VBMAN.ToolsFso - File System Operation Object

Overview

VBMAN.ToolsFso provides convenient file system operations, encapsulating common file and directory processing functions, simplifying file system programming.

Core Features

• Auto Directory Creation: Create multi-level directories at once
• Path Processing: Auto-complete, clean path separators
• File Info: Get file name, extension, directory name, etc.
• Reference Encapsulation: Direct access to FileSystemObject instance

Properties

Property	Type	Description
Inst	Scripting.FileSystemObject	FSO instance object

Methods

AutoMakeDir

Auto-create directory (supports multi-level)

Public Function AutoMakeDir(ByVal Path As String, Optional IsFile As Boolean) As String

Parameters:

• Path - Directory path or file path
• IsFile - Whether it's a file path (True extracts directory part to create)

Returns: Cleaned directory path

Example:

' Create multi-level directory
VBMAN.ToolsFso.AutoMakeDir "C:\\MyApp\\Data\\Users"

' Auto-extract directory to create (for file paths)
VBMAN.ToolsFso.AutoMakeDir "C:\\MyApp\\Logs\\app.log", True
' Actually creates C:\MyApp\Logs directory

' Return value can be used for confirmation
Dim dirPath As String
dirPath = VBMAN.ToolsFso.AutoMakeDir("C:\\MyApp\\Data")
Debug.Print "Created/confirmed directory: " & dirPath

ClearSpan

Clean path separators (unify to backslash)

Public Function ClearSpan(Path As String, Optional IsFile As Boolean) As String

Example:

' Unify path separators
Dim path1 As String
path1 = VBMAN.ToolsFso.ClearSpan("C:/MyApp//Data\\Users/")
' Result: C:\MyApp\Data\Users\

' File path (no trailing separator added)
Dim path2 As String
path2 = VBMAN.ToolsFso.ClearSpan("C:/MyApp//file.txt", True)
' Result: C:\MyApp\file.txt

IsFullPath

Check if it's a full path

Public Function IsFullPath(Path As String) As Boolean

Example:

If VBMAN.ToolsFso.IsFullPath("C:\\test.txt") Then
    Debug.Print "Full path"
Else
    Debug.Print "Relative path"
End If

AutoCompleteFullPath

Auto-complete to full path

Public Function AutoCompleteFullPath(Path As String, Optional IsFile As Boolean) As String

Example:

' Relative path to full path
Dim fullPath As String
fullPath = VBMAN.ToolsFso.AutoCompleteFullPath("data\\config.ini")
' Result: C:\Program\MyApp\data\config.ini (based on App.Path)

AppPath

Get application path (supports development/runtime mode switching)

Public Function AppPath(Optional ByVal Path As String) As String

Description: Development mode (in IDE) returns App.Path\..\dist\EXE\, runtime mode returns App.Path\

Example:

' Get application-related paths
Dim configPath As String
configPath = VBMAN.ToolsFso.AppPath("config.ini")
' Development mode: C:\Project\..\dist\EXE\config.ini
' Runtime mode: C:\Program\MyApp\config.ini

MakeNewFileFulPath

Generate new file path (add suffix)

Public Function MakeNewFileFulPath(FileSrc As String, AppendFix As String, Optional JoinStr As String = "_") As String

Example:

' Generate backup file name
Dim backupFile As String
backupFile = VBMAN.ToolsFso.MakeNewFileFulPath("C:\\data\\report.pdf", "backup")
' Result: report_backup.pdf

' Use timestamp
Dim datedFile As String
datedFile = VBMAN.ToolsFso.MakeNewFileFulPath("report.pdf", Format(Now, "yyyymmdd"))
' Result: report_20240115.pdf

Inst Property Usage

ToolsFso.Inst is an instance of Scripting.FileSystemObject, which can use all FSO methods:

' Check if file exists
If VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.FileExists("C:\\test.txt") Then
    Debug.Print "File exists"
End If

' Check if directory exists
If VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.FolderExists("C:\\MyApp") Then
    Debug.Print "Directory exists"
End If

' Get file name (without extension)
Dim baseName As String
baseName = VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.GetBaseName("C:\\data\\report.pdf")
' Result: report

' Get extension
Dim ext As String
ext = VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.GetExtensionName("report.pdf")
' Result: pdf

