Creating an IShellItem instance for a non-existent file

Question

How can I get an IShellItem object for a non-existent file (or directory)?

• SHCreateItemFromParsingName and SHCreateItemFromRelativeName fail with 0x80070002 (file not found) and
• ILCreateFromPath returns a NULL pidl.

First I thought it might be impossible, but for example IFileSaveDialog creates such an IShellItem for its result (if you specify a new file in the dialog).

Answer 1

There is such a thing as a simple pidl and they can represent non-existent files. So I guess you want SHSimpleIDListFromPath and SHCreateItemFromIDList