# \`file.choose()\` in \`Julia\`?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703>\
**Category:** New to Julia\
**Tags:** filesystem, io, gui\
**Created:** [October 13, 2021, 5:15pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703 "2021-10-13T17:15:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Alex\_Tantos](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/alex_tantos/32/10636_2.png) [@Alex\_Tantos](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Alex_Tantos)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 5:15pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/1 "2021-10-13T17:15:07Z")

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Hi!

Is there a function in `Julia` similar to `file.choose()` in `R` or `tkinter.askopenfilename()` in `python` that allows to browse through the filesystem and returns a path string? I searched a bit, but did not come across anything like that for `Julia`.

Thanks!

Alex

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**Author:** ![Jeff\_Emanuel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jeff_emanuel/32/15440_2.png) [@Jeff\_Emanuel](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Jeff_Emanuel)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/2 "2021-10-13T17:17:17Z")

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> [@Choose a file interactively](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/choose-a-file-interactively/10910):
>
> In R, the function file.choose() exists to choose files interactively. This is nice when sharing code with someone who is not a programmer. Is there anything similar in Julia?

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**Author:** ![Ahmed\_Salih](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ahmed_salih/32/206579_2.png) [@Ahmed\_Salih](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Ahmed_Salih)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/3 "2021-10-13T17:17:53Z")

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Hi Alex!

A similar question was posted here [How do you open a "Choose File" prompt from Julia? - #3 by Iulian.Cioarca](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-do-you-open-a-choose-file-prompt-from-julia/41748/3)

Only 1 year old, perhaps it helps

@Jeff_Emanuel beat me to it! (Another post albeit) 😃

Kind regards

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**Author:** ![Alex\_Tantos](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/alex_tantos/32/10636_2.png) [@Alex\_Tantos](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Alex_Tantos)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 5:30pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/4 "2021-10-13T17:30:58Z")

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Thank you both, @Jeff_Emanuel and @Ahmed_Salih ! However, while installing `Gtk` lots of useful packages, such as `DataFrames` and `ScientificTypes` and `MLJ`, have been seriously downgraded and I need the functionality of the newer versions. So, I was forced to uninstall `Gtk`. Is there any other alternative to `Gtk`?  
Here are the specs of my machine, if there is anything to see in them that helps…

 ![Screenshot 2021-10-13 at 8.29.26 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/6/9/69a25c224dade3264032a86489cdca143312a5ad.png)

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**Author:** ![Jeff\_Emanuel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jeff_emanuel/32/15440_2.png) [@Jeff\_Emanuel](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Jeff_Emanuel)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/5 "2021-10-13T17:49:21Z")

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Maybe [https://github.com/barche/QML.jl](https://github.com/barche/QML.jl) works better for you.

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**Author:** ![stevengj](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stevengj/32/71_2.png) [@stevengj](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/stevengj)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/6 "2021-10-13T17:53:55Z")

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As noted in [another thread on the same topic](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/choose-a-file-interactively/10910/3), `Gtk.open_dialog("...some prompt...")` works, at the cost of pulling in a Gtk dependency.

Another possibility, as discussed in [Pluto.jl#350](https://github.com/fonsp/Pluto.jl/issues/350), would be to wrap this library (or similar) in a JLL (binary package) and then write a Julia wrapper: [https://github.com/mlabbe/nativefiledialog](https://github.com/mlabbe/nativefiledialog) … or perhaps even to re-implement/port it to native Julia with `ccall`.

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**Author:** ![Alex\_Tantos](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/alex_tantos/32/10636_2.png) [@Alex\_Tantos](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Alex_Tantos)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/7 "2021-10-13T18:47:51Z")

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Thanks @stevengj ! I can see the logic…but I am a simple language user. And if @fonsp says that he cannot do it, imagine a beginner that I am. 🙂  
[https://github.com/fonsp/Pluto.jl/issues/350#issuecomment-687776235](https://github.com/fonsp/Pluto.jl/issues/350#issuecomment-687776235)

I think that this sort of functionality would make everybody’s life much easier and would be cool to have around as an inbuilt utility.

Thanks though! If I find time (and that is a big IF) I can spend some time on that…

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**Author:** ![rafael.guerra](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/rafael.guerra/32/216610_2.png) [@rafael.guerra](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/rafael.guerra)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/8 "2021-10-13T20:00:39Z")

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> [@Alex\_Tantos](#):
>
> However, while installing `Gtk` lots of useful packages, such as `DataFrames` and `ScientificTypes` and `MLJ` , have been seriously downgraded

Fyi, all the latest versions of those packages could be installed in Win10 Julia 1.7.0-beta4 with no worries:

```julia
DataFrames v1.2.2
Gtk v1.1.9
MLJ v0.16.9
ScientificTypes v2.3.2

```

Packages dependencies are blackboxes to me but the `Gtk.open_dialog()` feature seems to be very useful, even essential, for more interactive code. So quite interested in your problem.

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**Author:** ![Jordan\_Cluts](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jordan_cluts/32/13753_2.png) [@Jordan\_Cluts](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Jordan_Cluts)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 8:20pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/9 "2021-10-13T20:20:36Z")

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I wrote [this](https://gist.github.com/jordancluts/31bd407f3f85a3557d9308313758625e) monstrosity a few years ago for my use on Windows. It shells out to PowerShell to create a file dialog then parses the results. Needed a tweak to get the `uigetfile` function working again (I’m using PS7 compared to PS5 when I wrote it) the others would probably need tweaks too. Obviously ugly and could be done better (I’m a much better Julia programmer now) but does get the job done (on Windows). I wonder how hard it’d be to whip up a package, atleast for a specific OS.

