How can I use the common Save As dialog from VBScript?

Question

I'd like to have my VBScript display the Windows Save As dialog box, but I could not find out how to do it.

Using this code:

Dim sfd
Set sfd = CreateObject("UserAccounts.CommonDialog")
sfd.ShowOpen

I can get an Open dialog, but there is no ShowSave method for this object (as there seems to be for a similar object in Visual Basic non-script).

I searched StackOverflow and googled for "[vbscript] save dialog" (and with "Windows Script Host"), but I only found threads about accessing common dialogs from web pages and a solution for the BrowseForFolder dialog and nothing really about calling the Save dialog.

Actually, I can use the Open dialog for my purpose, because all I need is a file name... but as I'd like to save something to the selected path, a "Save As" in the title bar of the dialog would be more appropriate.

Answer 1

The secret to using the common dialog from VBScript (or VBA or JScript, for that matter) is that you have to have its license installed on your machine. Certain development tools, such as Visual Basic 6, will install the license, but it's also installed by the free Microsoft HTML Help Editor (this is a pretty old app). The interesting thing is that if you install and then uninstall the HTML Help Editor, it leaves the Common Dialog License in place. For this reason I would consider the license to be freely available and so will include the registry entry it creates here in my answer:

In HKLM\Software\CLASSES\Licenses\4D553650-6ABE-11cf-8ADB-00AA00C00905, set the (Default) entry to gfjmrfkfifkmkfffrlmmgmhmnlulkmfmqkqj.

Once that's in place, you can create these dialogs from within a VBScript using code like this:

Set objDialog = CreateObject("MSComDlg.CommonDialog")

To launch a file save dialog, use the ShowSave method as in this code:

objDialog.ShowSave

Of course this object has a bunch of other methods and properties, and you'll probably want to configure the appropriate properties before launching the dialog. For example, you can set the file filter so only certain file extensions are shown in the dialog. There's a nice reference to the control on the MSDN site here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa259661%28v=vs.60%29.aspx.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Answer 2

I can definitively say that there is no solution to show a Save As dialog box from VBScript under versions of Windows other than XP without relying on some external dependencies that you must install and register yourself. Aside from the obvious interference this causes with regards to an easy, drag-and-drop deployment of your script, it also brings up a whole host of other issues related to security and permissions, particularly by-passing UAC on the client's machine to install and register a dependency DLL.

The solutions that have been proposed so far rely either on a DLL file that just so happens to be included with Windows XP, invoking the Save As dialog box from Windows XP's User Accounts control panel, and/or installing a piece of software only for it to leave behind the MSComDlg DLL after it is uninstalled that you can then use from a VBScript. None of these solutions truly satisfy the above requirements, and none of the provided answers has even considered the possible security roadblocks that would arise with their proposed solutions, as I alluded to above.

And since you can't make calls directly to the Windows API (which ever-so-conveniently includes just such a Save As dialog) from VBScript (not only because it would pose a security risk, but also because of VBScript's loose [lack of?] typing), that pretty much leaves anyone wanting to do this out in the cold. As well, the inability to make API calls also precludes the use of any hacks like calling SetWindowText to change the caption of the Open dialog, as suggested in the question.

I realize that this is not the answer everyone was wanting. It's not even the answer I was wanting. But alas, it's the correct answer.

That being said, here are a couple of possible workarounds:

1. If you're leaning towards accepting any of the already-suggested answers, you've already decided to introduce an external dependency on a DLL file to your VBScript deployment. Once you've made that leap, why bother with "borrowing" or otherwise hijacking a DLL from some other source? Just make once yourself. It's trivial to wrap the native common dialog functions provided by the Windows API into an ActiveX DLL using Visual Basic 6, which can then be called by your VBScript. The risks are minimal, since almost any modern version of Windows can be expected to already have the Visual Basic run-time installed, and since you presumably already know VBScript, banging out some code in VB 6 shouldn't be a very difficult undertaking. You can include whatever custom functionality that you want, and most importantly, you'll be in complete control. You won't have to worry about other application's uninstallers removing the DLL that your script requires, you won't have to futz with installing and uninstalling some random, deprecated application, and you won't have to just cross your fingers and hope. We know, as programmers, that's never a good option.

   And yes, I recommend actually wrapping the common dialog functions exposed by the Windows API, rather than relying on the common dialog OCX (comdlg32.ocx) provided by Visual Basic. It has its share of problems in Windows 7, and it's not going to get you the gorgeous new dialogs that the later versions of Windows now provide. An excellent article explaining everything you need to know about the Open and Save Common Dialog APIs and how to use them in VB 6 is available here on VBnet. Of course, if you really want to go all out, there's loads of interesting stuff you can do with common dialogs, all documented (with code!) here on VB Accelerator.

2. But now that I have you all convinced to write an ActiveX DLL in VB 6 that wraps the common dialog functionality to use in your VBScript, I have to ask the question: Why stop there? Once you've made the leap to writing some code in VB 6, why not move all of your code into VB 6? Sure, it's a "dead" language and all, but it's not like VBScript is terribly active either. As I mentioned before, the difference in syntax is virtually nil, and the learning curve for a VBScript developer is about as shallow as one could expect. Plus, you get all of the benefits of a full IDE, static typing, (slightly) better error handling, blah blah blah. Oh yeah, and being able to make direct calls to the Windows API functions. The only real benefit to VBScript is its ubiquity, but it's been years since you could find a computer without the VB runtime installed. Not to mention, if you're writing an application that requires common dialog boxes, you're probably engaging in a dialog with your users: The forms capability of full VB might begin to come in handy at that point. But perhaps the biggest and most important advantage of choosing to go this route is that you eliminate any need to register (or include) an external "satellite" DLL—a simple VB 6 application will run with only the EXE on any computer that has the VB run-time installed, which is included at least up through Windows 7.

3. And finally, in case you're all sorts of excited about moving up from the lowly VBScript to the full-featured VB 6, I feel compelled to throw another wrench into the equation: Why not move all the way up to a language like VB.NET? Again, there are all sorts of new features offered in VB.NET thanks to the .NET Framework, but it shouldn't take more than a few weeks for a decent VB/VBScript developer to begin to feel comfortable writing apps in VB.NET. They probably won't have a full understanding of the .NET Framework, and they certainly won't have developed good object-oriented design practices, but at least they will be moving in the right direction. Almost anything that you can do in VBScript (or even VB 6), you can do in VB.NET. And generally, it requires even less fuss than before, thanks to the immense functionality exposed by the .NET Framework. The drawback, of course, is that your app now requires the .NET Framework be installed on the user's computer, which isn't quite as ubiquitous as the VB 6 run-time (although it's much more common now than even just a few years ago).

So I hear you saying those weren't the workarounds you were hoping to hear? Yeah, me neither. I'm not that guy who tells people to drop everything and learn a new language. If VBScript continues to work for you, go for it. But if you're at that point where you start to strain at its limitations, it's probably time to make the leap.