OpenOffice.org BASIC Guide - OpenOffice.org wiki

Files and Directories
operation of certain functions. The effect on any particular function is described with that function, below.
As a statement, CompatibilityMode( value ) takes a Boolean value to set or clear the mode. As a function,
CompatibilityMode() returns the Boolean value of the mode.
CompatibilityMode( True ) 'set mode
CompatibilityMode( False) 'clear mode
Dim bMode as Boolean
bMode = CompatibilityMode()
Searching Through Directories
The Dir function in OpenOffice.org Basic is responsible for searching through directories for files and subdirectories.
When first requested, a string containing the path of the directories to be searched must be assigned to
Dir as its first parameter. The second parameter of Dir specifies the file or directory to be searched for.
OpenOffice.org Basic returns the name of the first directory entry found. To retrieve the next entry, the Dir
function should be requested without parameters. If the Dir function finds no more entries, it returns an empty
string.
The following example shows how the Dir function can be used to request all files located in one directory. The
procedure saves the individual file names in the AllFiles variable and then displays this in a message box.
Sub ShowFiles
Dim NextFile As String
Dim AllFiles As String
AllFiles = ""
NextFile = Dir("C:\", 0)
While NextFile ""
AllFiles = AllFiles & Chr(13) & NextFile
NextFile = Dir
Wend
MsgBox AllFiles
End Sub
The 0 (zero) used as the second parameter in the Dir function ensures that Dir only returns the names of files
and directories are ignored. The following parameters can be specified here:
0 : returns normal files
16 : sub-directories
The following example is virtually the same as the preceding example, but the Dir function transfers the value 16
as a parameter, which returns the sub-directories of a folder rather than the file names.
Sub ShowDirs
Dim NextDir As String
Dim AllDirs As String
AllDirs = ""
NextDir = Dir("C:\", 16)
While NextDir ""
AllDirs = AllDirs & Chr(13) & NextDir
NextDir = Dir
Wend
MsgBox AllDirs
End Sub
Note – VBA : When requested in OpenOffice.org Basic, the Dir function, using the parameter 16, only returns
the sub-directories of a folder. In VBA, the function also returns the names of the standard files so that further
checking is needed to retrieve the directories only. When using the CompatibilityMode ( true ) function,
OpenOffice.org Basic behaves like VBA and the Dir function, using parameter 16, returns sub-directories and
standard files.
Chapter 3 · Runtime Library 43