Some of them were not working on my system. For one, I found that the language version of my Windows 7 was in cause. Namely, the Alt-D shortcut to focus on the address bar in Windows Explorer is known to be buggy in French locale.
With the help of chaz and using a script from rbrtryn on the old forum, I scripted various approaches to change the folder. One of them (from rbtryn) was coded specifically for WinXP (but, on my XP system, all methods work equally well).
You will find it in the script below with some debugging code. If you have 5 minutes, could you run this piece of code and paste the resulting log file (5 lines) in this thread? This will help identify the most reliable options. Special request to users of other language versions than English: you can help find if other locale has problem with the Alt-D shortcut.
Thanks!
Code: Select all
#NoEnv
#SingleInstance force
Global strEnv := A_AhkVersion . " | " . A_OSVersion . " | " . A_Is64bitOS . " | " . A_Language
Global strLog := "Test_Name | Test_Result | A_AhkVersion | A_OSVersion | A_Is64bitOS | A_Language`r`n"
StringReplace, strLogFile, A_ScriptName, .ahk
strLogFile := A_Temp . "\" . strLogFile . ".log"
Info("The script will open ""Windows Explorer"".")
run, Explorer
Info("The script will now perform the same task (changing folders in Explorer) using 4 different methods.")
if (A_OSVersion = "WIN_XP")
{
; WinXP ControlSend Method
strFolder := "C:\Windows"
Info("Method 1)`nIn the next step, the folder in Explorer should change to your """ . strFolder . """ folder.")
if not ControlEdit1Exist()
{
PostMessage, 0x111, 41477, 0, , A ; Show Address Bar
while not ControlEdit1Exist()
Sleep 0
PostMessage, 0x111, 41477, 0, , A ; Hide Address Bar
}
ControlFocus, Edit1, A
ControlSetText, Edit1, %strFolder%, A
ControlSend, Edit1, {Enter}, A
CheckResult("Explorer_CtrlSendXP", "Is your Explorer folder changed to """ . strFolder . """?")
}
else
Info("Method 1)`nThis method is reserved for Windows XP users. This test is skipped because you are running on " . A_OSVersion . ".")
; F4 Method
SplitPath, A_AhkPath, , strFolder
Info("Method 2)`nIn the next step, the folder in Explorer should change to your """ . strFolder . """ folder.")
Send, {F4}{Esc}
Sleep, 500 ; long delay for safety
Send, %strFolder%{Enter}
CheckResult("Explorer_F4Esc", "Is your Explorer folder changed to """ . strFolder . """?")
/*
if (A_Language <> "0407")
{
; Alt-D Method
strFolder := A_MyDocuments
Info("Method 3)`nIn the next step, the folder in Explorer should change to your """ . strFolder . """ folder.")
Send, !d
Sleep, 500 ; long delay for safety
Send, %strFolder%{Enter}
CheckResult("Explorer_AltD", "Is your Explorer folder changed to """ . strFolder . """?")
}
else
Info("Method 2)`nThis method is skipped for German language.")
*/
; ControlSend Method
strFolder := A_ScriptDir
Info("Method 3`nIn this step, the folder in Explorer should change to your """ . strFolder . """ folder.")
ControlSetText, Edit1, %strFolder%, A
ControlSend, Edit1, {Enter}, A
CheckResult("Explorer_CtrlSend", "Is your Explorer folder changed to """ . strFolder . """?")
; ControlSend Method
strFolder := "C:\Windows"
Info("Method 4)`nIn this last step, the folder in Explorer should change to your """ . strFolder . """ folder.")
Explorer_Navigate(strFolder)
CheckResult("Explorer_Shell", "Is your Explorer folder changed to """ . strFolder . """?")
Send, !{F4}
Info("One last test? We will test if changing folder in Dialog box works well on your system.`n`nThe script will run Notepad and open the ""Open"" dialog box.")
run, Notepad, , , strPID
Sleep, 500 ; long delay for safety
Send, ^o
strFolder := "C:\"
Info("In the next step, the file list in the dialog box should change to your """ . strFolder . """ folder.")
ControlFocus, Edit1, A
ControlGetText, strOldText, Edit1, A
ControlSetText, Edit1, %strFolder%, A
ControlSend, Edit1, {Enter}, A
ControlSetText, Edit1, %strOldText%, A
CheckResult("Notepad_ControlSend", "Is your file list now showing your """ . strFolder . """ folder?")
Info("Thank you. The script will now close Notepad.")
Send, !{F4}
Sleep, 500 ; long delay for safety
WinActivate, ahk_pid %strPID%
Sleep, 500 ; long delay for safety
Send, !{F4}
FileDelete, %strLogFile%
FileAppend, %strLog%, %strLogFile%
Info("Log saved to """ . strLogFile . """. This file will now be opened in Notepad and DELETED from your A_Temp folder.`n`nPlease post the content of this file to the forum thread. Thank you for your help!")
run, Notepad %strLogFile%, , , strPID
WinActivate, ahk_pid %strPID%
sleep, 1000
FileDelete, %strLogFile%
return
; ------------------
ControlEdit1Exist()
{
ControlGet, strOut, Enabled,, Edit1, A
return not ErrorLevel
}
Info(str)
{
MsgBox, 4161, Diag, %str%`n`nPress OK to continue.
IfMsgBox, Cancel
ExitApp
}
CheckResult(strTestName, strQuestion)
{
MsgBox, 4131, Diag, %strQuestion%
IfMsgBox, Cancel
ExitApp
IfMsgBox, Yes
strResult := 1
IfMsgBox, No
strResult := 0
Log(strTestName, strResult)
}
Log(strTestName, strResult)
{
strLog := strLog . strTestName . " | " . strResult . " | " . strEnv . "`r`n"
}
Explorer_Navigate(FullPath, hwnd="") { ; by Learning one
hwnd := (hwnd="") ? WinExist("A") : hwnd ; if omitted, use active window
WinGet, ProcessName, ProcessName, % "ahk_id " hwnd
if (ProcessName != "explorer.exe") ; not Windows explorer
return
For pExp in ComObjCreate("Shell.Application").Windows
{
if (pExp.hwnd = hwnd) { ; matching window found
pExp.Navigate("file:///" FullPath)
return
}
}
}
2013-11-06 Removed method Alt-D.
). So, there was no explorer window anyway, when the Explorer_CtrlSend method was used this time (this happens on most runs). The explorer now came back for the Notepad_ControlSend method. 