I haven’t used this code in a few years as I mostly work in notebooks now and so my filepaths are stored in a cell for convenience and reproducibility of the notebook.

edit to add that this doesn’t “open” the file it just returns the path as a string or an array of strings if you select multiple files. Makes it a tad easier to get a variable with your filepath in the REPL is all.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Alex\_Tantos](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/alex_tantos/32/10636_2.png) [@Alex\_Tantos](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Alex_Tantos)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 8:21pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/10 "2021-10-13T20:21:17Z")

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Thanks for letting me know, @rafael.guerra ! I will try installing 1.7 and will give you the heads up about anything new I learn about this.  
For the time being, am using and combining inline utilities such as `pwd()` and `split(read(`ls`, String), "\n")` to get back directories’ contents.

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**Author:** ![pdeffebach](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/pdeffebach/32/10320_2.png) [@pdeffebach](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/pdeffebach)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/11 "2021-10-13T20:25:14Z")

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There shouldn’t be a need to download 1.7 for this. That’s overkill (plus, 1.7 is still in beta). Most likely the downgrades are nothing to worry about.

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**Author:** ![Alex\_Tantos](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/alex_tantos/32/10636_2.png) [@Alex\_Tantos](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Alex_Tantos)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/12 "2021-10-13T20:26:22Z")

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Good for windows users! But, no luck for us, mac users…no PowerShell over here…

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**Author:** ![Alex\_Tantos](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/alex_tantos/32/10636_2.png) [@Alex\_Tantos](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Alex_Tantos)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/13 "2021-10-13T20:29:19Z")

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@pdeffebach Among other packages, for DataFrames it makes a difference. The downgrade is to a 0.X.X version, whereas the 1.X.X versions have been a major release. You are probably right that it could be an overkill, but I am ready to pay the price.

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**Author:** ![pdeffebach](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/pdeffebach/32/10320_2.png) [@pdeffebach](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/pdeffebach)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/14 "2021-10-13T20:35:47Z")

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That is indeed a big downgrade. But the resolver shouldn’t downgrade past a breaking version. I also don’t think the problem is 1.6 vs 1.7. I’m on 1.6 and can make the following environment just fine

```julia
(jl_q6koNG) pkg> st
      Status `/private/var/folders/hw/wyk0x5g92cb9w8xy3v7mm9lm0000gn/T/jl_q6koNG/Project.toml`
  [a93c6f00] DataFrames v1.2.2
  [4c0ca9eb] Gtk v1.1.9
  [add582a8] MLJ v0.16.9
  [321657f4] ScientificTypes v2.3.2

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Alex\_Tantos](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/alex_tantos/32/10636_2.png) [@Alex\_Tantos](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Alex_Tantos)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/15 "2021-10-13T20:41:54Z")

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Thanks for the testing @pdeffebach ! What you say and show sounds reasonable. But am wondering whether there is something wrong with my resolver that needs to be corrected. Do you think you could give me a hint as to where to start searching for this potential issue?  
ps: The downgrading happened in two other new installations, too. A side note is that I have all stable Julia releases since 1.3 on my machine. Do you think that would be a possible source of the problem?

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**Author:** ![pdeffebach](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/pdeffebach/32/10320_2.png) [@pdeffebach](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/pdeffebach)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 8:42pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/16 "2021-10-13T20:42:58Z")

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Can you post the output of `import Pkg; Pkg.status()`?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Alex\_Tantos](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/alex_tantos/32/10636_2.png) [@Alex\_Tantos](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Alex_Tantos)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 8:59pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/17 "2021-10-13T20:59:01Z")

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@pdeffebach Earlier, I installed a slightly newer version than the one I have had the problem with; so from Julia 1.6.1 to Julia 1.6.3 and I managed to install `Gtk` & `DataFrames` with no packages getting downgraded! So, these have been good news!  
After installing a new Julia, I guess there is point into doing `import Pkg; Pkg.status()`, since there not many packages installed right now.  
PS: An indirectly relevant question is the following: Is it the right strategy, when one does a fresh Julia installation, to do the following (that I also do to keep all the packages of the earlier version?): E.g. copy the `.julia/environments/v1.5` folder to `.julia/environments/v1.6`. Or is there another safer way to install all packages to a newer version? Thanks!

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**Author:** ![stevengj](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stevengj/32/71_2.png) [@stevengj](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/stevengj)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 9:31pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/18 "2021-10-13T21:31:10Z")

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> [@Alex\_Tantos](#):
>
> Good for windows users! But, no luck for us, mac users…no PowerShell over here…

You can use [`osascript` to do the same thing in macOS](https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/399510/select-file-from-command-line):

```sh
osascript -l JavaScript -e 'a=Application.currentApplication();a.includeStandardAdditions=true;a.chooseFile({withPrompt:"Please select a file to process:"}).toString()'

```

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**Author:** ![nilshg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/nilshg/32/2283_2.png) [@nilshg](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/nilshg)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2021, 5:49am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/19 "2021-10-14T05:49:08Z")

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Yes that’s perfectly fine. It seems to me that your problem is that you dump all your packages into the default environment, which then leads to a situation where there’s a third package other than Gtk and Dataframes which shares a dependency with them leading to some incompatibility. As others have shown, Gtk and DataFrames can happily coexist on the latest version on a new environment, so you should probably just create a fresh environment for what you’re trying to do, which will be a lot easier than trying to wrap some external library 🙂

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Alex\_Tantos](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/alex_tantos/32/10636_2.png) [@Alex\_Tantos](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Alex_Tantos)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2021, 7:04am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/file-choose-in-julia/69703/20 "2021-10-14T07:04:24Z")

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@nilshg That is what I am thinking of doing from now on. Thank you all for the responses and, more importantly, the patience!

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