# How do you present a "select file" dialog? **URL:** \ **Category:** Questions\ **Tags:** community\ **Created:** [January 19, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918 "2024-01-19T16:20:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OliverBarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@OliverBarrett](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/OliverBarrett)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/1 "2024-01-19T16:20:05Z")
I want to present the user with a system dialog where he can select a file (like a text or other). That file's disk path would be put into the FileMaker field. How to do this simple task in FileMaker natively? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![jwilling](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/the.fmsoup.org/jwilling/32/256_2.png) [@jwilling](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/jwilling)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/2 "2024-01-19T16:50:05Z")
Not "native" per se but using baseelements `BE_FileSelectDialog` works well. ---
**Author:** ![OliverBarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@OliverBarrett](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/OliverBarrett)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/3 "2024-01-19T17:18:36Z")
Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![harvest](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/the.fmsoup.org/harvest/32/231_2.png) [@harvest](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/harvest)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 5:54pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/4 "2024-01-19T17:54:02Z")
MBS of course is always worth a look too: [https://www.mbsplugins.eu/component\_FileDialog.shtml](https://www.mbsplugins.eu/component_FileDialog.shtml) versatile and useful 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![OliverBarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@OliverBarrett](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/OliverBarrett)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/5 "2024-01-19T18:34:30Z")
Danke! I was just baffled that such a basic "getfile()" isn't in FileMaker. Baffling! At the moment, we're moving away from plug-ins to reduce our (additional) dependency on FileMaker. ---
**Author:** ![jwilling](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/the.fmsoup.org/jwilling/32/256_2.png) [@jwilling](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/jwilling)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 10:08pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/6 "2024-01-19T22:08:47Z")
if you're trying to do so without a plugin and you're on mac then check out an approach with applescript (here are some ideas for getting the value back into filemaker): [Claris Community (English)](https://community.claris.com/en/s/question/0D50H00007PH9fwSAD/method-return-value-from-applescript-to-filemaker) Or if on windows, you can probalby do similar with send event. Note, if you can get applescript or a shell script to write the result you want to a known file on disk, then you can read in that result using Insert File, Insert From URL, or the Read Data File script step. ---
**Author:** ![cheesus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/the.fmsoup.org/cheesus/32/182_2.png) [@cheesus](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/cheesus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 12:43pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/7 "2024-01-20T12:43:13Z")
You can do this natively in filemaker (see example file). [Move file.fmp12](https://the.fmsoup.org/uploads/short-url/jXvJg6PRV953V0Pju8bvefmetsr.fmp12) (348 KB) In this file you can choose a file, save it to another folder and delete the original file. ---
**Author:** ![bdbd](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/the.fmsoup.org/bdbd/32/620_2.png) [@bdbd](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/bdbd)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 12:48pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/8 "2024-01-20T12:48:40Z")
Um… no one suggested "Insert File"? It's native and doesn't it do exactly what @OliverBarrett is looking for? ---
**Author:** ![cheesus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/the.fmsoup.org/cheesus/32/182_2.png) [@cheesus](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/cheesus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 4:19pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/9 "2024-01-20T16:19:51Z")
That's exactly how my example file works. But I must admit, that I posted it only 6 minutes before your answer. So maybe you didn't have the time to look into it. ---
**Author:** ![OliverBarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@OliverBarrett](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/OliverBarrett)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/10 "2024-01-20T18:06:41Z")
I was looking for having FileMaker give me a "file picker" dialog that would return the path to the file. Reading the documentation, it doesn't seem that's what INSERT FILE does. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![bdbd](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/the.fmsoup.org/bdbd/32/620_2.png) [@bdbd](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/bdbd)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 6:25pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/11 "2024-01-20T18:25:58Z")
Selecting the reference storage option in the dialog options gives you the path to the file. And the GetContainerAttribute function can also get you the path to the file. ---
**Author:** ![OliverBarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@OliverBarrett](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/OliverBarrett)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/12 "2024-01-20T19:00:55Z")
Thanks. I'll have to play with this a bit. There aren't any containers in this use-case; just trying to get the file path from a picker. Appreciate your follow up. ---
**Author:** ![steve\_ssh](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/the.fmsoup.org/steve_ssh/32/160_2.png) [@steve\_ssh](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/steve_ssh)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/13 "2024-01-20T19:17:02Z")
If you select the option to write the result to a variable, I believe you should wind up with path data written to the specified variable. Then, if there is need to convert the path from the native FMP format, you can use the [ConvertFromFileMakerPath](https://help.claris.com/en/pro-help/content/convert-from-filemaker-path.html) function. ---
**Author:** ![jwilling](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/the.fmsoup.org/jwilling/32/256_2.png) [@jwilling](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/jwilling)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 11:07pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/how-do-you-present-a-select-file-dialog/3918/14 "2024-01-22T23:07:21Z")
Ohhhhh, I didn't realize you could get just the path from Insert File!