Loop through files in a folder using VBA?

Question

I would like to loop through the files of a directory using vba in Excel 2010.

In the loop, I will need:

• the filename, and
• the date at which the file was formatted.

I have coded the following which works fine if the folder has no more then 50 files, otherwise it is ridiculously slow (I need it to work with folders with >10000 files). The sole problem of this code is that the operation to look up file.name takes extremely much time.

Code that works but is waaaaaay too slow (15 seconds per 100 files):

Sub LoopThroughFiles()
   Dim MyObj As Object, MySource As Object, file As Variant
   Set MySource = MyObj.GetFolder("c:\testfolder\")
   For Each file In MySource.Files
      If InStr(file.name, "test") > 0 Then
         MsgBox "found"
         Exit Sub
      End If
   Next file
End Sub

---

Problem solved:

1. My problem has been solved by the solution below using Dir in a particular way (20 seconds for 15000 files) and for checking the time stamp using the command FileDateTime.
2. Taking into account another answer from below the 20 seconds are reduced to less than 1 second.

Answer 1

Here's my interpretation as a Function Instead:

'#######################################################################
'# LoopThroughFiles
'# Function to Loop through files in current directory and return filenames
'# Usage: LoopThroughFiles ActiveWorkbook.Path, "txt" 'inputDirectoryToScanForFile
'# https://stackguides.com/questions/10380312/loop-through-files-in-a-folder-using-vba
'#######################################################################
Function LoopThroughFiles(inputDirectoryToScanForFile, filenameCriteria) As String

    Dim StrFile As String
    'Debug.Print "in LoopThroughFiles. inputDirectoryToScanForFile: ", inputDirectoryToScanForFile

    StrFile = Dir(inputDirectoryToScanForFile & "\*" & filenameCriteria)
    Do While Len(StrFile) > 0
        Debug.Print StrFile
        StrFile = Dir

    Loop

End Function

Answer 2

Dir takes wild cards so you could make a big difference adding the filter for test up front and avoiding testing each file

Sub LoopThroughFiles()
    Dim StrFile As String
    StrFile = Dir("c:\testfolder\*test*")
    Do While Len(StrFile) > 0
        Debug.Print StrFile
        StrFile = Dir
    Loop
End Sub

Answer 3

Dir seems to be very fast.

Sub LoopThroughFiles()
    Dim MyObj As Object, MySource As Object, file As Variant
   file = Dir("c:\testfolder\")
   While (file <> "")
      If InStr(file, "test") > 0 Then
         MsgBox "found " & file
         Exit Sub
      End If
     file = Dir
  Wend
End Sub

Answer 4

The Dir function is the way to go, but the problem is that you cannot use the Dir function recursively, as stated here, towards the bottom.

The way that I've handled this is to use the Dir function to get all of the sub-folders for the target folder and load them into an array, then pass the array into a function that recurses.

Here's a class that I wrote that accomplishes this, it includes the ability to search for filters. (You'll have to forgive the Hungarian Notation, this was written when it was all the rage.)

Private m_asFilters() As String
Private m_asFiles As Variant
Private m_lNext As Long
Private m_lMax As Long

Public Function GetFileList(ByVal ParentDir As String, Optional ByVal sSearch As String, Optional ByVal Deep As Boolean = True) As Variant
    m_lNext = 0
    m_lMax = 0

    ReDim m_asFiles(0)
    If Len(sSearch) Then
        m_asFilters() = Split(sSearch, "|")
    Else
        ReDim m_asFilters(0)
    End If

    If Deep Then
        Call RecursiveAddFiles(ParentDir)
    Else
        Call AddFiles(ParentDir)
    End If

    If m_lNext Then
        ReDim Preserve m_asFiles(m_lNext - 1)
        GetFileList = m_asFiles
    End If

End Function

Private Sub RecursiveAddFiles(ByVal ParentDir As String)
    Dim asDirs() As String
    Dim l As Long
    On Error GoTo ErrRecursiveAddFiles
    'Add the files in 'this' directory!


