how to get path to executable in C running on Windows?

Question

-getcwd does not return it at least when debugging with VS 2010.

-i have no access to main's arguments because of the user interface kit i'm using

so is there anything to do?

PS. please note the restrictions before tagging this as duplicate

Possible duplicate of Refer to data files from within C++ project - on Windows you probably want GetModuleFileName. — Paul R
– Paul R, Commented Feb 2, 2012 at 13:14

hmjd · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-03 17:15:46Z

6

Use GetModuleFileName() and pass NULL as the first argument:

DWORD last_error;
DWORD result;
DWORD path_size = 1024;
char* path      = malloc(1024);

for (;;)
{
    memset(path, 0, path_size);
    result     = GetModuleFileName(0, path, path_size - 1);
    last_error = GetLastError();

    if (0 == result)
    {
        free(path);
        path = 0;
        break;
    }
    else if (result == path_size - 1)
    {
        free(path);
        /* May need to also check for ERROR_SUCCESS here if XP/2K */
        if (ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER != last_error)
        {
            path = 0;
            break;
        }
        path_size = path_size * 2;
        path = malloc(path_size);
    }
    else
    {
        break;
    }
}

if (!path)
{
    fprintf(stderr, "Failure: %d\n", last_error);
}
else
{
    printf("path=%s\n", path);
}

edited Feb 3, 2012 at 17:15

answered Feb 2, 2012 at 13:13

hmjd

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8 Comments

char m Over a year ago

thanks! for some reason i thought that was C++ only. i'll try it!

char m Over a year ago

it works! i get it in funny form though: it's ..\..\ from the current work directory. which is ok I guess. thanks again!

hmjd Over a year ago

That sounds odd. It should be the full path of the executable, like C:\Program Files\myapplication\my.exe.

tinman Over a year ago

The final parameter to GetModuleFileName() is the number of elements in the array, not the size in bytes. So while it works here I wouldn't routinely use sizeof(exe_path) by itself.

char m Over a year ago

The string returned will use the same format that was specified when the module was loaded. Therefore, the path can be a long or short file name, and can use the prefix "\\?\". For more information, see Naming a File.

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Dark Falcon · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-02 13:14:54Z

3

Pass NULL as the first argument of GetModuleFileName.

answered Feb 2, 2012 at 13:14

Dark Falcon

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