Q240227: HOWTO: Capture the Path to the Windows and System Folders

Article: Q240227
Product(s): Microsoft FoxPro
Version(s): WINDOWS:3.0,3.0b,5.0,5.0a,6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbAPI kbvfp300b kbvfp500 kbvfp500a kbvfp600 kbGrpDSFox kbDSupport kbCodeSnippet
Last Modified: 01-SEP-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0b, 5.0, 5.0a, 6.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article illustrates how to use the GetWindowsDirectory and
GetSystemDirectory functions of the WIN32API to capture the paths to the Windows
and Windows\System directories.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Within some applications, it may be necessary to programmatically determine the
path to the WINDOWS and/or WINDOWS\SYSTEM directories. By default, Windows 95
and Windows 98 are installed to the WINDOWS directory. Similarly, the default
installation directory for Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 is the WINNT directory.
While those are default installation paths, users may change the path to which
the operating system files are copied.

The Visual FoxPro GETENV() function returns the contents of the specified MS-DOS
environment variable. Using this function, the path to the Windows directory may
be located by passing the function to the WINDIR environmental variable, which
Windows sets when it starts. The syntax for returning the path to the Windows
directory is

  =GETENV('windir')

The following code illustrates how to use the GetWindowsDirectory and
GetSystemDirectory functions of the WIN32API to return the paths to the Windows
and System directories.

The GetWindowsDirectory function returns the path of the Windows directory. Under
Windows 95 and Windows 98, the Windows directory would normally be C:\WINDOWS.
Using Windows NT 4.0, the Windows directory would usually be C:\WINNT.

The GetSystemDirectory function returns the path of the System directory. With
Windows 95 and Windows 98, that would normally be C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM. Under
Windows NT 4.0, the system files would normally be copied to C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32.

1. Create a program file named GDirs.PRG using the following code:

  #DEFINE MAX_PATH 260
  *!* Declare the GetWindowsDirectory function from the WIN32API
  DECLARE INTEGER GetWindowsDirectory IN kernel32.dll ;
      STRING @WinBuffer, INTEGER WinBuffLen
  lcWinBuffer = SPACE(MAX_PATH)
  *!* Get the path to the windows directory
  =GetWindowsDirectory(@lcWinBuffer, MAX_PATH)
  *!* Parse the null terminator from the returned string
  lcWinBuffer = LEFT(lcWinBuffer, AT(CHR(0), lcWinBuffer) - 1)

  *!* Declare the GetSystemDirectory function from the WIN32API
  DECLARE INTEGER GetSystemDirectory IN kernel32.dll ;
      STRING @SysBuffer, INTEGER SysBufferLen
  lcSysBuffer = SPACE(MAX_PATH)
  *!* Get the path to the system directory
  =GetSystemDirectory(@lcSysBuffer, MAX_PATH)
  *!* Parse the null terminator from the returned string
  lcSysBuffer = LEFT(lcSysBuffer, AT(CHR(0), lcSysBuffer) - 1)

  ? "Windows Directory = " + lcWinBuffer
  ? "System Directory  = " + lcSysBuffer
  CLEAR DLLS

2. Run the GDirs.prg file.

3. Note that the path to the Windows and the System directories appear on the
  screen.

REFERENCES
==========

(c) Microsoft Corporation 1999, All Rights Reserved. Contributions by John
Desch, Microsoft Corporation.


Additional query words: KBDSE

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Keywords          : kbAPI kbvfp300b kbvfp500 kbvfp500a kbvfp600 kbGrpDSFox kbDSupport kbCodeSnippet 
Technology        : kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbVFP300 kbVFP300b kbVFP500 kbVFP600 kbVFP500a
Version           : WINDOWS:3.0,3.0b,5.0,5.0a,6.0
Issue type        : kbhowto

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