Open directory in Windows Explorer using C/C++

Question

I am making a game in C++, and I have a directory in a weird location (the installation directory) with screenshots from my game taken with the Print Screen key.

What I want to do is to create a button that opens Windows Explorer with the location of the screenshots.

I was thinking about using C's system function with explorer.exe and some arguments, but I don't think this is the correct way of doing it.

I am probably going to disable this feature in Full Screen mode, as I want to avoid unexpected behaviour.

Answer 1

The best way to do this is with the SHOpenFolderAndSelectItems() function. This lets you open the default folder manager (i.e. not hard-coded to Explorer, respecting the user's choice) and has the benefit of letting you automatically select the newly created screenshots.

Answer 2

Use ShellExecute native windows API to do that

#include <shellapi.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "shell32")
int main()
{
    ShellExecute(NULL, "open", "C:\\ProgramFiles\Location", NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWMINIMIZED);
    return 0;
}