Question

I am using C# to access the most recent files on a system and copy them via

Environment.SpecialFolder.Recent

The recent folder in Windows however just creates shortcuts to the actual location of the file. How would one go about copying the file that the shortcut is pointing at as opposed to the shortcut itself?

Many Thanks in advance for any help

Answer 1

I found and altered this code, works for me:

static string GetShortcutTargetFile(string shortcutFilename)
{
    string pathOnly = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(shortcutFilename);
    string filenameOnly = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(shortcutFilename);

    Shell32.Shell shell = new Shell32.Shell();
    Shell32.Folder folder = shell.NameSpace(pathOnly);
    Shell32.FolderItem folderItem = folder.ParseName(filenameOnly);
    if (folderItem != null)
    {
        return ((Shell32.ShellLinkObject)folderItem.GetLink).Path;
    }

    return ""; // not found, use if (File.Exists()) in the calling code
    // or remove the return and throw an exception here if you like
}

You have to add a reference to the Microsoft Shell Controls And Automation COM object (Shell32.dll) to the project to make this work.