    Call AddFiles(ParentDir)

    ReDim asDirs(-1 To -1)
    asDirs = GetDirList(ParentDir)
    For l = 0 To UBound(asDirs)
        Call RecursiveAddFiles(asDirs(l))
    Next l
    On Error GoTo 0
Exit Sub
ErrRecursiveAddFiles:
End Sub
Private Function GetDirList(ByVal ParentDir As String) As String()
    Dim sDir As String
    Dim asRet() As String
    Dim l As Long
    Dim lMax As Long

    If Right(ParentDir, 1) <> "\" Then
        ParentDir = ParentDir & "\"
    End If
    sDir = Dir(ParentDir, vbDirectory Or vbHidden Or vbSystem)
    Do While Len(sDir)
        If GetAttr(ParentDir & sDir) And vbDirectory Then
            If Not (sDir = "." Or sDir = "..") Then
                If l >= lMax Then
                    lMax = lMax + 10
                    ReDim Preserve asRet(lMax)
                End If
                asRet(l) = ParentDir & sDir
                l = l + 1
            End If
        End If
        sDir = Dir
    Loop
    If l Then
        ReDim Preserve asRet(l - 1)
        GetDirList = asRet()
    End If
End Function
Private Sub AddFiles(ByVal ParentDir As String)
    Dim sFile As String
    Dim l As Long

    If Right(ParentDir, 1) <> "\" Then
        ParentDir = ParentDir & "\"
    End If

    For l = 0 To UBound(m_asFilters)
        sFile = Dir(ParentDir & "\" & m_asFilters(l), vbArchive Or vbHidden Or vbNormal Or vbReadOnly Or vbSystem)
        Do While Len(sFile)
            If Not (sFile = "." Or sFile = "..") Then
                If m_lNext >= m_lMax Then
                    m_lMax = m_lMax + 100
                    ReDim Preserve m_asFiles(m_lMax)
                End If
                m_asFiles(m_lNext) = ParentDir & sFile
                m_lNext = m_lNext + 1
            End If
            sFile = Dir
        Loop
    Next l
End Sub

Answer 5

Dir function loses focus easily when I handle and process files from other folders.

I've gotten better results with the component FileSystemObject.

Full example is given here:

http://www.xl-central.com/list-files-fso.html

Don't forget to set a reference in the Visual Basic Editor to Microsoft Scripting Runtime (by using Tools > References)

Give it a try!

Answer 6

Try this one. (LINK)

Private Sub CommandButton3_Click()

Dim FileExtStr As String
Dim FileFormatNum As Long
Dim xWs As Worksheet
Dim xWb As Workbook
Dim FolderName As String
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Set xWb = Application.ThisWorkbook
DateString = Format(Now, "yyyy-mm-dd hh-mm-ss")
FolderName = xWb.Path & "\" & xWb.Name & " " & DateString
MkDir FolderName
For Each xWs In xWb.Worksheets
    xWs.Copy
    If Val(Application.Version) < 12 Then
        FileExtStr = ".xls": FileFormatNum = -4143
    Else
        Select Case xWb.FileFormat
            Case 51:
                FileExtStr = ".xlsx": FileFormatNum = 51
            Case 52:
                If Application.ActiveWorkbook.HasVBProject Then
                    FileExtStr = ".xlsm": FileFormatNum = 52
                Else
                    FileExtStr = ".xlsx": FileFormatNum = 51
                End If
            Case 56:
                FileExtStr = ".xls": FileFormatNum = 56
            Case Else:
                FileExtStr = ".xlsb": FileFormatNum = 50
        End Select
    End If
    xFile = FolderName & "\" & Application.ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(1).Name & FileExtStr
    Application.ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs xFile, FileFormat:=FileFormatNum
    Application.ActiveWorkbook.Close False
Next
MsgBox "You can find the files in " & FolderName
Application.ScreenUpdating = True

End Sub