c# how to avoid repetition in foreach block

Question

In my program, what user types on Data Grid View are set to file names and saved. I use Folder Browser Dialog for the saving function. The problem is the whole process is repeated through foreach loop and the folder browser dialog pops up for every single file. I just want it to be shown just once and all files are to be saved in a same folder.

my code

            
            foreach(File file in fileList)
            {
                if (file.fileSelection == true)
                {
                    fileList.Add(file);

                    //some code here

                    dataGridView1.Refresh();

                    FolderBrowserDialog fbd1 = new FolderBrowserDialog();
                    fbd1.ShowNewFolderButton = true;
            
                    if (fbd1.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
                    {
                        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(file.newFilename) == false) 
                        {
                            file.newPath = Path.GetFullPath(fbd1.SelectedPath + "\\" + file.newFilename);
                            file.newFileDirectory = fbd1.SelectedPath;
                        }
                    }

                    Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.Document wordDoc = new Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.Document();
                    Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.Application wordApp = new Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.Application();
                    object wordFileFormat = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.WdSaveFormat.wdFormatPDF;
                    object o = Missing.Value;
                    object oTrue = true;
                    object oFalse = false;
                    wordDoc.SaveAs2(file.newFileDirectory + "\\" + file.newFilename + ".pdf", ref wordFileFormat, o, o, o, o, o, o, o, o, o, o, o, o, o, o, o);
                    wordDoc.Close(oFalse, o, o);
                    wordApp.Quit(o, o, o);
                }
            }

@Cid the variable 'file' defined inside of foreach loop does not exist, so I cannot set the file path (file.newpath, file.newDirectory) — LFLJM, Sep 13 '22 at 10:37
you don't use file in the file dialog. the folder never changes. introduce a new variable for the folder outside the loop. assign the folder name from the dialog, then in the loop build your new path from selected folder and the filename — Piglet, Sep 13 '22 at 10:38
you don't need the variable `file` to set the property `fbd1.SelectedPath` — Cid, Sep 13 '22 at 10:42

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 13 '22 at 12:22

As far as I can see you only need to move the dialog out of the loop, you just need to save the dialog result in a variable so it can be checked inside the loop:

FolderBrowserDialog fbd1 = new FolderBrowserDialog();
fbd1.ShowNewFolderButton = true;
var dialogResult = fbd1.ShowDialog();

foreach(File file in fileList)
{
   ...
   if(dialogResult == dialogResult.OK){
       if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(file.newFilename) == false) 
       {
            file.newPath = Path.GetFullPath(fbd1.SelectedPath + "\\" + file.newFilename);
            file.newFileDirectory = fbd1.SelectedPath;
        }
   }
   ...
}

You might also consider placing the entire loop inside the dialogResult-check.

c# how to avoid repetition in foreach block

1 Answers1