in other words, really a string manipulation function, rather than a file function.

---

[/indent]

Reply | Quote

Attached ia a module containing a function GetSingleFileInfo that takes 2 parameters, the file name and a structure declared in the module that describes the file.

It doesn’t use any delimiters to get the information but uses the Scripting.FileSystemObject and a couple of API calls instead.

Regards,
Kevin Bell

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