tkinter askopenfilenames does not work in Windows library folder

[tegavu]

BPO	18877
Nosy	@terryjreedy, @serhiy-storchaka, @AJNeufeld
Superseder	bpo-3015: tkinter with wantobjects=False has been broken for some time
Files	tkinter_Tkapp_CallResult.patch

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = 'https://github.com/serhiy-storchaka'
closed_at = <Date 2013-12-19.07:57:04.233>
created_at = <Date 2013-08-29.18:52:47.670>
labels = ['type-bug', 'expert-tkinter', 'OS-windows']
title = 'tkinter askopenfilenames does not work in Windows library folder'
updated_at = <Date 2014-05-13.20:32:56.267>
user = 'https://bugs.python.org/tegavu'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2014-05-13.20:32:56.267>
actor = 'AJNeufeld'
assignee = 'serhiy.storchaka'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2013-12-19.07:57:04.233>
closer = 'serhiy.storchaka'
components = ['Tkinter', 'Windows']
creation = <Date 2013-08-29.18:52:47.670>
creator = 'tegavu'
dependencies = []
files = ['31768']
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 18877
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 7.0
messages = ['196479', '196590', '197761', '197762', '197768', '206588', '218484']
nosy_count = 4.0
nosy_names = ['terry.reedy', 'serhiy.storchaka', 'tegavu', 'AJNeufeld']
pr_nums = []
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'duplicate'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = '3015'
type = 'behavior'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue18877'
versions = ['Python 3.3', 'Python 3.4']

[tegavu]

Using Python 3.3 on W7x64 I wanted to create a file dialog that allows me to select multiple files.
The code below is an example of how to re-create the bug.

# -- coding: iso-8859-15 --
# Python 3

import tkinter 
import tkinter.filedialog  

def callback():
    name = tkinter.filedialog.askopenfilenames() 
    print(name)
     
tkinter.Button(text='File Open', command=callback).pack()
tkinter.mainloop()

---

THE PROBLEM:
When selecting any file in the windows library\* folders (those: http://beingpc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/How-to-Change-the-Windows-7-Library-Icon.jpg ) the return value that will be printed is always {}.
tkinter.filedialog.askopenfilename() (without the 's') works fine also in those directories.

Can anyone reproduce this behavior?

[terryjreedy]

There was a issue about people not being able to open windows 'library' files from Idle, but it was determined not to be an Idle problem. I cannot find it now. The outcome may have been that this was presumed to be a tk bug, but your report about the alternate dialog is interesting. it.

[serhiy-storchaka]

I guess tkinter.wantobjects is 0 for you?

[serhiy-storchaka]

This patch should fix the issue (as many other issues).

[serhiy-storchaka]

See also bpo-3015 and bpo-5712.

[serhiy-storchaka]

Already applied in bpo-3015.

[AJNeufeld]

I'd like this issue to be reopened. It does not appear resolved. It is different from the wantobjects=False issue.

Windows 7 has 'libraries' which are folders containing the contents of more than one folder. For instance, on my computer
> Libraries > Documents
presents the contents of the following 2 folders simultaneously:
C:\Users\aneufeld\Documents
C:\Users\Public\Documents

If you execute the script listed in the original bug report, press the [File Open] button, press "Libraries" from the left bar, double click "Documents" in the main area, and select one or more *FILES* in the displayed list of files, I get back:
('',)

On the other hand, if I press "Computer" on the left bar, and navigate through "C:", "Users", "aneufeld", "My Documents", and select the SAME FILES, I get back:
('C:/Users/aneufeld/Documents/timelog.txt', 'C:/Users/aneufeld/Documents/notes.txt')

From the "> Libraries > Documents" folder, if you navigate into any real folder, the problem goes away. For example, with the folder ATS in My Documents, press the [File Open] button, press "Libraries" from the left bar, double click "Documents" in the main area, double click ATS, and select the two files, I get:
('C:/Users/aneufeld/Documents/ATS/readme.txt', 'C:/Users/aneufeld/Documents/ATS/Changes.txt')

The issue is, when the file "Foo.txt" is selected in a Library folder, such as "Documents", the dialog does not know if that file should be:
C:/Users/aneufeld/Documents/Foo.txt
or
C:/Users/Public/Documents/Foo.txt
and returns a null string for the filename.