Getting the .NET Framework directory path - c#

How can I obtain the .NET Framework directory path inside my C# application?
The folder that I refer is "C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727"

The path to the installation directory of the CLR active for the current .NET application can be obtained by using the following method:
System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeEnvironment.GetRuntimeDirectory()
I would strongly advice against reading the registry directly. For example, when a .NET application is running in 64bit systems, the CLR can either be loaded from "C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727" (AnyCPU, x64 compilation targets) or from "C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727" (x86 compilation target). Reading registry will not tell you which one of the two directories was used by the current CLR.
Another important fact is that "the current CLR" will be "2.0" for .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0 and .NET 3.5 applications. This means that the GetRuntimeDirectory() call will return 2.0 directory even within .NET 3.5 applications (that load some of their assemblies from 3.5 directory). Depending on your interpretation of the term ".NET Framework directory path", GetRuntimeDirectory might not be the information you are looking for ("CLR directory" versus "directory from which 3.5 assemblies are coming from").

An easier way is to include the Microsoft.Build.Utilities assembly and use
using Microsoft.Build.Utilities;
ToolLocationHelper.GetPathToDotNetFramework(
TargetDotNetFrameworkVersion.VersionLatest);

You can grab it from the Windows Registry:
using System;
using Microsoft.Win32;
// ...
public static string GetFrameworkDirectory()
{
// This is the location of the .Net Framework Registry Key
string framworkRegPath = #"Software\Microsoft\.NetFramework";
// Get a non-writable key from the registry
RegistryKey netFramework = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(framworkRegPath, false);
// Retrieve the install root path for the framework
string installRoot = netFramework.GetValue("InstallRoot").ToString();
// Retrieve the version of the framework executing this program
string version = string.Format(#"v{0}.{1}.{2}\",
Environment.Version.Major,
Environment.Version.Minor,
Environment.Version.Build);
// Return the path of the framework
return System.IO.Path.Combine(installRoot, version);
}
Source

For .NET Framework versions >= 4.5, an official way from MSDN:
internal static class DotNetFrameworkLocator
{
public static string GetInstallationLocation()
{
const string subkey = #"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full\";
using (var ndpKey = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, RegistryView.Registry32).OpenSubKey(subkey))
{
if (ndpKey == null)
throw new Exception();
var value = ndpKey.GetValue("InstallPath") as string;
if (value != null)
return value;
else
throw new Exception();
}
}
}

Read value of the [HKLM]\Software\Microsoft.NetFramework\InstallRoot key - you will get "C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework". Then append with desired framework version.

Related

How to Check if Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable Installed on a Device

As the title says, I currently cannot find any answers for this problem.
I'm currently using C# to do the checking.
Mostly answers are for version 2013 and below.
If you guys have any suggestion, do share.
Thanks.
The basic answer is: Do not bother if it is there at runtime. Put it into your installer. Let it be executed as part of the normal "Elevated Rights required" Installation process.
If it was already there, the Installer will just do nothing.
If it was not there, it will now run under Administrator rights and be there afterwards.
If it was damaged, hopefully the installer will fix the installation.
If that somehow did not work, there is nothing your puny usercode can do to fix it at runtime. It is the administrators job.
Every installer does that, not the least of which are the Visual Studio and SQL Server ones. The only slight modification I know off is Steam, which runs those installers under Elevated rights before a program is executed for the first time. But that is just "making certain it is there" from a slightly different angle.
I only know one kind of programmer that does not do that: The one never tested his program on a freshly installed Windows (Virtual Machines work) and thus is not aware the requirements even exists (because every other program installs VC Redist and current DX versions).
It is hard to get all registry values for VC 2015 so I have written a small function which will go through all dependencies and match on specified version(C++ 2015 x86)
public static bool IsVC2015x86Installed()
{
string dependenciesPath = #"SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Dependencies";
using (RegistryKey dependencies = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(dependenciesPath))
{
if (dependencies == null) return false;
foreach (string subKeyName in dependencies.GetSubKeyNames().Where(n => !n.ToLower().Contains("dotnet") && !n.ToLower().Contains("microsoft")))
{
using (RegistryKey subDir = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(dependenciesPath + "\\" + subKeyName))
{
var value = subDir.GetValue("DisplayName")?.ToString() ?? null;
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) continue;
if (Regex.IsMatch(value, #"C\+\+ 2015.*\(x86\)")) //here u can specify your version.
{
return true;
}
}
}
}
return false;
}
Dependencies:
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using Microsoft.Win32;
EDIT:
C++ 2017 is valid replacement for C++ 2015 so if you want to check it as well edit the regex like this:
Regex.IsMatch(value, #"C\+\+ (2015|2017).*\(x86\)")
As mentioned in comments and answer, one way is to let the installer run and see if a more recent version is installed. The installer will display an error and quit.
If the installer is run with /quiet flag, then no error is being displayed. Other way is to simply check the registry values:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE[\Wow6432Node]\Microsoft\VisualStudio\vs-version\VC\Runtimes\{x86|x64|ARM} key
Here vs-version is the version of Visual Studio (14.0 for Visual Studio 2015 and 2017)
The key is ARM, x86 or x64 depending upon the platform.
The version number is stored in the REG_SZ string value Version. If the package being installed is less than the version of the installed, then no need to install.
More info here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/ide/redistributing-visual-cpp-files?view=vs-2017
I modified #ssamko 's Version to check for x64 and x86 redistributables. Hope it will help someone:
public static bool IsVC2015Installed()
{
string dependenciesPath = #"SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Dependencies";
using (RegistryKey dependencies = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(dependenciesPath))
{
if (dependencies == null) return false;
foreach (string subKeyName in dependencies.GetSubKeyNames().Where(n => !n.ToLower().Contains("dotnet") && !n.ToLower().Contains("microsoft")))
{
using (RegistryKey subDir = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(dependenciesPath + "\\" + subKeyName))
{
var value = subDir.GetValue("DisplayName")?.ToString() ?? null;
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
{
continue;
}
if (Environment.Is64BitOperatingSystem)
{
if (Regex.IsMatch(value, #"C\+\+ 2015.*\((x64|x86)\)"))
{
return true;
}
}
else
{
if (Regex.IsMatch(value, #"C\+\+ 2015.*\(x86\)"))
{
return true;
}
}
}
}
}
return false;
}
Dependencies:
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using Microsoft.Win32;

