Скачать или смотреть How to Open Explorer and Select Files Using ctypes in Python

Learn how to utilize Python's `ctypes` library to open Windows Explorer and select specific files without relying on `pywin32`.
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Opening Explorer and Selecting Files in Python with ctypes

Have you ever wanted to open Windows Explorer and highlight specific files programmatically using Python? Many developers reach for the pywin32 library for this purpose. However, if you want to avoid dependence on external libraries, it's possible to achieve the same functionality using ctypes. In this post, we'll delve into how to implement this using ctypes, allowing you to streamline your code and enhance portability.

Understanding the Functionality

Before diving into the code, we need to understand what we want to accomplish. The goal is to:

Open a specific folder in Windows Explorer.

Select certain files within that folder.

In the past, you might have used the following pywin32 code to accomplish this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Now, let’s explore how to rewrite this using only ctypes.

The ctypes Solution

By using ctypes, you can directly access Windows APIs, which allows you to perform the same task. Here’s how to do it step-by-step:

Step 1: Initialize COM Library

Before using the shell functionality, you need to initialize the COM library:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 2: Create Windows Explorer Path Identifiers (PIDLs)

You must convert the folder and files' paths into PIDLs (Pointer to an Item ID List):

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 3: Prepare the Array for Selected Files

Create an array to hold the PIDLs for your selected files:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 4: Open Explorer and Select Items

With the folder and files' PIDLs ready, you can now use the SHOpenFolderAndSelectItems function to open the folder and select the files:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 5: Clean Up

Clean up by freeing the PIDLs you've created. This step is crucial to prevent memory leaks:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Full Implementation

Putting all the pieces together, here’s your complete function:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

In this guide, we explored how to interact with the Windows API using ctypes to open Explorer and select files. This can be particularly useful if you want to avoid relying on external libraries like pywin32. With the code provided, you now have a lightweight solution that achieves the same result.

Feel free to experiment with this code and modify it according to your needs. Happy programming!