Create Multiple Level Subdirectories

While recently working on a project, I needed to create a
series of subdirectories from a user supplied string. These could
be two, three, four or more deep. Of course the MSVC Help files
lived up to their normal level of support. After beating my head
aginst the wall I finally realized I could only create a single
subdirectory at one time. In other words if none of the sub-directories
previously existed then the code CreateDirectory("C:DataTestMondayBackupArchive")
would continually fail.

I finally realized that the function CreateDirectory is only a
wrapper for _mkdir which will only create a single sub-directory
so I would need to recursively call CreateDirectory() several
times. Since there is really no way around this I created a small
subroutine WriteDir() which takes care of all of the work for me.

What are the steps required

  • Set up a CStringArray to hold the Directories in order on
    creation.
  • Parse the passed CString Object into the CString variable
    tem one character at a time.
  • When we get to a pass it up and add "tem" to
    the CStringArray.
  • We need to add the at the end of the tem variable in
    order to continue to separate the directories.
  • Continue to do this until the entire string is parsed.

    **Note** Notice we have to add the final value
    of tem to the CString Array since there is NO at the
    end of the Directory String

    Now we can start creating the directories

  • Skip the first entry since it is the Drive letter
  • Cycle through the CStringArray testing to see if the
    directory already exists. If it does then go to the next
    item.
  • If the directory does not exist then use
    CreateDirectory().
  • When we reach the end of the CStringArray, check to
    see if the full directory actually was created. If it was
    then return TRUE, otherwise return FALSE;
  • Don't forget to clear the array (Good Housekeeping)

    From the Example: Original CString =
    C:DataTestMondayBackupArchive

    
    CStringArray members
    	[0] = C:
    	[1] = C:Data
    	[2] = C:DataTest
    	[3] = C:DataTestMonday
    	[4] = C:DataTestMondayBackup
    	[5] = C:DataTestMondayBackupArchive
    
    Remeber we skipped the first entry.
    Then we cycled through and created each string independently.
    
    

    How do we put this to use

    Add the files WriteDir.h and WriteDir.cpp to your
    project. Add #include "WriteDir.h"
    in the cpp file where you are going to call the function.
    Set up a test variable: BOOL test; CString someString;
    Set someString to a Directory path you need to create (Do
    not add a at the end of the string) test = WriteDir(someString);

    
    if test == TRUE   SUCCESS
    if test == FALSE  FAILURE
    

    The Source Code

    #include "stdafx.h"
    #include "WriteDir.h"
    

    Setup Internal
    Variables

    BOOL WriteDirectory(CString dd)
    {
    	HANDLE		fFile;		// File Handle
    	WIN32_FIND_DATA	fileinfo;	// File Information Structure
    	CStringArray	m_arr;		// CString Array to hold Directory Structures
    	BOOL tt;			// BOOL used to test if Create Directory was successful
    	int x1 = 0;			// Counter
    	CString tem = "";		// Temporary CString Object
    
     Before we go to a lot of work. Check to see if the Directory exists
    
    	fFile = FindFirstFile(dd,&fileinfo);
    
    	// if the file exists and it is a directory
    	if(fileinfo.dwFileAttributes == FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY)
    	{
    		//  Directory Exists close file and return
    		FindClose(fFile);
    		return TRUE;
    	}
    	m_arr.RemoveAll();				// Not really necessary - Just habit
    Separate the String into its compounded components
    	for(x1 = 0; x1 < dd.GetLength(); x1++ )		// Parse the supplied CString Directory String
    	{
    		if(dd.GetAt(x1) != '\')		// if the Charachter is not a  
    			tem += dd.GetAt(x1);		// add the character to the Temp String
    		else
    		{
    			m_arr.Add(tem);			// if the Character is a 
    								Add the Temp String to the CString Array
    			tem += "\";			// Now add the  to the temp string
    		}
    		if(x1 == dd.GetLength()-1)		// If we reached the end of the String
    								add the remaining string
    			m_arr.Add(tem);
    	}
    
    
    	// Close the file
    	FindClose(fFile);
    
    Create each level of the Directory Structure
    
    	// Now lets cycle through the String Array and create each directory in turn
    	for(x1 = 1; x1 < m_arr.GetSize(); x1++)
    	{
    		tem = m_arr.GetAt(x1);
    		tt = CreateDirectory(tem,NULL);
    
    		// If the Directory exists it will return a false
    		if(tt)
    			SetFileAttributes(tem,FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL);
    		// If we were successful we set the attributes to normal
    	}
    	//  Now lets see if the directory was successfully created
    	fFile = FindFirstFile(dd,&fileinfo);
    
    Check to see if the Directory was created and it actually is a Directory
    	m_arr.RemoveAll();
    	if(fileinfo.dwFileAttributes == FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY)
    	{
    		//  Directory Exists close file and return
    		FindClose(fFile);
    		return TRUE;
    	}
    	else
    	{
    		// For Some reason the Function Failed  Return FALSE
    		FindClose(fFile);
    		return FALSE;
    	}
    }
    
    

    Download source – 2 KB

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