How can I find the version of .NET run-time programmatically?

I need a solution to give me the .NET run-time version of both the full framework as well as the .NET Core.
On a machine with the following .NET versions:
Full: 4.7.2
Core: 2.1.104
Running:
RuntimeInformation.FrameworkDescription
Gives me:
Full: .NET Framework 4.7.2558.0
Core: .NET Core 4.6.26212.01
Running:
Environment.Version
Gives me:
Full: 4.0.30319.42000
Core: 4.0.30319.42000
How can I accurately get the run-time versions across different platforms knowing that the registry option is not available outside Windows.
There isn't a unified way to do this yet, although there is an open request for this here that you can track. If you click through the various issues that reference that discussion and the issues referenced further downstream, you'll see there are also some bugs in some implementations right now, but there is active work (one of the issues had a related check-in just 8 hours ago).
For .NET Framework:
using System;
...
string ver = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.SetupInformation.TargetFrameworkName;
and for .NET Core:
using System.Reflection;
using System.Runtime.Versioning;
...
string ver = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly()?.GetCustomAttribute<TargetFrameworkAttribute>()?.FrameworkName;
Output:
.NETFramework,Version=v4.5.1
.NETCoreApp,Version=v2.0
Obviously these are a bit of a hassle to use programmatically, hence the requests for a better API (including this open issue from Microsoft discussing a new API specifically focused on testing for a minimum target framework).
The other piece of the puzzle that will probably always be impossible is that a given application can reference many targets. Under the hood you might be pulling in .NET Standard 2.x and .NET Standard 1.x libraries, for example. I doubt there will ever be a good way to get a complete picture of all the targets behind a given collection of executing assemblies...
If you want to know which version of .NET Framework is installed on a machine you should use the documented 'Release Key' Registry Key. That key is registered in the system when .NET Framework is installed.
This is publicly documented here:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/migration-guide/versions-and-dependencies
You have to write the code that will read that registry key and map it to an actual .NET Framework version. Here is code that does that for .NET Framework versions betwee 4.5 and 4.7.1. You can further customize that as you need to. (from https://github.com/dotnet/corefx/blob/master/src/CoreFx.Private.TestUtilities/src/System/PlatformDetection.NetFx.cs#L33)
private static Version GetFrameworkVersion()
{
using (RegistryKey ndpKey = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(#"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full"))
{
if (ndpKey != null)
{
int value = (int)(ndpKey.GetValue("Release") ?? 0);
if (value >= 528040)
return new Version(4, 8, 0);
if (value >= 461808)
return new Version(4, 7, 2);
if (value >= 461308)
return new Version(4, 7, 1);
if (value >= 460798)
return new Version(4, 7, 0);
if (value >= 394802)
return new Version(4, 6, 2);
if (value >= 394254)
return new Version(4, 6, 1);
if (value >= 393295)
return new Version(4, 6, 0);
if (value >= 379893)
return new Version(4, 5, 2);
if (value >= 378675)
return new Version(4, 5, 1);
if (value >= 378389)
return new Version(4, 5, 0);
throw new NotSupportedException($"No 4.5 or later framework version detected, framework key value: {value}");
}
throw new NotSupportedException(#"No registry key found under 'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full' to determine running framework version");
}
}
I know you said that you don't want to use the registry, however I recommend you use the registry path if you are running on .NET Framework (you can detect that by looking at the path where assembly containing System.Object is loaded from) as that is the recommended and supported way (we use the same inside the .NET Runtime when we need to check what version is installed on a machine).
For .NET Core there isn't a registry key you can check. However, you can use the location of the assembly that contains System.Object to identify the version on which your code is running on.
public static Version GetVersion()
{
string runtimePath = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(typeof(object).Assembly.Location);
// Making the assumption that the path looks like this
// C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App\2.0.6
string version = runtimePath.Substring(runtimePath.LastIndexOf('\\') + 1);
return new Version(version);
}
I faced a similar problem, for Inno Setup, I needed to find out if NET Core was installed and if so which version? Using the registry is not the way. For this reason, I reading console outputs:
/// <summary>
/// Detect installed NET Core version (major).
/// The method for .NET Framework applications and library when you need to know are the NETCore application running is possible
/// For NETCore application simple use Environment.Version Property
/// </summary>
/// <returns>
/// NET Core version or error code:
/// -1: some exception
/// -2: not installed or wrong dotnet prompt
/// -3: access file system problems
/// </returns>
[DllExport("GetNETCoreVersion", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
public static int GetNETCoreVersion()
{
try
{
//we need create and run .cmd file to make console output redirection to file with using ">" operator (OLD GOOD MS DOS)
string cmdFileName = Path.GetTempFileName() + ".cmd";
string versionFileName = Path.GetTempFileName();
//like: cmd dotnet --version with console output redirection to file "versionFileName"
//full command id: cmd dotnet --version >> "versionFileName"
File.WriteAllText(cmdFileName, "dotnet --version > " + versionFileName);
System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo
{
WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden,
WorkingDirectory = Path.GetDirectoryName(cmdFileName),
FileName = cmdFileName
};
System.Diagnostics.Process process = new System.Diagnostics.Process
{
StartInfo = startInfo
};
process.Start();
process.WaitForExit();
//after success dotnet --version >> "tempFileName", the "tempFileName" file must be exists and contains NET Core version
if (File.Exists(versionFileName))
{
string versionsinfo = File.ReadAllText(versionFileName);
File.Delete(versionsinfo);
//only major version is interested
versionsinfo = versionsinfo.Substring(0, versionsinfo.IndexOf("."));
int version = -2;
int.TryParse(versionsinfo, out version);
return version;
}
return -3;
}
catch
{
return -1;
}
}

