The Microsoft Windows 3.1 operating system provides common dialog boxes for many standard operations. (A common dialog box is a dialog box that a Windows-based application displays by calling a single function rather than by creating a dialog box procedure and a resource file containing a dialog box template.) An application can create a common dialog box for opening a file by calling the GetOpenFileName function and one for closing a file by calling the GetSaveFileName function. Common dialog boxes simplify the development of applications for Windows and assist users by providing a standard set of controls. Common dialog boxes can even be customized to meet the special requirements of an application. For more information about common dialog boxes, see the Microsoft Windows Programmer's Reference, Volume 1.
The information in this chapter is provided for developers who choose not to use the common dialog boxes for file input and output.