How can I get the value of a registry key using a batch script?

Question

I have a batch script like this (which i was able to derive from Open a file in Visual Studio at a specific line number ). Can any one tell me how to to pass the registry key of devenev i.e.( HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\devenv.exe), so that i dont have to give the path as D:\Progra....and that it can be run on any pc with visual studio installed. Thanks in advance.

@echo off

cd /d D:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE

devenv /Command "Edit.Goto 83" "E:\examples\A.cpp"

@echo off

Answer 1

for /f "tokens=3*" %%x in ('reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\devenv.exe"') do set DEVENV="%%x %%y"
%DEVENV% /Command "Edit.Goto 83" "E:\examples.A.cpp"

One caveat - if you have more than one edition of VS installed, this will launch the version which was most recently installed.

More generically:

set REGKEY="HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\BI\Science\AB\exenamehere.exe"
set CPPFILE=C:\SomePathHere\foo.cpp

for /f "tokens=3*" %%x in ('reg query "%REGKEY%"') do set EXE="%%x %%y"
%EXE% /AnyOtherParamsHere "%CPPFILE%"

You could also accept a command line argument like so (ideally there would be error handling as well). %1 is the first argument, %2 would be the second, on up through 9. Taking more than 9 parameters is certainly possible, but is beyond the scope of this question.

set REGKEY="HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\BI\Science\AB\exenamehere.exe"
set FILENAME=%1

for /f "tokens=3*" %%x in ('reg query "%REGKEY%"') do set EXE="%%x %%y"
%EXE% /AnyOtherParamsHere %FILENAME%

If the path to your file has spaces in it, you'll need to quote them when you run this batch file (e.g., mybatch.cmd "C:\path with spaces\foo.cpp").

Also, don't forget to mark this as the answer if you've found it useful. :-)

Answer 2

@ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL 
FOR /F "tokens=2*" %%A IN (
   'REG QUERY "HKLM\SSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths" /v devenv.exe'
) DO (set vs9dir=%%B)
ECHO %vs9dir%

should return your value - in theory. I can't verify as I don't have VS.

Answer 3

You can try this, it might work:

for /f "tokens=3*" %%i in ('reg query "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\devenv.exe"^|find "<NO NAME>"') do set "key=%%j"
echo "%key%"