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MsiGetComponentPathExA function (msi.h)

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The MsiGetComponentPathEx function returns the full path to an installed component. If the key path for the component is a registry key then the function returns the registry key.

This function extends the existing MsiGetComponentPath function to enable searches for components across user accounts and installation contexts.

Syntax

INSTALLSTATE MsiGetComponentPathExA(
  [in]                LPCSTR            szProductCode,
  [in]                LPCSTR            szComponentCode,
  [in, optional]      LPCSTR            szUserSid,
  [in, optional]      MSIINSTALLCONTEXT dwContext,
  [out, optional]     LPSTR             lpOutPathBuffer,
  [in, out, optional] LPDWORD           pcchOutPathBuffer
);

Parameters

[in] szProductCode

A null-terminated string value that specifies an application's product code GUID. The function gets the path of installed components used by this application.

[in] szComponentCode

A null-terminated string value that specifies a component code GUID. The function gets the path of an installed component having this component code.

[in, optional] szUserSid

A null-terminated string value that specifies the security identifier (SID) for a user in the system. The function gets the paths of installed components of applications installed under the user accounts identified by this SID. The special SID string s-1-1-0 (Everyone) specifies all users in the system. If this parameter is NULL, the function gets the path of an installed component for the currently logged-on user only.

SID type Meaning
NULL
 Specifies the currently logged-on user.
User SID
 Specifies a particular user in the system. An example of an user SID is "S-1-3-64-2415071341-1358098788-3127455600-2561".
s-1-1-0
 Specifies all users in the system.
 
Note  The special SID string s-1-5-18 (System) cannot be used to search applications installed in the per-machine installation context. Setting the SID value to s-1-5-18 returns ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER. When dwContext is set to MSIINSTALLCONTEXT_MACHINE only, szUserSid must be NULL.
 

[in, optional] dwContext

A flag that specifies the installation context. The function gets the paths of installed components of applications installed in the specified installation context. This parameter can be a combination of the following values.

Context Meaning
MSIINSTALLCONTEXT_USERMANAGED
1
 Include applications installed in the per–user–managed installation context.
MSIINSTALLCONTEXT_USERUNMANAGED
2
 Include applications installed in the per–user–unmanaged installation context.
MSIINSTALLCONTEXT_MACHINE
4
 Include applications installed in the per-machine installation context. When dwInstallContext is set to MSIINSTALLCONTEXT_MACHINE only, the szUserSID parameter must be NULL.

[out, optional] lpOutPathBuffer

A string value that receives the path to the component. This parameter can be NULL. If the component is a registry key, the registry roots are represented numerically. If this is a registry subkey path, there is a backslash at the end of the Key Path. If this is a registry value key path, there is no backslash at the end. For example, a registry path on a 32-bit operating system of HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft is returned as "01:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft". The registry roots returned on 32-bit operating systems are defined as shown in the following table.

Note  On 64-bit operating systems, a value of 20 is added to the numerical registry roots in this table to distinguish them from registry key paths on 32-bit operating systems. For example, a registry key path of HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft is returned as "21:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\", if the component path is a registry key on a 64-bit operating system.
 
Root Meaning
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
 00
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
 01
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
 02
HKEY_USERS
 03

[in, out, optional] pcchOutPathBuffer

Pointer to a location that receives the size of the buffer, in TCHAR, pointed to by the szPathBuf parameter. The value in this location should be set to the count of TCHAR in the string including the terminating null character. If the size of the buffer is too small, this parameter receives the length of the string value without including the terminating null character in the count.

Return value

The MsiGetComponentPathEx function returns the following values.

Value Meaning
INSTALLSTATE_NOTUSED
 The component being requested is disabled on the computer.
INSTALLSTATE_BADCONFIG
 Configuration data is corrupt.
INSTALLSTATE_ABSENT
 The component is not installed.
INSTALLSTATE_INVALIDARG
 One of the function parameters is invalid.
INSTALLSTATE_LOCAL
 The component is installed locally.
INSTALLSTATE_SOURCE
 The component is installed to run from source.
INSTALLSTATE_SOURCEABSENT
 The component source is inaccessible.
INSTALLSTATE_UNKNOWN
 The product code or component ID is unknown.
INSTALLSTATE_BROKEN
 The component is corrupt or partially missing in some way and requires repair.

Remarks

The MsiGetComponentPathEx function might return INSTALLSTATE_ABSENT or INSTALL_STATE_UNKNOWN, for the following reasons:

  • INSTALLSTATE_ABSENT

    The application did not properly ensure that the feature was installed by calling MsiUseFeature and, if necessary, MsiConfigureFeature.

  • INSTALLSTATE_UNKNOWN

    The feature is not published. The application should have determined this earlier by calling MsiQueryFeatureState or MsiEnumFeatures. The application makes these calls while it initializes. An application should only use features that are known to be published. Since INSTALLSTATE_UNKNOWN should have been returned by MsiUseFeature as well, either MsiUseFeature was not called, or its return value was not properly checked.

Note

The msi.h header defines MsiGetComponentPathEx as an alias that automatically selects the ANSI or Unicode version of this function based on the definition of the UNICODE preprocessor constant. Mixing usage of the encoding-neutral alias with code that is not encoding-neutral can lead to mismatches that result in compilation or runtime errors. For more information, see Conventions for Function Prototypes.

Requirements

Requirement Value
Minimum supported client Windows Installer 5.0 on Windows Server 2012, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7. See the Windows Installer Run-Time Requirements for information about the minimum Windows service pack that is required by a Windows Installer version.
Target Platform Windows
Header msi.h
Library Msi.lib
DLL Msi.dll

See also

Component-Specific Functions