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First of all, I personally really dislike the folder browse dialog where you cannot copy/paste the folder name which you might already have in the clipboard.

In many cases for my own applications I see myself writing the same code over and over, which is:

  • a textbox which holds the folder name. The user can copy/paste the folder name here.
  • the textbox supports drag'n'drop and it will accept directories being dropped.
  • the textbox gets colored depending if the folder exists or not to give immediate feedback (just in the cases I want it to be existent)
  • a button labelled "...". This opens a *File*BrowseDialog. The filename is "file name will be ignored. The CheckFileExists property is set to false.

Now I'm going to put this into a reusable Control and as I want to do it right,

these are my questions

  • While I'm personally fine with the file open dialog, what misunderstandings could arise from this approach? (Because actually the user will select a directory, not a file)
  • Should I allow drag'n'dropping files onto the textbox and then extract the directory name from the file name?
  • What would be best if the user tries to drop multiple files or folders?

Please do not only give your opinion, also try to mention a design principle which is followed or not followed.

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closed as too broad by JonW♦ Dec 31 '13 at 7:03

Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. Avoid asking multiple distinct questions at once. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

  • I'm putting this on hold for now. You're asking too many questions within one post - which is also one reason you may not have had any answers so far either. Each post should be one distinct question that can be explicitly answered. If you can reformat your post accordingly we can reopen it. – JonW♦ Dec 31 '13 at 7:06