How to read value of a registry key c#

C#Registry

C# Problem Overview


At start up of my application I am trying to see if the user has a specific version of a software installed, specifically the MySQL connector, all using c#. In the registry, the MySQL contains a version entry. So what I am trying to accomplish is this.

My app starts up. Somewhere in the start up code I need to do the following things in order. Check to see if the user has the MySQL connector installed, which is located at...

> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\MySQL AB\MySQL Connector/Net

If the user has the connector installed, I wanted to check what version they have, which is stored as Name = "Version" and Data = x.x.x (Picture below)

Now if the user has a specific version installed, then I will execute other code, which is where I can take from.

What would be the best way of going about this?

enter image description here

EDIT: Below is the code I currently have and I am getting an error on line 19 (It is commented). My error says "error CS1001: Identifier Expected" I wasnt able to figure out what that means. Any help?

using System;
using Microsoft.Win32;
using System.Data;

public class regTest
{
	public static void Main()
	{
		try
		{
			RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("Software\\Wow6432Node\\MySQL AB\\MySQL Connector\\Net");
			if (key != null)
			{
				Object o = key.GetValue("Version");
				if (o != null)
				{
            		Version version = new Version(o as String);  //"as" because it's REG_SZ...otherwise ToString() might be safe(r)
            		Version broken = new Version("6.7.4");
            		if (version.Equals.(broken)) //This is where the error is occuring
            		{
            			DataSet dataSet = ConfigurationManager.GetSection("system.data") as ystem.Data.DataSet;

            			DataView vi = dataSet.Tables[0].DefaultView;
            			vi.Sort = "Name";
            			if (vi.Find("MySql") == -1)
            			{
            				dataSet.Tables[0].Rows.Add("MySql"
            					, "MySql.Data.MySqlClient"
            					, "MySql.Data.MySqlClient"
            					,
            					typeof(MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlClientFactory).AssemblyQualifiedName);
            			}

            		}
            		
            	}
            }
        }

		catch (Exception ex)  //just for demonstration...it's always best to handle specific exceptions
		{
   			 //react appropriately
		}
	}
}

C# Solutions


Solution 1 - C#

You need to first add using Microsoft.Win32; to your code page.

Then you can begin to use the Registry classes:

try
{
    using (RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("Software\\Wow6432Node\\MySQL AB\\MySQL Connector\\Net"))
    {
        if (key != null)
        {
            Object o = key.GetValue("Version");
            if (o != null)
            {
                Version version = new Version(o as String);  //"as" because it's REG_SZ...otherwise ToString() might be safe(r)
                //do what you like with version
            }
        }
    }
}
catch (Exception ex)  //just for demonstration...it's always best to handle specific exceptions
{
    //react appropriately
}

BEWARE: unless you have administrator access, you are unlikely to be able to do much in LOCAL_MACHINE. Sometimes even reading values can be a suspect operation without admin rights.

Solution 2 - C#

@DonBoitnott have a good code, but require admin rights. I use this (only need Read Rights)

 try
 {
      using (var key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("Software\\Wow6432Node\\MySQL AB\\MySQL Connector\\Net", false)) // False is important!
      {
           var s = key?.GetValue("Version") as string;
           if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(s))
           {
                var version = new Version(s);
           }
      }
 }
 catch (Exception ex)  //just for demonstration...it's always best to handle specific exceptions
 {
      //react appropriately
 }

Solution 3 - C#

Change:

using (RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("Software\\Wow6432Node\\MySQL AB\\MySQL Connector\\Net"))

To:

 using (RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("Software\Wow6432Node\MySQL AB\MySQL Connector\Net"))

Attributions

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Content TypeOriginal AuthorOriginal Content on Stackoverflow
QuestionScalahansoloView Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - C#DonBoitnottView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - C#Victor SanchezView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - C#ManuelView Answer on Stackoverflow