Open file folder location in Windows Explorer

[Ajay_MV]

There has been always the need of opening the file/folder location in windows explorer, but I guess every application uses the trick of doing it through "System Exec.vi" or "Open URL" or Win32 API.  There is no LabVIEW native function to directly open folder/files in windows explorer directly.

Below threads discusses various methods to achieve this...

http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/Use-LabVIEW-to-open-Windows-Explorer-to-a-certain-directory/td-p/898...

https://lavag.org/topic/11395-opening-windows-explorer-to-a-specific-directory/

https://lavag.org/topic/18444-open-windows-folder/

https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-14633

https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-22461

It would be nice if LabVIEW comes with some native function like below

[Ajay_MV]

Hmm... That's what happening in my machine and all my colleagues machine (about 3 machines here) which have Win 7 with LV2014...

One other thing is that, in "System Exec.vi", we tend to give the input terminal 'run minimized' =TRUE in order to avoid seeing the black command prompt screen (which becomes visible occasionally based on system performance).  However, it will eventually minimize the opened file or folder which is not desired.

[X.]

I verified that it works as I said on MacOS (LabVIEW 2011 32 bit). That is, passing a folder opens the Finder (equivalent to Windows Explorer on Windows) and passing a .txt file opens TextEdit (equivalent to Notepad on Windows), without intervention of any browser.

I am positive that it used to work as I described originally on the Windows VM I first tried it on, on the Window side (of another Mac). I am at a loss as to why it stopped working that way after I checked again yesterday.

[X.]

I managed again to have Windows Explorer open a folder when using the VI we have been discussing all along (on the same machine I have been using for these tests).

However, passing a path to a.txt file launched IE.

Puzzled.

[X.]

Screen capture of my latest try in Windows 7 on a Mac.

A folder is properly opened by Windows Explorer.

In the second attempt (opening a txt file), IE opened on another monitor, so I had to fetch the window to bring into the captured frame.

[altenbach]

Could it be that windows explorer (instead of a browser) is incorrectly defined as the default browser?

[X.]

No it's not. IE is. If I set Chrome as the default browser, the txt file is opened in Chrome.

[RavensFan]

I tried that program on my Win7 64 bit PC.  Both files and folders opened within Firefox, my default browser.

[AristosQueue (NI)]

Here you go:

https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-46861

VI is saved in LV 2015.

[elset191]

To add more data several years after the fact...

I have code I wrote I first wrote in LV2010, then LV2012 that always opened a directory in Windows Explorer.  I recently started working in LV2014, and the same code opens my directory in Firefox (my default web browser).

This appears to be the case in both Windows 7 and Windows 10.  32 bit LabVIEW on 64 bit OS in all instances.

AQ, I can't access that page you linked.