wxFileDialog(3)

📦

version 29.0.6 · 3 versions

💖 wxFileDialog — okay bestie, listen 💖

so this is a page from the Erlang module definition docs, and it's all about wxFileDialog, the class that represents the file chooser dialog. yes, the "pick a file" window. the one everyone's seen. iconic behavior honestly. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

wxFileDialog — this class represents the file chooser dialog. 🗂️✨

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so buckle up, this part is lowkey important. 🫶

The path and filename are distinct elements of a full file pathname. So like, they're not the same thing, don't @ me.

If path is ?wxEmptyString, the current directory will be used.
If filename is ?wxEmptyString, no default filename will be supplied.

The wildcard determines what files are displayed in the file selector, and file extension supplies a type extension for the required filename. 💅

The typical usage for the open file dialog is:

The typical usage for the save file dialog is instead somewhat simpler:

Remark: All implementations of the wxFileDialog provide a wildcard filter. Typing a filename containing wildcards (, ?) in the filename text item, and clicking on Ok, will result in only those files matching the pattern being displayed. The wildcard may be a specification for multiple types of file with a description for each, such as: It must be noted that wildcard support in the native Motif file dialog is quite limited: only one file type is supported, and it is displayed without the descriptive test; "BMP files (.bmp)|.bmp" is displayed as ".bmp", and both "BMP files (.bmp)|.bmp|GIF files (.gif)|.gif" and "Image files|.bmp;.gif" are errors. On Mac macOS in the open file dialog the filter choice box is not shown by default. Instead all given wildcards are appplied at the same time: So in the above example all bmp, gif and png files are displayed. To enforce the display of the filter choice set the corresponding wxSystemOptions before calling the file open dialog: But in contrast to Windows and Unix, where the file type choice filters only the selected files, on Mac macOS even in this case the dialog shows all files matching all file types. The files which does not match the currently selected file type are greyed out and are not selectable. 😭💀

🦋 Styles 🦋

This class supports the following styles, and yes, we're listing every single one because they all matter: ⭐

wxFD_DEFAULT_STYLE — Equivalent to wxFD_OPEN. ✨
wxFD_OPEN — This is an open dialog; usually this means that the default button's label of the dialog is "Open". Cannot be combined with wxFD_SAVE. 🔓
wxFD_SAVE — This is a save dialog; usually this means that the default button's label of the dialog is "Save". Cannot be combined with wxFD_OPEN. 💾
wxFD_OVERWRITE_PROMPT — For save dialog only: prompt for a confirmation if a file will be overwritten. ⚠️
wxFD_NO_FOLLOW — Directs the dialog to return the path and file name of the selected shortcut file, not its target as it does by default. Currently this flag is only implemented in wxMSW and wxOSX (where it prevents aliases from being resolved). The non-dereferenced link path is always returned, even without this flag, under Unix and so using it there doesn't do anything. This flag was added in wxWidgets 3.1.0. 🔗
wxFD_FILE_MUST_EXIST — For open dialog only: the user may only select files that actually exist. Notice that under macOS the file dialog with wxFD_OPEN style always behaves as if this style was specified, because it is impossible to choose a file that doesn't exist from a standard macOS file dialog. 👀
wxFD_MULTIPLE — For open dialog only: allows selecting multiple files. 🫶
wxFD_CHANGE_DIR — Change the current working directory (when the dialog is dismissed) to the directory where the file(s) chosen by the user are. 📁
wxFD_PREVIEW — Show the preview of the selected files (currently only supported by wxGTK). 🔍
wxFD_SHOW_HIDDEN — Show hidden files. This flag was added in wxWidgets 3.1.3 👻

👀 See: 👀

Overview cmndlg
?wxFileSelector()

This class is derived, and can use functions, from:

wxDialog
wxTopLevelWindow
wxWindow
wxEvtHandler

wxWidgets docs: wxFileDialog 📚

💅 DATA TYPES 💅

wxFileDialog() :: wx:wx_object().

that's the whole section. short king. 👑

🔥 FUNCTIONS 🔥

`destroy`

destroy(This :: wxFileDialog()) -> ok.

Destroys the object 💀 — say bye bestie, it's gone.

`getDirectory`

getDirectory(This) -> unicode:charlist()
                      when This :: wxFileDialog().

