How do I programatically get the version of a dll or exe?

Question

I need to get the product version and file version for a dll or exe using Win32 native APIs in C or C++. I'm not looking for the Windows version, but the version numbers that you see by right-clicking on a dll, selecting "Properties", then looking at the "Details" tab. This is usually a four-part dotted version number x.x.x.x.

Answer 1

Those sorts of things are often stored in the registry.

Answer 2

Found these articles...sorry, but I don't have direct experience with how to do this using native APIs, so I deferred to an Internet search:

• C++: Determining the version number of a DLL or Executable
• VB (probably version 6): How to Use Functions in VERSION.DLL

Hope these help!

Answer 3

GetFileVersionInfo()

Answer 4

The easiest way is to use the GetFileVersionInfoEx or GetFileVersionInfo API functions.

You can also do it from within your application resources as explained here.

Answer 5

[Self-answering, since it took me a lot of Googling to get the right answer to this question, and right now the top Google hits are misleading.]

You get this information using the Version Information APIs (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms646981.aspx). Here is a sample:

void PrintFileVersion( TCHAR *pszFilePath )
{
    DWORD               dwSize              = 0;
    BYTE                *pbVersionInfo      = NULL;
    VS_FIXEDFILEINFO    *pFileInfo          = NULL;
    UINT                puLenFileInfo       = 0;

    // get the version info for the file requested
    dwSize = GetFileVersionInfoSize( pszFilePath, NULL );
    if ( dwSize == 0 )
    {
        printf( "Error in GetFileVersionInfoSize: %d\n", GetLastError() );
        return;
    }

    pbVersionInfo = new BYTE[ dwSize ];

    if ( !GetFileVersionInfo( pszFilePath, 0, dwSize, pbVersionInfo ) )
    {
        printf( "Error in GetFileVersionInfo: %d\n", GetLastError() );
        delete[] pbVersionInfo;
        return;
    }

    if ( !VerQueryValue( pbVersionInfo, TEXT("\\"), (LPVOID*) &pFileInfo, &puLenFileInfo ) )
    {
        printf( "Error in VerQueryValue: %d\n", GetLastError() );
        delete[] pbVersionInfo;
        return;
    }

    // pFileInfo->dwFileVersionMS is usually zero. However, you should check
    // this if your version numbers seem to be wrong

    printf( "File Version: %d.%d.%d.%d\n",
        ( pFileInfo->dwFileVersionLS >> 24 ) & 0xff,
        ( pFileInfo->dwFileVersionLS >> 16 ) & 0xff,
        ( pFileInfo->dwFileVersionLS >>  8 ) & 0xff,
        ( pFileInfo->dwFileVersionLS >>  0 ) & 0xff
        );

    // pFileInfo->dwProductVersionMS is usually zero. However, you should check
    // this if your version numbers seem to be wrong

    printf( "Product Version: %d.%d.%d.%d\n",
        ( pFileInfo->dwProductVersionLS >> 24 ) & 0xff,
        ( pFileInfo->dwProductVersionLS >> 16 ) & 0xff,
        ( pFileInfo->dwProductVersionLS >>  8 ) & 0xff,
        ( pFileInfo->dwProductVersionLS >>  0 ) & 0xff
        );

}