v1.1.0

• Overview
• Versions
• Library files
• Class declaration
• Build and connect to your project

SimpleFileDialog C++ library provides a simple file selection dialog for Windows and Linux (tested on Ubuntu 22.04, 22.10, 24.04 and Windows 11). The library is used in projects where a simple file selection dialog is needed. On Linux the library shows the dialog using the XDG Desktop Portal FileChooser interface via D-Bus, the zenity application or the kdialog application. The library uses the C++17 standard. The D-Bus backend requires the optional libsystemd library on Linux. If it is not found at build time, the D-Bus backend is disabled. The library has no other third-party dependencies. SimpleFileDialog.h file includes the declaration of the SimpleFileDialog class. SimpleFileDialog class includes only one static method dialog(...). The library is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license.

Table 1 - Library versions.

The library is supplied only by source code. The user is given a set of files in the form of a CMake project (repository). The repository structure is shown below:

CMakeLists.txt -------------------- Main CMake file of the library.
src ------------------------------- Folder with library source code.
    SimpleFileDialog.cpp ---------- C++ implementation file.
    SimpleFileDialog.h ------------ Library main header file.
    SimpleFileDialogVersion.h ----- Header file with library version.
    SimpleFileDialogVersion.h.in -- Service CMake file to generate version file.
test ------------------------------ Folder of the test application.
    CMakeLists.txt ---------------- CMake file of the test application.
    main.cpp ---------------------- Source C++ file of the test application.

SimpleFileDialog class declared in SimpleFileDialog.h file. Class declaration:

namespace cr
{
namespace utils
{
/// @brief File dialog class.
class SimpleFileDialog
{
public:
    /// @brief Dialog function.
    static std::string dialog(const std::string title = "Select a file");
};
}
}

SimpleFileDialog class includes only one static method dialog(...) which shows a file selection dialog to the user. The optional title parameter sets a custom window title on both Windows and Linux (default is "Select a file"). The method returns the selected file name. If no file is selected, the method returns an empty string "". The method is static, so no SimpleFileDialog class instance is required. Example:

#include <iostream>
#include "SimpleFileDialog.h"

int main(void)
{
    // Open file dialog.
    std::string file = cr::utils::SimpleFileDialog::dialog();
    std::cout << "File: " << file << std::endl;

    return -1;
}

On Linux, install the pkg-config and libsystemd-dev packages if you want D-Bus support (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt install pkg-config libsystemd-dev

Typical commands to build SimpleFileDialog library:

git clone https://github.com/ConstantRobotics-Ltd/SimpleFileDialog.git
cd SimpleFileDialog
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make

If you want connect SimpleFileDialog library to your CMake project as source code you can make follow. For example, if your repository has structure:

CMakeLists.txt
src
    CMakeList.txt
    yourLib.h
    yourLib.cpp

You can add repository SimpleFileDialog as submodule by commands:

cd <your respository folder>
git submodule add https://github.com/ConstantRobotics-Ltd/SimpleFileDialog.git 3rdparty/SimpleFileDialog

In you repository folder will be created folder 3rdparty/SimpleFileDialog which contains all library files. Also you can copy SimpleFileDialog repository folder to 3rdparty folder of your repository. New structure of your repository:

CMakeLists.txt
src
    CMakeList.txt
    yourLib.h
    yourLib.cpp
3rdparty
    SimpleFileDialog

Create CMakeLists.txt file in 3rdparty folder. CMakeLists.txt should contain:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13)

################################################################################
## 3RD-PARTY
## dependencies for the project
################################################################################
project(3rdparty LANGUAGES CXX)

################################################################################
## SETTINGS
## basic 3rd-party settings before use
################################################################################
# To inherit the top-level architecture when the project is used as a submodule.
SET(PARENT ${PARENT}_YOUR_PROJECT_3RDPARTY)
# Disable self-overwriting of parameters inside included subdirectories.
SET(${PARENT}_SUBMODULE_CACHE_OVERWRITE OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)

################################################################################
## CONFIGURATION
## 3rd-party submodules configuration
################################################################################
SET(${PARENT}_SUBMODULE_SIMPLE_FILE_DIALOG              ON  CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
if (${PARENT}_SUBMODULE_SIMPLE_FILE_DIALOG)
    SET(${PARENT}_SIMPLE_FILE_DIALOG                    ON  CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
    SET(${PARENT}_SIMPLE_FILE_DIALOG_TEST               OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
endif()

################################################################################
## INCLUDING SUBDIRECTORIES
## Adding subdirectories according to the 3rd-party configuration
################################################################################
if (${PARENT}_SUBMODULE_SIMPLE_FILE_DIALOG)
    add_subdirectory(SimpleFileDialog)
endif()

File 3rdparty/CMakeLists.txt adds folder SimpleFileDialog to your project and excludes test application (SimpleFileDialog class test applications) from compiling (by default test application excluded from compiling if SimpleFileDialog included as sub-repository). Your repository new structure will be:

CMakeLists.txt
src
    CMakeList.txt
    yourLib.h
    yourLib.cpp
3rdparty
    CMakeLists.txt
    SimpleFileDialog

Next you need include folder 3rdparty in main CMakeLists.txt file of your repository. Add string at the end of your main CMakeLists.txt:

add_subdirectory(3rdparty)

Next you have to include SimpleFileDialog library in your src/CMakeLists.txt file:

target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} SimpleFileDialog)

Done!