File Dialog

Displays a dialog box with which you can specify the path to a file or directory. You can use this dialog box to select existing files or directories or to select a location and name for a new file or directory.

prompt is the message that appears below the list of files and directories in the dialog box. The default is an empty string.
start path is the path of the directory whose contents LabVIEW initially displays in the dialog box. If start path is valid, but does not refer to an existing directory, LabVIEW strips names from the end of the path until the path is a valid directory path or an empty path. If start path is invalid or unwired, the last directory viewed in a file dialog initially appears in the dialog box.
select mode indicates the types of files or directories you can specify using the dialog box.

0Select only an existing file. You might use this value if you want the user to select the name of a file to open; the program can then open the file using the Open File function.
1Select only a file that does not exist. You might use this value if you want the user to select the name of a file to create; the program can then create the file using the New File function.
2Select either an existing or a non-existent file (default). You might use this value if you want the user to select the name of a file to create or append data to.
3Select only an existing directory. You might use this value if you want the user to select the name of a directory that contains data files. The program can then access those files with the directory path.
4Select only a directory that does not exist. You might use this value if you want the user to select the name of a directory that the program subsequently creates using the New Directory function.
5Select either an existing or a non-existent directory. You might use this value if you want the user to select the name of a directory in which to store data files. The program can create the directory if it does not exist.
6Select an existing file in an LLB.
7Select a file in an LLB that does not exist.
8Select an existing or non-existent file in an LLB.
default name is the name you want to appear as the initial file or directory name in the dialog box. The default is an empty string.
pattern restricts the files displayed in the dialog box to those whose name matches pattern. pattern does not restrict the directories displayed. The pattern matching in this function is similar to the matching used in matching wildcards in Windows and UNIX filenames and is not like the regular expression matching performed by the Match Pattern function. If you specify characters other than the question mark character (?) or the asterisk character (*), the function displays only files or directories that contain those characters. You can use the question mark character (?) to match any single character. You can use the asterisk character (*) to match any sequence of one or more characters.

For example, a pattern of *.vi;test*.llb returns matches for any file with a .vi extension and any file whose filename begins with test and has an .llb extension.

To match multiple patterns, use a semicolon ( ; ) to separate the patterns. White space, such as blanks, tabs, and carriage returns, are taken literally. Avoid using white spaces unless they are part of the extension pattern. For example, if you use *.html;*.doc, File Dialog displays all files that end with .html and .doc. If you use *.html; *.doc, File Dialog displays only files that end with .html.

To use more than one pattern, wire a string constant or control into file pattern.

datalog type can be any data type and restricts the files displayed in the dialog box to datalog files containing records of the specified data type. Datalog records contain a timestamp cluster and a cluster of the front panel data.
path is the full path to the file or directory selected using this dialog box. If you cancel the dialog box, this function sets path to Not A Path.
exists is TRUE if path specifies an existing file or directory.
cancelled is TRUE if you cancel the dialog box or if an error occurs during the execution of the dialog box.