Program files dir

Hello,

how can an application know at run time the complete path of the "Program files" directory, ( for all languages).

Also, is there a way to know the path of the start-menu directory where programs shorcuts are installed to be accessible from the START Windows menu?

Thanks a lot!

Marco


Marco Congedo, PhD

INRIA
(National Institute for Research in Informatics and Control)
Grenoble, France
Tel: +33 4 76615409
Fax: +33 4 76615454



Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

the path to program files is in the environment variable 'ProgramFiles'
and you can get the value by using the function GetEnvironmentVariable

Patrick

Marco Congedo wrote:
Hello,

how can an application know at run time the complete path of the "Program files" directory, ( for all languages).

Also, is there a way to know the path of the start-menu directory where programs shorcuts are installed to be accessible from the START Windows menu?

Thanks a lot!

Marco


Marco Congedo, PhD

INRIA
(National Institute for Research in Informatics and Control)
Grenoble, France
Tel: +33 4 76615409
Fax: +33 4 76615454



Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org


--
Applications Team Leader
t : +44 207 251 7920
f : +44 207 608 3592


Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

You have to use the API function SHGetSpecialFolderLocation.
For an example, have a look at:


--
Contribute to the SSL Effort. Visit

--
francois.piette (AT) overbyte (DOT) be
Author of ICS (Internet Component Suite, freeware)
Author of MidWare (Multi-tier framework, freeware)
http://www.overbyte.be



Message
From: "Marco Congedo" <loretabiofeedback (AT) yahoo (DOT) com>
To: <delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org>
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 10:50 AM
Subject: Program files dir


Hello,
>
how can an application know at run time the complete path of the "Program files" directory, ( for
all languages).
>
Also, is there a way to know the path of the start-menu directory where programs shorcuts are
installed to be accessible from the START Windows menu?
>
Thanks a lot!
>
Marco
>
>
Marco Congedo, PhD

INRIA
(National Institute for Research in Informatics and Control)
Grenoble, France
Tel: +33 4 76615409
Fax: +33 4 76615454
>
>

Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

>



Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

Hello Marco,
If you use the Project Jedi Code Library (www.delphi-jedi.org/) , there are
functions within for each of these.

GetProgramFilesFolder
returns the value of
HKEY_LCAL_MACHINE\SFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curren tVersion\ProgramFilesDir
which on my machine contains the value "C:\Program Files"

The location of the Start Menu can be found by calling the Win32 API
function SHGetSpecialFolderLocation (see the help in Help | Windows SDK).
You pass a value to this function indicating which special folder you want
to retrieve. the following list came from the help:

CSIDL_BITBUCKET Recycle bin ¾ file system directory containing file objects
in the user's recycle bin. The location of this directory is not in the
registry; it is marked with the hidden and system attributes to prevent the
user from moving or deleting it.
CSIDL_CNTRLS Control Panel ¾ virtual folder containing icons for the
control panel applications.
CSIDL_DESKTP Windows desktop ¾ virtual folder at the root of the name
space.
CSIDL_DESKTPDIRECTRY File system directory used to physically store file
objects on the desktop (not to be confused with the desktop folder itself).
CSIDL_DRIVES My Computer ¾ virtual folder containing everything on the local
computer: storage devices, printers, and Control Panel. The folder may also
contain mapped network drives.
CSIDL_FNTS Virtual folder containing fonts.
CSIDL_NETHD File system directory containing objects that appear in the
network neighborhood.
CSIDL_NETWRK Network Neighborhood ¾ virtual folder representing the top
level of the network hierarchy.
CSIDL_PERSNAL File system directory that serves as a common respository for
documents.
CSIDL_PRINTERS Printers folder ¾ virtual folder containing installed
printers.
CSIDL_PRGRAMS File system directory that contains the user's program groups
(which are also file system directories).
CSIDL_RECENT File system directory that contains the user's most recently
used documents.
CSIDL_SENDT File system directory that contains Send To menu items.
CSIDL_STARTMENU File system directory containing Start menu items.
CSIDL_STARTUP File system directory that corresponds to the user's Startup
program group.
CSIDL_TEMPLATES File system directory that serves as a common repository for
document templates.

Again you could also call the Project Jedi function GetStartupFolder to
return this value as well.

Hope this helps
Scott Kellish
SoftSystem Solutions, LLC
skellish (AT) softsystemsolutions (DOT) com


Message
From: "Marco Congedo" <loretabiofeedback (AT) yahoo (DOT) com>
To: <delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org>
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 4:50 AM
Subject: Program files dir


Hello,
>
how can an application know at run time the complete path of the "Program
files" directory, ( for all languages).
>
Also, is there a way to know the path of the start-menu directory where
programs shorcuts are installed to be accessible from the START Windows
menu?
>
Thanks a lot!
>
Marco
>
>
Marco Congedo, PhD

INRIA
(National Institute for Research in Informatics and Control)
Grenoble, France
Tel: +33 4 76615409
Fax: +33 4 76615454
>
>

Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

>



Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

agree with you there

Francois Piette wrote:
>>the path to program files is in the environment variable 'ProgramFiles'
>>and you can get the value by using the function GetEnvironmentVariable


I don't think it's the right way to get this information.
Special folders doesn't have the same name in all languages.
Better to use SHGetSpecialFolderLocation API as I explained in my previous message.

--
francois.piette (AT) overbyte (DOT) be
Author of ICS (Internet Component Suite, freeware)
Author of MidWare (Multi-tier framework, freeware)
http://www.overbyte.be



Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org


--
Applications Team Leader
t : +44 207 251 7920
f : +44 207 608 3592


Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org