I need an 'Open folder' dialog with possibility to manually enter path - delphi

Question

I use FileCtrl.SelectDirectory to show a 'open folder' dialog. However, I am unhappy with it because it doesn't allow the user to enter a path from where to start the browsing.
For example, if the user already has the path in clipboard it should be able to enter it into my dialog instead of wasting 12 seconds to navigate (open) lots of folders until it gets there.
I have found this code which seems to do EXACTLY what FileCtrl.SelectDirectory does. i hopped it will allow me to configure the dialog more. It doesn't.
So, how do I show a editbox in the SelectDirectory where the user can enter the path?
The solution that I have now, is my own dialog box. It is build from zero using TDirectory and TListBox. Very handy. BUT it looks so obsole because it uses Embarcadero's file management controls (TDirectory, TListBox) and we all know how dull they look like.
To make it clear: I would like something like FileCtrl.SelectDirectory but with an extact TEdit or a crumbar where the user can enter its path (if he has any).
Example:

Answer 1

Passing sdShowEdit to FileCtrl.SelectDirectory adds an edit box that you can paste a directory into.
FileCtrl.SelectDirectory('Caption', 'C:\', Dir, [sdNewUI, sdShowEdit]);

Answer 2

If you use the overloaded version of SelectDirectory() that has a Root parameter, it calls SHBrowseForFolder() internally (the other overload displays a custom VCL Win3.1-style dialog instead). If you assign an initial value to the variable that you pass to the Directory parameter, it gets passed to SHBrowseForFolder() as the initial selected folder. You can also specify the sdShowEdit flag in the Options parameter. However, the edit box is not meant for entering full paths. But, if you call SHBrowseForFolder() directly, you can provide your own callback function for it, so when the dialog sends you a BFFM_VALIDATEFAILED event for instance, you can grab the text from the dialog's edit box and send the dialog window a BFFM_SETSELECTION message to navigate to the correct path.
What you are really asking for is the customization provided by the Vista+ IFileDialog dialog instead. You can use the IFileDialogCustomize interface to add custom controls to the dialog, such as edit boxes and buttons, and then implement the IFileDialogControlEvents interface to know when various actions occur on those controls, like button clicks. You can use that to check your custom edit box, or the clipboard, for a valid path and if detected then tell the dialog to navigate to that path via the IFileDialog.SetFolder() method.

Answer 3

TJvDirectoryEdit from Jedi VCS does that. Look it up.
Here are some pictures of it:

Answer 4

If I understand correctly I think this could be your solution.
procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
var
opendialog : Topendialog;
begin
openDialog := TOpenDialog.Create(self);
openDialog.InitialDir := GetCurrentDir; {This can also be what is on the clipboard}
openDialog.Options := [ofFileMustExist];
openDialog.Filter := 'Text Document |*.txt'; {This is the type of file the user must open}
openDialog.FilterIndex := 1;
opendialog.execute;
end;
This code creates and shows a simple open dialog.
The path the user then selected is:
opendialog.filename

Answer 5

#davea's answer is ok but it only shows the old (WinXP) dialog style.
So, this is the code I use now. On Win Vista and up it shows the new style dialog and the old style on Win XP:
{$WARN SYMBOL_PLATFORM OFF}
{$IFDEF MSWindows}
function SelectAFolder(VAR Folder: string; CONST Options: TFileDialogOptions= [fdoPickFolders, fdoForceFileSystem, fdoPathMustExist, fdoDefaultNoMiniMode]): Boolean; { Keywords: FolderDialog, BrowseForFolder} { Works with UNC paths }
VAR Dlg: TFileOpenDialog;
begin
{ Win Vista and up }
if OS_IsWindowsVistaUp then
begin
Dlg:= TFileOpenDialog.Create(NIL); { Class for Vista and newer Windows operating systems style file open dialogs }
TRY
Dlg.Options := Options;
Dlg.DefaultFolder := Folder;
Dlg.FileName := Folder;
Result := Dlg.Execute;
if Result
then Folder:= Dlg.FileName;
FINALLY
FreeAndNil(Dlg);
END;
end
else
{ Win XP or down }
Result:= vcl.FileCtrl.SelectDirectory('', ExtractFileDrive(Folder), Folder, [sdNewUI, sdShowEdit, sdNewFolder], nil);
if Result
then Folder:= Trail(Folder);
end;
{$ENDIF}
{$WARN SYMBOL_PLATFORM On}
{ Keywords: FolderDialog, BrowseForFolder}