Getting the Version of my C# app?

I am working on desktop application. I have create a setup.
Ex. My Application. Version is 1.0.0.
I want to get the current version of my desktop application which is 1.0.0. I have tried by using Application.ProductVersion but it provides the version of my controls. (I am using DevExpress Control15.2.7, so it provides the current version as 15.2.7).
How can I get the current version of the installed application? I want to compare it to the installed version to provide a "New Version Available" functionality for my product.
The info you are looking for is in AssemblyInfo.cs.
To access the info written in there at runtime you can use the System.Reflection.Assembly.
Use System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly() to get the assembly (that this line of code is in) or use System.Reflection.Assembly.GetEntryAssembly() to get the assembly your project started with (most likely this is your app).
In multi-project solutions this is something to keep in mind!
string version = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Version.ToString()
// returns 1.0.0.0
Corresponding AssemblyInfo.cs:
Corresponding EXE-properties:
This may be important when working with InstallShield (see comments) !
System.Reflection.Assembly executingAssembly = System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
var fieVersionInfo = FileVersionInfo.GetVersionInfo(executingAssembly .Location);
var version = fieVersionInfo.FileVersion;
Another approach, which is basically the same as the accepted answer, is:
Version appVersion = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Version;
versionLabel.Text = "v" + appVersion.Major + "." + appVersion.Minor + "." + appVersion.Build + ".";
Get the version of a specific assembly:
private const string AssemblyName = "MyAssembly"; // Name of your assembly
public Version GetVersion()
{
// Get all the assemblies currently loaded in the application domain.
Assembly[] assemblies = Thread.GetDomain().GetAssemblies();
for (int i = 0; i < assemblies.Length; i++)
{
if (string.Compare(assemblies[i].GetName().Name, AssemblyName) == 0)
{
return assemblies[i].GetName().Version;
}
}
return Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Version; // return current version assembly or return null;
}

How do I programmatically get the product (not assembly) version of a running program using C#?

