This is a small API that uses the native file chooser and folder browser dialogs on Windows if possible. It falls back to the Swing JFileChooser class if necessary.

JnaFileChooser fc = new JnaFileChooser();
fc.addFilter("All Files", "*");
fc.addFilter("Pictures", "jpg", "jpeg", "png", "gif", "bmp");
if (fc.showDialog(parent)) {
	File f = fc.getSelectedFile();
	// do something with f
}    

JnaFileChooser uses the awesome JNA library which enables access to native code with plain Java code, no JNI necessary.

JnaFileChooser consists of three modules: win32, api and demo.

The win32 module contains the low-level code which maps to the win32 API. You could use this code directly if you wish. It is a pretty straight-forward mapping of the relevant parts of the win32 API.

The api module contains the code you usually want to use. It defines three classes: JnaFileChooser, WindowsFileChooser and WindowsFolderBrowser. JnaFileChooser is a facade that uses the other two classes if possible or falls back to the JFileChooser. WindowsFileChooser and WindowsFolderBrowser are abstractions on top of the low-level code in the win32 module and represent the corresponding Windows common dialogs.

The demo module contains sample code.