Polling the Currently Open Folder in Explorer

[Lipko]

Hi all!

Is it possible to get which folders are open in all the File Explorer windows? I'd make a simple folder activity monitor program to monitor my own activity, and monitoring which folders I view would be sufficient enough for this. I know, I should be disciplined with documenting my own work hours per project but I'm simply not.

It only has to work with Windows10.

Thanks for any hints in advance!

[ShaunR]

Not natively in LabVIEW.

You have to use the IShellwindows interface in windows 10.

[Lipko]

32 minutes ago, ShaunR said:

Not natively in LabVIEW.

You have to use the IShellwindows interface in windows 10.

Thanks!
Stupid question, I'll look into it of course, but could that C code you linked be dumped in a C node as it is with all the includes and stuff and then hapiness, or it's not that simple? Command line options sublick throws 404...

[ShaunR]

No idea (but highly unlikely).

I've never used LabVIEW NXG and it's now defunct...so never will.

Speaking of which. Does that mean we no longer have to call the proper LabVIEW "LabVIEW Classic"?  

[X___]

I suggest LabdejaVIEW...

[hooovahh]

5 hours ago, ShaunR said:

Speaking of which. Does that mean we no longer have to call the proper LabVIEW "LabVIEW Classic"?  

At one point I heard NXG called "Better LabVIEW" and someone else suggested the real name was "Beta LabVIEW".  I've also heard of it called to as LabVIEW 20xx, or Current Gen (CG).  I like Lab-deja-VIEW.

[gleichman]

Are you using some kind of source code control?

[Lipko]

13 hours ago, gleichman said:

Are you using some kind of source code control?

No, but I'm not talking about booking Labview projects' workhours, just projects in general which are organized simply with folders.

[Neil Pate]

@Lipko have you tried toggl?

I used it for many years when I was a freelance to track my time. It was ok, but half the time I forgot to start and stop the timer. I suspect having something monitoring your files is also going to be pretty inaccurate.

[Lipko]

45 minutes ago, Neil Pate said:

@Lipko have you tried toggl?

I used it for many years when I was a freelance to track my time. It was ok, but half the time I forgot to start and stop the timer. I suspect having something monitoring your files is also going to be pretty inaccurate.

I wanted a free solution, pretty strict corporate rules...

[Neil Pate]

17 minutes ago, Lipko said:

I wanted a free solution, pretty strict corporate rules...

Toggl is free. They do have a paid for tier which I tried for several years, but the free tier is perfectly usable for simple things.

[ShaunR]

If it's just the time you are working in LabVIEW-that is doable without writing something for windows.

You could just monitor open LabvIEW windows and or projects (count them if you want). You can make it easier by namespacing VI's (e.g. myproject_someFunction) which, to be honest, I generally do as a matter of course. At a bare minimum and If you are working in projects, all you need is to monitor projects in memory and timestamp when they appear and disappear. Not folder activity-more of a project activity.

[Jordan Kuehn]

9 hours ago, Neil Pate said:

@Lipko have you tried toggl?

I used it for many years when I was a freelance to track my time. It was ok, but half the time I forgot to start and stop the timer. I suspect having something monitoring your files is also going to be pretty inaccurate.

I used toggl a lot myself when consulting. I did not find the timer useful, but at the end of the day I would try to make entries in round numbers (.5 hour resolution) of how much time was spent per project and a short summary of what item(s) I worked on. It was fantastic when submitting invoices for hourly work. No questions asked, very transparent, and it made producing the invoice quite easy.

[sam]

Maybe this will help.  there's a .net class you can easily call from LabVIEW.  There's no need for polling either.  You will get an event then your callback VI can handle the event

FileSystemWatcher Class (System.IO) | Microsoft Docs

COPYING AND MOVING FOLDERS
Event Handler        Events Handled                           Performs
OnChanged            Changed,                                     Created, Deleted    Report changes in file attributes, created files, and deleted files.
OnRenamed           Renamed                                      List the old and new paths of renamed files and folders, expanding recursively if needed.