SHFileOperation Function

BOOL SHFileOperation(
  [in, out] LPSHFILEOPSTRUCT lpFileOp
);

Syntax

The SHFileOperation function performs various file operations, such as copying, moving, renaming, or deleting files and directories.

Parameters

lpFileOp
Type: LPSHFILEOPSTRUCT
A pointer to a SHFILEOPSTRUCT structure that contains all the information needed for the operation.

Return Value

TRUE if the operation was successful.
FALSE if the operation failed.

For more detailed error information, use GetLastError. Common error codes include:

ERROR_SUCCESS (0): The operation completed successfully.
ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND (2): The specified source file or directory was not found.
ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND (3): The specified destination path was not found.
ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED (5): Access to the source or destination was denied.
ERROR_CANCELLED (1223): The operation was cancelled by the user.

Remarks

This function handles common file operations, providing a user-friendly interface and handling potential conflicts or errors.

The function can perform the following operations, specified by the wFunc member of the SHFILEOPSTRUCT structure:
- FO_COPY: Copy files.
- FO_MOVE: Move files.
- FO_DELETE: Delete files.
- FO_RENAME: Rename files.
- FO_EXEC: Execute a file.
- FO_CREATE: Create a new directory.
- FO_DELETE_PERMANENT: Permanently delete files (bypass Recycle Bin).
The dwFlags member of SHFILEOPSTRUCT allows for customization of the operation, such as enabling or disabling prompts, specifying Recycle Bin behavior, and more.
When performing a copy or move operation, the pFrom member should point to a null-terminated string containing the source file path, and pTo should point to a null-terminated string containing the destination path. For operations on multiple files (e.g., deleting multiple files), both strings should be null-terminated strings separated by a double null terminator (\0\0).
The wFunc members FO_COPY, FO_MOVE, and FO_RENAME can be combined with FOF_RENAMEONCOLLISION to automatically rename files if a conflict occurs at the destination.

Requirements

The following table shows the minimum requirements for this function:

Attribute	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 2000 Professional
Minimum supported server	Windows 2000 Server
Header	`shellapi.h`
Library	Shell32.lib
DLL	Shell32.dll

Example


#include <windows.h>
#include <shellapi.h>
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    SHFILEOPSTRUCT fileOp;
    ZeroMemory(&fileOp, sizeof(SHFILEOPSTRUCT));

    // Example: Delete a file
    const WCHAR* sourceFilePath = L"C:\\path\\to\\your\\file.txt";
    fileOp.wFunc = FO_DELETE;
    fileOp.pFrom = sourceFilePath;
    fileOp.fFlags = FOF_ALLOWUNDO | FOF_NOCONFIRMATION; // Allow undo, no confirmation

    int result = SHFileOperation(&fileOp);

    if (result == 0) {
        std::wcout << L"File operation successful." << std::endl;
    } else {
        std::wcout << L"File operation failed. Error code: " << result << std::endl;
        // You might want to call GetLastError() for more specific error info
    }

    return 0;
}