I have a program that I have written and am trying to create an about box for. I recently updated my program's product version to 1.00.0003, and I want this to be reflected in the about window.
The default setup of the aboutBox shows a value of 1.0.0.0, which is the assembly version, not the product version. I have since been scouring the Internet to find how to get the product version to be shown. I have tried all of these:
{
Assembly assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
FileVersionInfo fileVersionInfo = FileVersionInfo.GetVersionInfo(assembly.Location);
string version = fileVersionInfo.ProductVersion;
Debug.WriteLine(version);
Debug.WriteLine(assembly.GetName().Version);
string v = VersionNumber;
Debug.WriteLine(v);
Debug.WriteLine( fileVersionInfo.FileVersion);
Debug.WriteLine(Application.ProductVersion);
Debug.WriteLine(AssemblyProductVersion);
Assembly assembly2 = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly();
FileVersionInfo fileVersionInfo2 = FileVersionInfo.GetVersionInfo(assembly.Location);
string version2 = fileVersionInfo2.ProductVersion;
Debug.WriteLine(version2);
Debug.WriteLine(assembly2.GetName().Version);
return version;
}
private string _ourVersion = "Version: v";
private string VersionNumber
{
get
{
System.Reflection.Assembly _assemblyInfo =
System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
if (System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationDeployment.IsNetworkDeployed)
_ourVersion += ApplicationDeployment.CurrentDeployment.CurrentVersion.ToString();
else
{
if (_assemblyInfo != null)
_ourVersion += _assemblyInfo.GetName().Version.ToString();
}
return _ourVersion;
}
}
private static string AssemblyProductVersion
{
get
{
object[] attributes = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly()
.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(AssemblyInformationalVersionAttribute), false);
return attributes.Length == 0 ?
"" :
((AssemblyInformationalVersionAttribute)attributes[0]).InformationalVersion;
}
}
Every single one of these returns 1.0.0.0 (yes, I did look for their output in the console, not what was actually displayed), instead 1.00.0003 like I need. The product version is set in the General Information tab of the InstallShield setup. When it is installed, going to Programs and Features shows a Product Version of 1.00.0003, so I cannot figure out why this is so hard to programmatically retrieve this value. Any ideas?
Your product version should match the assembly version - have a look at How to make Product Version property match executable's version number automatically
The version 1.00.0003 you want to retrieve is the version of the installer of your product. To get this version programmatically you need to inspect the installer (MSI file), not the installed files. I'm not sure that is what you want to do but there is a answer to the question Checking ProductVersion of an MSI programatically that explains how to do that.
If you want your executable files to contain the same version number you need to store the version number in some way either using a .NET attribute like AssemblyFileVersion or a Windows VERSIONINFO resource.
InstallShield allows you to specify the product version on the command line. This allows you to store your product version in a single file and then use that as the source of both the product version embedded in your installer as well as AssemblyFileVersion of your assemblies.
If only the installer knows about this version information, the only place you could retrieve it from would be the registry.
Uninstall Registry Key:
The following installer properties give the values written under the registry key:
VersionMinor Derived from ProductVersion property
VersionMajor Derived from ProductVersion property
Version Derived from ProductVersion property
But I'd go with #devdigital's (implied) suggestion - you ought to have one of the assembly versions actually matching your installer version.

How can you get the FrameworkName of the current running environment? [duplicate]

How can I get the current CLR Runtime version in a running .NET program ?
Check out the System.Environment.Version property.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.environment.version
Since .NET 4.5 you could just use System.Environment.Version (it would only return 4.0.{something}, allowing you to verify that you're "at least" on 4.0 but not telling you which actual version is available unless you can map a full list of build numbers in).
In .NET Core, and starting in .NET 4.7.1 of Framework, you can check System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation.FrameworkDescription
It returns a string with either: ".NET Core", ".NET Framework", or ".NET Native" before the version number -- so you have a little parsing to do if you just want the number.
Try Environment.Version to get that info. Also you may need to call ToString().
That works for me:
public static String GetRunningFrameworkVersion()
{
String netVer = Environment.Version;
Assembly assObj = typeof( Object ).GetTypeInfo().Assembly;
if ( assObj != null )
{
AssemblyFileVersionAttribute attr;
attr = (AssemblyFileVersionAttribute)assObj.GetCustomAttribute( typeof(AssemblyFileVersionAttribute) );
if ( attr != null )
{
netVer = attr.Version;
}
}
return netVer;
}
I compiled my .NET program for .NET 4.5 and it returns for running under .NET 4.8:
"4.8.4150.0"
If you just want to find out the version and don't need it to be parsed or of type Version, just do this:
Console.WriteLine(System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation.FrameworkDescription);
If your app is running via .Net Framework 4.7.2, it returns something like .NET Framework 4.7.3875.0.
If your app is running via .Net 6, it returns something like .NET 6.0.0-rtm.21522.10.

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