' Get directory name
Dim folder As String
folder = VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.GetParentFolderName("C:\\data\\file.txt")
' Result: C:\data

' Get full file name
Dim fileName As String
fileName = VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.GetFileName("C:\\data\\file.txt")
' Result: file.txt

' Copy file
VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.CopyFile "source.txt", "dest.txt", True

' Move file
VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.MoveFile "old.txt", "new.txt"

' Delete file
VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.DeleteFile "temp.txt", True

' Copy directory
VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.CopyFolder "C:\\source", "C:\\dest", True

' Get file object
Dim fileObj As File
Set fileObj = VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.GetFile("C:\\test.txt")
Debug.Print fileObj.Size  ' File size
Debug.Print fileObj.DateCreated  ' Creation time

' Get directory object
Dim folderObj As Folder
Set folderObj = VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.GetFolder("C:\\MyApp")
Debug.Print folderObj.SubFolders.Count  ' Subdirectory count
Debug.Print folderObj.Files.Count  ' File count

Comprehensive Examples

Example 1: Log Directory Initialization

Private Sub InitLogDirectory()
    ' Ensure log directory exists
    Dim logDir As String
    logDir = VBMAN.ToolsFso.AppPath("logs")
    VBMAN.ToolsFso.AutoMakeDir logDir
    
    ' Create date-based subdirectory
    Dim todayDir As String
    todayDir = logDir & "\\" & Format(Now, "yyyy-MM-dd")
    VBMAN.ToolsFso.AutoMakeDir todayDir
    
    Debug.Print "Log directory: " & todayDir
End Sub

Example 2: Safe File Save

Private Sub SaveFileSafely(sourcePath As String)
    ' Check if source file exists
    If Not VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.FileExists(sourcePath) Then
        MsgBox "Source file does not exist!"
        Exit Sub
    End If
    
    ' Ensure destination directory exists
    Dim destDir As String
    destDir = App.Path & "\\Backup"
    VBMAN.ToolsFso.AutoMakeDir destDir
    
    ' Generate backup file name
    Dim destPath As String
    Dim fileName As String
    fileName = VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.GetFileName(sourcePath)
    destPath = destDir & "\\" & VBMAN.ToolsFso.MakeNewFileFulPath(fileName, Format(Now, "yyyymmdd_hhmmss"))
    
    ' Copy file
    VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.CopyFile sourcePath, destPath, True
    
    MsgBox "File backed up to: " & destPath
End Sub

Example 3: Traverse Directory Files

Private Sub ListAllFiles(folderPath As String, listBox As ListBox)
    If Not VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.FolderExists(folderPath) Then
        MsgBox "Directory does not exist!"
        Exit Sub
    End If
    
    Dim folder As Folder
    Dim file As File
    Dim subFolder As Folder
    
    Set folder = VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.GetFolder(folderPath)
    
    ' Add current directory files
    For Each file In folder.Files
        listBox.AddItem file.Path & " (" & file.Size & " bytes)"
    Next file
    
    ' Recursively traverse subdirectories
    For Each subFolder In folder.SubFolders
        ListAllFiles subFolder.Path, listBox
    Next subFolder
End Sub

Example 4: Clean Temporary Files

Private Sub CleanTempFiles()
    Dim tempDir As String
    tempDir = App.Path & "\\Temp"
    
    If Not VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.FolderExists(tempDir) Then
        Exit Sub
    End If
    
    Dim folder As Folder
    Dim file As File
    Dim deletedCount As Long
    
    Set folder = VBMAN.ToolsFso.Inst.GetFolder(tempDir)
    
    For Each file In folder.Files
        ' Delete files older than 7 days
        If DateDiff("d", file.DateLastModified, Now) > 7 Then
            file.Delete True
            deletedCount = deletedCount + 1
        End If
    Next file
    
    MsgBox "Cleaned " & deletedCount & " temporary files"
End Sub

Best Practices

1. Use AutoMakeDir: Ensure directory exists before file operations
2. Use AppPath: Handle path differences between development and runtime environments
3. Check Existence: Check if file/directory exists before operations
4. Error Handling: Add On Error handling for file operation exceptions
5. Release in Time: Set File/Folder objects to Nothing after use