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How to read the value of a register key ?

I have the defined a registry key with the following value:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Systemtipp\2011\DirPath = "C:\Programfiler\Systemtipp2011".

What I want is to read this value from my Visual C++ 2003 program using .NET-functionality, and to be able to use this information to open files on the given directory (with a given sub-directory called "systems" directly beneath \Systemtipp2011\.).

I have tried to use the RegistryKey with different methods, but all of them are giving me errors.
Anyone who have a code example to show me how to do this ?

In the attached code snippet I have tried to solve it, but without any luck. The code compiles OK, but when I try to run it the last line fails with the error :  "Object reference not set to an object instance".

I'm using the following namespaces:

      using namespace System;
      using namespace System::ComponentModel;
      using namespace System::Collections;
      using namespace System::Windows::Forms;
      using namespace System::Data;
      using namespace System::Drawing;
      using namespace System::IO;
      using namespace System::Runtime::InteropServices;
      using namespace System::Collections;
      using namespace System::Security::Permissions;
      using namespace Microsoft::Win32;

So - what have I done wrong (or don't understood) here ? :-(

RegistryKey* SysPtr = dynamic_cast<RegistryKey*>(Registry::LocalMachine->GetValue(S"\\SOFTWARE\\Systemtipp\\2011\\DirPath"));

textBox14->Text = SysPtr->ToString;

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r3nder
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Try something like this
CString ReadProxyServer()
{
	CString cSvar = _T("");
	HKEY hKey;
	if (::RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, _T("Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Currentversion\\Internet Settings"),
				0, KEY_QUERY_VALUE, &hKey) == ERROR_SUCCESS)
	{
		TCHAR szData[256];
		DWORD dwKeyDataType;
		DWORD dwDataBufSize = 256;
		if (::RegQueryValueEx(hKey, _T("ProxyServer"), NULL, &dwKeyDataType, // /"ProxyServer"
				(LPBYTE) &szData, &dwDataBufSize) == ERROR_SUCCESS)
		{
			switch ( dwKeyDataType )
			{
				case REG_SZ:
					cSvar = CString(szData);
					break;
			}
		}
		::RegCloseKey( hKey );
	}
	return cSvar;
}

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SOLUTION
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AndyAinscow
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Yes - did you verify as well
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toyboy61

ASKER

r3nder: I looked up "Using CString" on msdn.microsoft.com, and it is only referenced for Visual Studio 2005, 2008 and 2010. Does that mean that it is not supported for Visual Studio 2003 ?

r3nder & AndyAinscow: I created the registry key (as mentioned in my first posting) using "regedit". So the key should be there, but it seems  that my call returns null. But why ?



Avatar of toyboy61
toyboy61

ASKER

r3nder: I tried to build the attached code snippet.
The following errors occured:
Form1.h(1418) : error C2146: syntax error : missing ';' before identifier 'ReadRegistryKey'
Form1.h(1418) : error C2501: 'Systemtipp2011::Form1::CString' : missing storage-class or type specifiers
Form1.h(1441) : warning C4183: 'ReadRegistryKey': missing return type; assumed to be a member function returning 'int'.

So what do I do now ??

1418: CString ReadRegistryKey()
1419: {
1420:	CString cSvar = _T("");
1421:	HKEY hKey;
1422:	if (::RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, _T("Software\\Systemtipp\\2011\\DirPath"),
1423:				0, KEY_QUERY_VALUE, &hKey) == ERROR_SUCCESS)
1424:	{
1425:		TCHAR szData[256];
1426:		DWORD dwKeyDataType;
1427:		DWORD dwDataBufSize = 256;
1428:		if (::RegQueryValueEx(hKey, _T("DirPath"), NULL, &dwKeyDataType, // /"ProxyServer"
1429:				(LPBYTE) &szData, &dwDataBufSize) == ERROR_SUCCESS)
1430:		{
1431:			switch ( dwKeyDataType )
1432:			{
1433:				case REG_SZ:
1434:					cSvar = CString(szData);
1435:					break;
1436:			}
1437:		}
1438:		::RegCloseKey( hKey );
1439:	}
1440:	return cSvar;
1441: }

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SOLUTION
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I cant tell you about 2003 - I use 8
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toyboy61

ASKER

AndyAinscow: When I checked my original code I found that SysPtr has an undefined value after the statement given below was executed.

Does that mean that my statement "RegistryKey* SysPtr = dynamic_cast<RegistryKey*>(Registry::LocalMachine->GetValue(S"\\SOFTWARE\\Systemtipp\\2011\\DirPath"));" is invalid, even though the compiler accepts it ? How can I access this value using .NET (Framework 1.1) ?

Using regedit I created the following value in the key:
MyComputer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Systemtipp\2011\DirPath ==> C:\Programfiler\Systemtipp2011.

r3nder: I  said in my initial question that I want a solution using Visual Studio 2003 with .NET-functionality (which means "managed code" - based on the .NET 1.1 Framework..).

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I did solve the problem myself after getting some example code from r3nder which I could use as a guidance to create my own code.

But also comments from AndyAinscow directed me in the correct direction..