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Check installed version of WinWord & Friends

Sometimes I called an installation routine silly that asked me, what word processor it should deal with on my system. A product I developed years ago had to use a lot of word processors and it had to use different version (you remember: WinWord 2, 6, 7, ..., Ami, WordPro, ...?). And of course, the installation routine should ask the system what's there.

First, the user is asked what processor should be used and then we search for it:

Declare Function FindExecutable Lib "shell.dll" (ByVal lpFile _
	As String, ByVal lpDirectory As String, _
	ByVal lpResult As String) As Long

Private Function GetExecutableFound(AppStr As String) As String
Dim h1, h2, h3 As String * 255
Dim x&
    h1 = AppStr & Chr$(0)
    h2 = Chr$(0)
    h3 = String(255, 0)
    x& = FindExecutable(h1, h2, h3)
    If h3 = String(255, 0) Then
        GetExecutableFound = ""
    Else
        GetExecutableFound = h3
    End If
End Function

Mention to give GetExecutableFound a existing filename or the API Function FindExecutable will not give you back an application.

        ...
        ret$ = GetExecutableFound(SourcePath$ + "instfile." + _
		WPExtension(Selected%))
        ...

Then use GetFileVersion to ask the word processor for it's verion. But beware - some of the older applications (i.e. WinWord 2.0a, Amipro 2) don't use a version key. So test it with any version you want to deal with!!

Function GetFileVersion(FileToCheck As String) As String
    On Error Resume Next
    VersionInfoSize& = GetFileVersionInfoSize(FileToCheck, lpdwHandle&)
    If VersionInfoSize& = 0 Then
        GetFileVersion = ""
        Exit Function
    End If
    lpvdata$ = String(VersionInfoSize&, Chr$(0))
    VersionInfo% = GetFileVersionInfo(FileToCheck, lpdwHandle&, _
	VersionInfoSize&, lpvdata$)
    ptrFixed% = VerQueryValue(lpvdata$, "\FILEVERSION", _
	lplpBuffer&, lpcb%)
    If ptrFixed% = 0 Then
        ' Take a shot with the hardcoded TransString
        TransString$ = "040904E4"
        ptrString% = VerQueryValue(lpvdata$, "\StringFileInfo\" & _
		TransString$ & "\CompanyName", lplpBuffer&, lpcb%)
        If ptrString% <> 0 Then GoTo GetValues
        ptrFixed% = VerQueryValue(lpvdata$, "\", lplpBuffer&, lpcb%)
        If ptrFixed% = 0 Then
            GetFileVersion = ""
            Exit Function
        Else
            TransString$ = ""
            fixedstr$ = String(lpcb% + 1, Chr(0))
            stringcopy& = lstrcpyn(fixedstr$, lplpBuffer&, lpcb% + 1)
            For i = lpcb% To 1 Step -1
                Char$ = Hex(Asc(Mid(fixedstr$, i, 1)))
                If Len(Char$) = 1 Then
                    Char$ = "0" + Char$
                End If
                TransString$ = TransString$ + Char$
                If Len(TransString$ & nextchar$) Mod 8 = 0 Then
                    TransString$ = "&H" & TransString$
                    TransValue& = Val(TransString$)
                    TransString$ = ""
                End If
            Next i
        End If
    End If
    TransTable$ = String(lpcb% + 1, Chr(0))
    TransString$ = String(0, Chr(0))
    stringcopy& = lstrcpyn(TransTable$, lplpBuffer&, lpcb% + 1)
    For i = 1 To lpcb%
        Char$ = Hex(Asc(Mid(TransTable$, i, 1)))
        If Len(Char$) = 1 Then
            Char$ = "0" + Char$
        End If
        If Len(TransString$ & nextchar$) Mod 4 = 0 Then
            nextchar$ = Char$
        Else
            TransString$ = TransString$ + Char$ + nextchar$
            nextchar$ = ""
            Char$ = ""
        End If
    Next i
GetValues:
    ptrString% = VerQueryValue(lpvdata$, "\StringFileInfo\" & _
	TransString$ & "\FileVersion", lplpBuffer&, lpcb%)
    If ptrString% = 1 Then
        TransTable$ = String(lpcb%, Chr(0))
        stringcopy& = lstrcpyn(TransTable$, lplpBuffer&, lpcb% + 1)
        GetFileVersion = TransTable$
    Else
        GetFileVersion = ""
    End If
End Function

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