ShellSpecialFolderConstants enumeration (shldisp.h)

  • Article

Specifies unique, system-independent values that identify special folders. These folders are frequently used by applications but which may not have the same name or location on any given system. For example, the system folder can be "C:\Windows" on one system and "C:\Winnt" on another.

Syntax

typedef enum ShellSpecialFolderConstants {
  ssfDESKTOP = 0,
  ssfPROGRAMS = 0x2,
  ssfCONTROLS = 0x3,
  ssfPRINTERS = 0x4,
  ssfPERSONAL = 0x5,
  ssfFAVORITES = 0x6,
  ssfSTARTUP = 0x7,
  ssfRECENT = 0x8,
  ssfSENDTO = 0x9,
  ssfBITBUCKET = 0xa,
  ssfSTARTMENU = 0xb,
  ssfDESKTOPDIRECTORY = 0x10,
  ssfDRIVES = 0x11,
  ssfNETWORK = 0x12,
  ssfNETHOOD = 0x13,
  ssfFONTS = 0x14,
  ssfTEMPLATES = 0x15,
  ssfCOMMONSTARTMENU = 0x16,
  ssfCOMMONPROGRAMS = 0x17,
  ssfCOMMONSTARTUP = 0x18,
  ssfCOMMONDESKTOPDIR = 0x19,
  ssfAPPDATA = 0x1a,
  ssfPRINTHOOD = 0x1b,
  ssfLOCALAPPDATA = 0x1c,
  ssfALTSTARTUP = 0x1d,
  ssfCOMMONALTSTARTUP = 0x1e,
  ssfCOMMONFAVORITES = 0x1f,
  ssfINTERNETCACHE = 0x20,
  ssfCOOKIES = 0x21,
  ssfHISTORY = 0x22,
  ssfCOMMONAPPDATA = 0x23,
  ssfWINDOWS = 0x24,
  ssfSYSTEM = 0x25,
  ssfPROGRAMFILES = 0x26,
  ssfMYPICTURES = 0x27,
  ssfPROFILE = 0x28,
  ssfSYSTEMx86 = 0x29,
  ssfPROGRAMFILESx86 = 0x30
} ;

