SaveFileDialog

Prompts the user to select a location for saving a file on the server.

This class can either open and overwrite an existing file or create a new file.

Most of the functionality for this class is found in the FileDialog class.

For a full list of properties, methods and events see the API documentation.

Features

Filtering

The SaveFileDialog is able to filter the types of files shown to the user based on a given pattern. For example, the filter Image Files|.jpg|All files|.* will by default show users files in the given directory ending with .jpg. The filter can be modified by changing the selection in the dropdown on the bottom right.

The FileDialog.FileName property returns the path selected by the user, which is the virtual path relative to the root. To retrieve the physical path on the server use FileDialog.MapPath().

Check Existing Files

The SaveFileDialog is able to validate whether or not a certain file exists before saving it to the disk. This can help prevent overwriting an existing file.

Help

The SaveFileDialog component has an optional "?" (Help) tool that allows you to process and display information to help users navigate the control.

How To

Connect to the File System

In order to view files, you must add at least one IFileSystemProvider to the Roots collection before showing the dialog.

//Using an absolute file path
SaveFileDialog filedialog = new SaveFileDialog(); 
filedialog.Roots.Add(new FileSystemProvider("C:\\", "Main_Directory"));

//Using a relative file path
SaveFileDialog filedialog = new SaveFileDialog(); 
filedialog.Roots.Add(new FileSystemProvider("./", "Main_Directory"));

Customize the Appearance

The SaveFileDialog component can be customized by applying appearances to each individual control within the dialog. This includes the textboxes, picker, and more.

To customize these controls, create a new class that inherits from FileDialogUI, add the custom FileDialog constructor, and modify the controls within it:

C#

public class CustomSaveFileDialogUI : FileDialogUI
{
		public CustomSaveFileDialogUI(SaveFileDialog saveFileDialog) : base(saveFileDialog)
		{
			this.HeaderBackColor = Color.DarkOrange;
			foreach (ColumnHeader col in this.listView.Columns)
				col.BackColor = Color.DarkOrange;
		}
}

After applying the OpenFileDialog's DialogTemplate property to the new class, the resulting popup will look like this:

For instructions on how to use a custom template to offer advanced customization of the SaveFileDialog, see below.