JFileChooser select directory but show files

Question

I feel like there should be a simple way to do this but I can\'t figure it out. I have a JFileChooser that allows the user to select directories. I want to show all the file

Answer 1

The solution of overriding approveSelection can be annoying for certain users.

Sometimes, a user would just click on a file in a directory for no reason (even though she wants to select the directory and not the file). If that happens, the user would be (kind-a) stuck in the JFileChooser as the approveSelection will fail, even if she deselects the file. To avoid this annoyance, this is what I do:

JFileChooser fileChooser = new JFileChooser();

fileChooser.setFileSelectionMode(
        JFileChooser.FILES_AND_DIRECTORIES);

int option = fileChooser.showDialog(null,
        "Select Directory");

if (option == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {
    File f = fileChooser.getSelectedFile();
    // if the user accidently click a file, then select the parent directory.
    if (!f.isDirectory()) {
        f = f.getParentFile();
    }
    System.out.println("Selected directory for import " + f);
}

Selecting the directory, even when the user selected a file results in a better usability in my opinion.