Returns the default directory. 📂

`getFilename`

getFilename(This) -> unicode:charlist()
                     when This :: wxFileDialog().

Returns the default filename.

Note: This function can't be used with dialogs which have the wxFD_MULTIPLE style, use getFilenames/1 instead. 🚫

`getFilenames`

getFilenames(This) -> [unicode:charlist()]
                      when This :: wxFileDialog().

Fills the array filenames with the names of the files chosen.

This function should only be used with the dialogs which have wxFD_MULTIPLE style, use getFilename/1 for the others.

Note that under Windows, if the user selects shortcuts, the filenames include paths, since the application cannot determine the full path of each referenced file by appending the directory containing the shortcuts to the filename. 🪟

`getFilterIndex`

getFilterIndex(This) -> integer() when This :: wxFileDialog().

Returns the index into the list of filters supplied, optionally, in the wildcard parameter.

Before the dialog is shown, this is the index which will be used when the dialog is first displayed. 🎬

After the dialog is shown, this is the index selected by the user. 👆

`getMessage`

getMessage(This) -> unicode:charlist() when This :: wxFileDialog().

Returns the message that will be displayed on the dialog. 💬

`getPath`

getPath(This) -> unicode:charlist() when This :: wxFileDialog().

Returns the full path (directory and filename) of the selected file. 🛣️

Note: This function can't be used with dialogs which have the wxFD_MULTIPLE style, use getPaths/1 instead. 🚫

`getPaths`

getPaths(This) -> [unicode:charlist()] when This :: wxFileDialog().

Fills the array paths with the full paths of the files chosen.

This function should only be used with the dialogs which have wxFD_MULTIPLE style, use getPath/1 for the others. ✨

`getWildcard`

getWildcard(This) -> unicode:charlist()
                     when This :: wxFileDialog().

Returns the file dialog wildcard. 🃏

`new`

new(Parent, [Option]) -> wxFileDialog()
             when
                 Parent :: wxWindow:wxWindow(),
                 Option ::
                     {message, unicode:chardata()} |
                     {defaultDir, unicode:chardata()} |
                     {defaultFile, unicode:chardata()} |
                     {wildCard, unicode:chardata()} |
                     {style, integer()} |
                     {pos, {X :: integer(), Y :: integer()}} |
                     {sz, {W :: integer(), H :: integer()}}.

Constructor. 🏗️

Use wxDialog:showModal/1 to show the dialog.

`setDirectory`

setDirectory(This, Directory) -> ok
                      when
                          This :: wxFileDialog(),
                          Directory :: unicode:chardata().

Sets the default directory. 📁✨

`setFilename`

setFilename(This, Setfilename) -> ok
                     when
                         This :: wxFileDialog(),
                         Setfilename :: unicode:chardata().

Sets the default filename.

In wxGTK this will have little effect unless a default directory has previously been set. 🐧

`setFilterIndex`

setFilterIndex(This, FilterIndex) -> ok
                        when
                            This :: wxFileDialog(),
                            FilterIndex :: integer().

Sets the default filter index, starting from zero. 0️⃣

`setMessage`

setMessage(This, Message) -> ok
                    when
                        This :: wxFileDialog(),
                        Message :: unicode:chardata().

Sets the message that will be displayed on the dialog. 💬

`setPath`

setPath(This, Path) -> ok
                 when This :: wxFileDialog(), Path ::
unicode:chardata().

Sets the path (the combined directory and filename that will be returned when the dialog is dismissed). 🛣️

`setWildcard`

setWildcard(This, WildCard) -> ok
                     when
                         This :: wxFileDialog(),
                         WildCard :: unicode:chardata().

Sets the wildcard, which can contain multiple file types, for example: "BMP files (*.bmp)|*.bmp|GIF files (*.gif)|*.gif". 🃏

Note: that the native Motif dialog has some limitations with respect to wildcards; see the Remarks section above. 🚨

and that's the whole page bestie, you ate that 💅✨

so yeah, this whole thing is from Ericsson AB, wx 2.6, page wxFileDialog(3) — mwah, go pick some files, slay, periodt. 🎀🦋💖

📦 where this page comes from

ubuntu stonking: erlang-doc 1:29.0.6+dfsg-1 · Apache-2.0
💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on 2026-11-03: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms