Get the current temporary directory path in VBScript?

Question

The VB trick to get the path of the current temporary directory:

Private Declare Function GetTempPath Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetTempPathA" (ByVal nBufferLength As Long, ByVal lpBuffer As String) As Long

fails in VBScript. So?

Fabien · Accepted Answer · 2009-02-23T13:04:11.723

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WScript.CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject").GetSpecialFolder(2)

It took me a while to find it on Google. So for the next one looking for the same as me...

edited Feb 23 '09 at 13:04

answered Jan 08 '09 at 14:05

Fabien

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AnthonyWJones · Answer 2 · 2009-01-08T23:16:31.227

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Const WindowsFolder = 0

Const SystemFolder = 1

Const TemporaryFolder = 2

Dim fso: Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

Dim tempFolder: tempFolder = fso.GetSpecialFolder(TemporaryFolder)

edited Jan 08 '09 at 23:16

answered Jan 08 '09 at 14:09

AnthonyWJones

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Fabien's answer was correct as is this one, however, good documentation makes it easier for someone else to read. – Dscoduc Feb 07 '09 at 16:02
this gets me `C:\windows`. Fabien's answer gets me the right folder `R:\Temp` – RASG Dec 03 '13 at 14:32

Fionnuala · Answer 3 · 2009-01-08T15:04:20.723

14

Another possibility:

CreateObject("WScript.Shell").ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%Temp%")

edited Jan 08 '09 at 15:04

answered Jan 08 '09 at 14:30

Fionnuala

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Thanks, Patrick, I missed pasting a line, but that is better. – Fionnuala Jan 08 '09 at 15:00
No problem. I was just about to paste my own, almost identical answer, when I saw you beat me by a second...again ;) – Patrick Cuff Jan 08 '09 at 17:07
I like this one best because it's just as easy to use as `GetSpecialFolder`, but much less obscure. At least, for anyone who has ever worked with DOS or Windows environment variables AT ALL, this one is very intuitive and self-documenting. – John Y Feb 04 '16 at 20:07

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Nov 21 '17 at 05:48

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You can also keep using the GetTempPath API. It's a bit tricky to call APIs from vbscript though. Here are some pointers on how to make Win32 API calls from vbscript:

Reference 1

Reference 2

Reference 3

edited Nov 21 '17 at 05:48

wp78de

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answered Sep 25 '13 at 01:06

Makaveli84

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You can describe more detail. – aircraft Nov 21 '17 at 05:32
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Actually, the links are not very useful and this should be a comment. – wp78de Nov 21 '17 at 05:46

score 0 · Answer 5 · edited Jul 15 '18 at 01:22

Based entirely on AnthonyWJones' answer, here is my solution:

Public Enum SpecialFolder
    WindowsFolder = 0
    SystemFolder = 1
    TempFolder = 2
End Enum

Public Function GetFolder(folder As Integer) As String
    Dim objFSO  As Object

    Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

    GetFolder = objFSO.GetSpecialFolder(folder)
End Function

So, for example, you'd use GetFolder(TempFolder) to obtain the pathname of the user's temp folder.

Get the current temporary directory path in VBScript?

5 Answers5

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