Tip 86: Allowing a Visual Basic Application to Accept Drag-and-Drop Files

May 15, 1995

Abstract
Many Windows-based applications can accept, or process, a file that has been drag
ged from File Manager. This article explains how you can add this feature to you
r own Visual Basic application.
Using MSGBLAST.VBX to Accept Drag-and-Drop Files
Using File Manager, you can drag a file to another application and, when you rel
ease the mouse button (drop the file), the target application can process the fi
le any way it wants to.
In order for a program to be able to accept drag-and-drop files, however, the pr
ogram must have a method of recognizing when a file has been sent to it. In Visu
al Basic, this can be done by using the Message Blaster custom control and three
Windows application programming interface (API) functions: DragAcceptFiles, DragQ
ueryFile, and DragFinish.
The DragAcceptFiles function tells Windows that a specific window (that is, your
Visual Basic application's form) can accept files dropped from File Manager. Th
e Declare statement for this function is:
Private Declare Sub DragAcceptFiles Lib "shell" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, ByVal
bool As Integer)
(Note that this Declare statement must be typed as a single line of code.)
The DragAcceptFiles function takes only two arguments: the handle of the window
that will accept the dropped files, and an integer value that specifies if the f
ile can be accepted or ignored. If the Boolean argument is set to True, the wind
ow can accept dropped files; if it is set to zero, the window can no longer acce
pt dropped files.
You can retrieve the name of the file that was dropped on the target window by c
alling the DragQueryFile function. This function's declaration statement is:
Private Declare Function DragQueryFile Lib "shell" (ByVal wParam As Integer,
ByVal Index As Integer, ByVal lpszFile As Any, ByVal BufferSize As Integer)
As Integer
(Note that this Declare statement must be typed as a single line of code.)
DragQueryFile requires four arguments, as follows:
wParam An integer value that contains the internal data structure's handle. This
is provided by the WM_DROPFILES message.
Index An integer value containing the number of the individual file to be retrie
ved. If this value is -1, the number of files listed in the wParam structure wil
l be returned.
lpszFile A string buffer that contains the name of the dropped file.
BufferSize An integer value containing the maximum number of characters in lpszF
ile.
After calling the DragQueryFile function, an integer value reports the status of
the function. This value contains the number of characters copied to the lpszFi
le string or the number of files available if Index was set to zero.
The third function needed to work with drag-and-drop files is the DragFinish fun
ction. This function simply requires that the internal data structure's handle b
e passed to it. DragFinish frees all structures used when transferring the file
to the target application.
The final step is to process the WM_DROPFILES message. This message is sent by W
indows each time it needs to send a drag-and-drop request to a program. In your
Visual Basic program you need only use the Message Blaster custom control to int
ercept the WM_DROPFILES message before Windows actually processes it itself. In
the example program below, we use the Message Blaster control to retrieve the na
me of the dropped file and store that name in the List Box control.
Example Program
The example program below shows how to allow your Visual Basic application to ac
cept drag-and-drop files from File Manager. To use this demonstration program, f
irst execute the Windows Explorer or File Manager application. Then run the DEMO
.EXE program. When you drag a file from File Manager to DEMO.EXE's window and re
lease the mouse button, the filename will be displayed in the List Box control.
Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
Add the following code to the General Declarations section of Form1 (note that e
ach Declare statement must be typed as a single line of code):
Option Explicit
Private Declare Sub DragAcceptFiles Lib "shell" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, ByVal
bool As Integer)
Private Declare Function DragQueryFile Lib "shell" (ByVal wParam As Integer,
ByVal Index As Integer, ByVal lpszFile As Any, ByVal BufferSize As Integer)
As Integer
Private Declare Sub DragFinish Lib "shell" (ByVal hDrop As Integer)
Const WM_DROPFILES = &H233
Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:
Private Sub Form_Load()
msgblaster1.MsgList(0) = WM_DROPFILES
msgblaster1.hWndTarget = Me.hWnd
msgblaster1.MsgPassage(0) = 1
DragAcceptFiles Me.hWnd, True
End Sub
Add a Message Blaster custom control to Form1. MsgBlaster1 is created by default
.
Add the following code to the MsgBlaster1_Message event for MsgBlaster1:
Private Sub MsgBlaster1_Message(MsgVal As Integer, wParam As Integer, lParam As
Long, ReturnVal As Long)
Dim hFilesInfo As Integer
Dim szFileName As String
hFilesInfo = wParam
wTotalFiles = DragQueryFile(hFilesInfo, &HFFFF, ByVal 0&, 0)
For wIndex = 0 To wTotalFiles
szFileName = Space$(50)
Retv% = DragQueryFile(hFilesInfo, wIndex, szFileName, 50)
list1.AddItem szFileName
Next wIndex
DragFinish (hFilesInfo)
End Sub
Compile the program. From Visual Basic's File menu, select Make EXE File to crea
te the executable file called DEMO.EXE.