Reading Data from the Registry
InstallShield 2020
Basic MSI Project
The AppSearch and RegLocator tables can read a value from the registry. To read the RegisteredOwner value mentioned above, add the following record to the AppSearch table, using the Direct Editor:
|
Field |
Value |
Comments |
|
Property |
REGISTERED_OWNER |
Must be a public property |
|
Signature_ |
registry_sig |
|
Next, add the following record to the RegLocator table:
|
Field |
Value |
Comments |
|
Signature_ |
registry_sig |
Same signature as above |
|
Root |
2 |
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE |
|
Key |
Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion |
|
|
Name |
RegisteredOwner |
|
|
Type |
2 |
Registry data |
After the AppSearch action runs, the REGISTERED_OWNER property will contain the data read from the registry. If the value is not found, the property will be undefined (empty).
For more information regarding the AppSearch and RegLocator tables, see the Windows Installer Help Library.
For Windows Installer-based projects, you can use the System Search Wizard to find data.
InstallScript MSI Project
With InstallScript, you can use the RegDBGetKeyValueEx function. For example, to read the RegisteredOwner value from the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion, you can use code similar to the following:
function readRegisteredOwner( )
STRING svRegisteredOwner;
NUMBER nvType, nvSize;
begin
RegDBSetDefaultRoot(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE);
RegDBGetKeyValueEx(
"Software\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion",
"RegisteredOwner",
nvType,
svRegisteredOwner,
nvSize);
MessageBox(
"Registered owner is: " + svRegisteredOwner,
INFORMATION);
end;
You can set a Windows Installer property equal to the value you read using the MsiSetProperty function.
See Also
Special Considerations for Searching the Registry at Run Time