Here is some pseudo-code to retrieve the following:
- If a registry key exists
- What the default value is for that registry key
- What a string value is
- What a DWORD value is
Example code:
Include the library dependency: Advapi32.lib
HKEY hKey;
LONG lRes = RegOpenKeyExW(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, L"SOFTWARE\\Perl", 0, KEY_READ, &hKey);
bool bExistsAndSuccess (lRes == ERROR_SUCCESS);
bool bDoesNotExistsSpecifically (lRes == ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND);
std::wstring strValueOfBinDir;
std::wstring strKeyDefaultValue;
GetStringRegKey(hKey, L"BinDir", strValueOfBinDir, L"bad");
GetStringRegKey(hKey, L"", strKeyDefaultValue, L"bad");
LONG GetDWORDRegKey(HKEY hKey, const std::wstring &strValueName, DWORD &nValue, DWORD nDefaultValue)
{
nValue = nDefaultValue;
DWORD dwBufferSize(sizeof(DWORD));
DWORD nResult(0);
LONG nError = ::RegQueryValueExW(hKey,
strValueName.c_str(),
0,
NULL,
reinterpret_cast<LPBYTE>(&nResult),
&dwBufferSize);
if (ERROR_SUCCESS == nError)
{
nValue = nResult;
}
return nError;
}
LONG GetBoolRegKey(HKEY hKey, const std::wstring &strValueName, bool &bValue, bool bDefaultValue)
{
DWORD nDefValue((bDefaultValue) ? 1 : 0);
DWORD nResult(nDefValue);
LONG nError = GetDWORDRegKey(hKey, strValueName.c_str(), nResult, nDefValue);
if (ERROR_SUCCESS == nError)
{
bValue = (nResult != 0) ? true : false;
}
return nError;
}
LONG GetStringRegKey(HKEY hKey, const std::wstring &strValueName, std::wstring &strValue, const std::wstring &strDefaultValue)
{
strValue = strDefaultValue;
WCHAR szBuffer[512];
DWORD dwBufferSize = sizeof(szBuffer);
ULONG nError;
nError = RegQueryValueExW(hKey, strValueName.c_str(), 0, NULL, (LPBYTE)szBuffer, &dwBufferSize);
if (ERROR_SUCCESS == nError)
{
strValue = szBuffer;
}
return nError;
}
In C# 5 and earlier, to give auto implemented properties an initial value, you have to do it in a constructor.
Since C# 6.0, you can specify initial value in-line. The syntax is:
public int X { get; set; } = x; // C# 6 or higher
DefaultValueAttribute is intended to be used by the VS designer (or any other consumer) to specify a default value, not an initial value. (Even if in designed object, initial value is the default value).
At compile time DefaultValueAttribute will not impact the generated IL and it will not be read to initialize the property to that value (see DefaultValue attribute is not working with my Auto Property).
Example of attributes that impact the IL are ThreadStaticAttribute, CallerMemberNameAttribute, ...
Best Answer
The .net way is to use Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey.OpenRemoteBaseKey.
An alternative would be to use WMI. There are lots of examples on Google for reading values; replacing GetStringValue with SetStringValue (or SetDWORDValue, etc.) should do what you want.