Constants

 
ssfDESKTOP
Value: 0
0x00 (0). Windows desktop—the virtual folder that is the root of the namespace.
ssfPROGRAMS
Value: 0x2
0x02 (2). File system directory that contains the user's program groups (which are also file system directories). A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs.
ssfCONTROLS
Value: 0x3
0x03 (3). Virtual folder that contains icons for the Control Panel applications.
ssfPRINTERS
Value: 0x4
0x04 (4). Virtual folder that contains installed printers.
ssfPERSONAL
Value: 0x5
0x05 (5). File system directory that serves as a common repository for a user's documents. A typical path is C:\Users\username\Documents.
ssfFAVORITES
Value: 0x6
0x06 (6). File system directory that serves as a common repository for the user's favorite URLs. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Favorites.
ssfSTARTUP
Value: 0x7
0x07 (7). File system directory that corresponds to the user's Startup program group. The system starts these programs whenever any user first logs into their profile after a reboot. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp.
ssfRECENT
Value: 0x8
0x08 (8). File system directory that contains the user's most recently used documents. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent.
ssfSENDTO
Value: 0x9
0x09 (9). File system directory that contains Send To menu items. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo.
ssfBITBUCKET
Value: 0xa
0x0a (10). Virtual folder that contains the objects in the user's Recycle Bin.
ssfSTARTMENU
Value: 0xb
0x0b (11). File system directory that contains Start menu items. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu.
ssfDESKTOPDIRECTORY
Value: 0x10
0x10 (16). File system directory used to physically store the file objects that are displayed on the desktop. It is not to be confused with the desktop folder itself, which is a virtual folder. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Desktop.
ssfDRIVES
Value: 0x11
0x11 (17). My Computer—the virtual folder that contains everything on the local computer: storage devices, printers, and Control Panel. This folder can also contain mapped network drives.
ssfNETWORK
Value: 0x12
0x12 (18). Network Neighborhood—the virtual folder that represents the root of the network namespace hierarchy.
ssfNETHOOD
Value: 0x13
0x13 (19). A file system folder that contains any link objects in the My Network Places virtual folder. It is not the same as ssfNETWORK, which represents the network namespace root. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts.
ssfFONTS
Value: 0x14
0x14 (20). Virtual folder that contains installed fonts. A typical path is C:\Windows\Fonts.
ssfTEMPLATES
Value: 0x15
0x15 (21). File system directory that serves as a common repository for document templates.
ssfCOMMONSTARTMENU
Value: 0x16
0x16 (22). File system directory that contains the programs and folders that appear on the Start menu for all users. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu. Valid only for Windows NT systems.
ssfCOMMONPROGRAMS
Value: 0x17
0x17 (23). File system directory that contains the directories for the common program groups that appear on the Start menu for all users. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs. Valid only for Windows NT systems.
ssfCOMMONSTARTUP
Value: 0x18
0x18 (24). File system directory that contains the programs that appear in the Startup folder for all users. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp. Valid only for Windows NT systems.
ssfCOMMONDESKTOPDIR
Value: 0x19
0x19 (25). File system directory that contains files and folders that appear on the desktop for all users. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop. Valid only for Windows NT systems.
ssfAPPDATA
Value: 0x1a
0x1a (26). Version 4.71. File system directory that serves as a common repository for application-specific data. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data.
ssfPRINTHOOD
Value: 0x1b
0x1b (27). File system directory that contains any link objects in the Printers virtual folder. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts.
ssfLOCALAPPDATA
Value: 0x1c
0x1c (28). Version 5.0. File system directory that serves as a data repository for local (non-roaming) applications. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Local.
ssfALTSTARTUP
Value: 0x1d
0x1d (29). File system directory that corresponds to the user's non-localized Startup program group.
ssfCOMMONALTSTARTUP
Value: 0x1e
0x1e (30). File system directory that corresponds to the non-localized Startup program group for all users. Valid only for Windows NT systems.
ssfCOMMONFAVORITES
Value: 0x1f
0x1f (31). File system directory that serves as a common repository for the favorite URLs shared by all users. Valid only for Windows NT systems.
ssfINTERNETCACHE
Value: 0x20
0x20 (32). File system directory that serves as a common repository for temporary Internet files. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files.
ssfCOOKIES
Value: 0x21
0x21 (33). File system directory that serves as a common repository for Internet cookies. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies.
ssfHISTORY
Value: 0x22
0x22 (34). File system directory that serves as a common repository for Internet history items.
ssfCOMMONAPPDATA
Value: 0x23
0x23 (35). Version 5.0. Application data for all users. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data.
ssfWINDOWS
Value: 0x24
0x24 (36). Version 5.0. Windows directory. This corresponds to the %windir% or %SystemRoot% environment variables. A typical path is C:\Windows.
ssfSYSTEM
Value: 0x25
0x25 (37). Version 5.0. The System folder. A typical path is C:\Windows\System32.
ssfPROGRAMFILES
Value: 0x26
0x26 (38). Version 5.0. Program Files folder. A typical path is C:\Program Files.
ssfMYPICTURES
Value: 0x27
0x27 (39). My Pictures folder. A typical path is C:\Users\username\Pictures.
ssfPROFILE
Value: 0x28
0x28 (40). Version 5.0. User's profile folder.
ssfSYSTEMx86
Value: 0x29
0x29 (41). Version 5.0. System folder. A typical path is C:\Windows\System32, or C:\Windows\Syswow32 on a 64-bit computer.
ssfPROGRAMFILESx86
Value: 0x30
Do not use this field. Use the value 0x2a (42) in your code instead to specify the Program Files (x86) folder. A typical path is C:\Program Files, or C:\Program Files (x86) on a 64-bit computer.

Note: In the shldisp.h header, the ssfPROGRAMFILESx86 field is erroneously assigned to the value 0x30 (48). This value specifies the folder for the Administrative Tools folder instead of the Program Files folder.

Remarks

The values in this enumeration are equivalent to their corresponding CSIDL or KNOWNFOLDERID values, used in C++ applications. They supersede the use of environment variables for this purpose. Note that not all CSIDL or KNOWNFOLDERID values have an equivalent value in ShellSpecialFolderConstants.

Note

Where a constant identifies a file system folder, a commonly used path is given as an example. However, there is no guarantee that this path will be used on any particular system.

Requirements

Requirement Value
Header shldisp.h

See also

CSIDL

KNOWNFOLDERID