How to get Windows Explorer's selected files from within C#?

Question

I need to get the current collection of files that are selected in Windows Explorer. I found the following code from here .

I'm not quite there, though. For one thing, where does GetForegroundWindow come from? And for another thing, the compiler complains on the line

var shell = new Shell32.Shell();

saying

"The type or namespace name 'Shell32' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)". I have added SHDocVw as a reference, but I still can't get past the compiler. Can someone please help me get this completed?

    IntPtr handle = GetForegroundWindow();

    ArrayList selected = new ArrayList();
    var shell = new Shell32.Shell();
    foreach(SHDocVw.InternetExplorer window in shell.Windows()) {
        if (window.HWND == (int)handle)
        {
            Shell32.FolderItems items = ((Shell32.IShellFolderViewDual2)window.Document).SelectedItems();
            foreach(Shell32.FolderItem item in items)
            {
                selected.Add(item.Path);
            }
        }
    }

Answer 1

you don't need to get the Handle (of explorer).

In the project's references add these references found in the COM section. One needs to a reference to SHDocVw, which is the Microsoft Internet Controls COM object and Shell32 , which is the Microsoft Shell Controls and Automation COM object.

Then add your:

using System.Collections;
using Shell32;
using System.IO;

Then this will work:

      string filename;  
      ArrayList selected = new ArrayList();
      foreach (SHDocVw.InternetExplorer window in new SHDocVw.ShellWindows())
      {
        filename = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(window.FullName).ToLower();
        if (filename.ToLowerInvariant() == "explorer")
        {
          Shell32.FolderItems items = ((Shell32.IShellFolderViewDual2)window.Document).SelectedItems();
          foreach (Shell32.FolderItem item in items)
          {
            selected.Add(item.Path);
          }
        }
      }

Answer 2

The GetForegroundWindow is a Win32 API function and to use it, you need to import it as explained here: getforegroundwindow (user32)

Shell32 is described here:

working with shell 32 in C#

Finally, I do not know your task, but usually if it is necessary to select some files and get access to this collection, it is necessary to use the FileOpenDialog