Calling Shell - explorer search in VBA - Workaround - vba

Question

I have a code in VBA that will call explorer with a given search parameter and will find and list files with a given name in explorer on a specific location.
code:
RetVal = Shell( _
"c:\Windows\explorer.exe ""search-ms:displayname=Search%20Results&crumb=System.Generic.String%3A~%3D" _
& filename & "%20kind%3A%3Dfolder&crumb=location:" _
& location, vbNormalFocus)
It works nicely while I was using it on English windows.
Is there any way to improve this code so it would work on other language platforms or at least a workaround for it to make it work on German Windows?
Edit:
To clarify what I need to happen:
There are hyperlinks in a workbook with different names (ex. "banana"), when a user opens a hyperlink named "banana", the script calls the shell, opens an explorer window and lists all the files (these files are not excel files like .xls) containing the word "banana" in an already defined folder.
Since other language Windows explorers use different search commands, it only works on English Windows.
A search on German Windows would look like something this:
search-ms:displayname=Suchergebnisse%20in%20"SYS%20(C%3A)"&crumb=System.Generic.String%3A & filename & &crumb=location: & location
If you want to try it yourselves note that the location should also look something like this: C%3A%5C for C:\ in order to make it work.
Edit2:
So I have figured out what the problem was. The part %20kind%3A%3Dfolder is different in German Windows, so as I got rid of that, it started working on both platforms.
Here is the working version:
RetVal = Shell("c:\Windows\explorer.exe ""search-ms:displayname=backup%20for:%20" & _
backup & "&crumb=System.Generic.String%3A~%3D" & backup & _
"%20&crumb=location:" & location, vbNormalFocus)
I am still looking for a way to get the same results without using Shell.

Answer 1

2nd Answer demonstrating FSO
Sub GetFiles()
Dim FSO as Object 'Late binding <- Prefered method
'or As New FileSystemObject for Early Binding
'but don't forget to add a reference to Scripting Runtime!
Dim oFile as Object
Dim oFolder as Object
Dim sFileSpec as String
Dim r As Integer
r = 1
sFileSpec = "banana"
Set FSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set oFolder = FSO.GetFolder("C:\path\to\Predefined\Folder\")
'Or use the folder picker method already used
For Each oFile In oFolder.Files
If Instr(1, oFile.Name, sFileSpec, vbTextCompare) Then
With Worksheets("Sheet1")
.Cells(r, 1) = "File Name:"
.Cells(r, 3) = "File Size:"
.Cells(r, 5) = "Date:"
.Cells(r, 2) = oFile.Name
.Cells(r, 4) = oFile.Size
.Cells(r, 5) = oFile.DateLastModified
End With
r = r + 1
End If
Next oFile
End Sub

Answer 2

#Jeanno nailed one method of getting all the files that matched "banana". This just tweaks his/her code to get all Word documents (but you can see that it will find.txt, .html, or . too). Another method would be to use a FileSystemObject (FSO) to do exactly this same thing. You could also use wscript (Windows Script Host) to get the information even though it would over complicate things. There are many ways to skin this cat. :)
Dim myFolder As String
Dim myFile As String
Dim wb As Workbook
Dim i As Long, tempLimit As Long
Dim r As Integer
r = 1
Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker).Title = "Select Folder Containing .doc Files"
myFolder = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
With Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
.AllowMultiSelect = False
.Show
If .SelectedItems.Count > 0 Then
myFolder = .SelectedItems(1)
End If
End With
myFile = Dir(myFolder & "\*.doc*")
Do While myFile <> ""
'Do what you need to do with the found files
Sheet1.Cells(r, 1).Value = myFile
'Call Dir again without arguments to loop through all files that matched our criteria
myFile = Dir
r = r + 1
Loop

Answer 3

Why not avoid using shell all together and use something like this,
Dim myFolder As String
Dim myFile As String
Dim wb as Workbook
Dim i As Long, tempLimit As Long
Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker).Title = "Select Folder Containing Excel Files"
myFolder = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
With Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
.AllowMultiSelect = False
.Show
If .SelectedItems.Count > 0 Then
myFolder = .SelectedItems(1)
End If
End With
myFile = Dir(myFolder & "\*.xls*")
Do While myFile <> ""
Set wb = Application.Workbooks.Open(myFolder & "\" & myFile)
...
Loop