RSUtilities Component
About the Component
The RSUtilities component provides a simple interface to many Win32 API and Shell functions. Among other things, you can easily:
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Perform Shell functions, like browse for a folder or empty the recycle bin
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Open Windows applications like Explorer and the Control Panel
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Extract Icons from EXE files
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Read and update file timestamps
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Search for files through subdirectories
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Open documents with their associated application
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Determine if the current project is running in the IDE or as an executable
The control is simple to use - have a look at the simple
examples below, and download the example application to demonstrate some further
functionality.
Instantiating the Component
You can instantiate the component using either early or late binding, but I'd suggest using early binding so you have access to the Auto Complete functionality in Visual Basic:
Dim WithEvents Utils as RSUtilsLib Sub Form_Load() Set Utils = New RSUtilsLib ' Now you can use the component Utils.ShowAbout End Sub
The Interface
The following Methods, Properties and Events are available from this Component:
| AbortFileSearch |  |
Stops an File Search that is currently in progress. |
| BrowseForFolder | |
Displays the standard Windows dialog to allow selection of a single folder within the complete shell namespace (i.e. from My Computer down to individual files) |
| CompactPath | |
Limits the length of the supplied path to the size (in twips) of the specified control. The reduction in length will be intelligent and follow the same pattern as Windows explorer (e.g. "C:\SomeDir\...\Prog.exe") |
| EmptyRecycleBin | |
Simply empties the recyle bins on all drives - this works under Windows 2000 as well! |
| GetLastDLLErrorMessage | |
Returns the text of the last error message that occured within a DLL - this is useful for quickly determining errors in Win32 calls from VB. |
| GetLocalFileTimes | |
Gets the 3 file times (Creation Time, Last Access Time and Last Write Time) of a file - these will be returned in Local Time. |
| GetTempFilename | |
Returns a filename which is guaranteed unique and within the system temporary files folder. A prefix can be specified. |
| HandleInputEvents | |
Similar to DoEvents, this function checks for input events from the Mouse and Keyboard and yields processing to handle these - good for allowing user interaction in long operations. |
| IsIDE | |
Returns True if the project is currently running in the VB Integrated Development Environment (i.e. in Design Mode), and False if the project is be executed as an EXE/DLL file. |
| OpenControlPanel | |
Opens the Windows Control Panel |
| OpenExplorerModeDrive | |
Opens Explorer, pointing to a specified drive, in Explorer mode - i.e. with the Folder panel on the left side. |
| OpenTaskManager | |
Opens the Task Manager (under Windows NT and Windows 2000). |
| SearchFiles | |
Searches all subdirectories for a files of a specified search pattern (e.g. "*.htm*"), returning the results in a collection. |
| SetLocalFileTimes | |
CSets the 3 file times (Creation Time, Last Access Time and Last Write Time) of a file - these will be specified in Local Time. |
| ShExecute | |
Executes a file, or opens a document with the default associated application - exactly as if the file had been opened with Windows Explorer |
| ShowAbout | |
Displays the About box for this component |
| Wait | |
Waits for specified number of seconds (resolution of a Single value) - allowing events to be processed during the wait. |
| FileFound |  |
Occurs every time a file has been found during a SearchFiles function |
| SearchingDir | |
Occurs every time a new subdirectory is selected for searching during a SearchFiles function |