Windows Operations (C++/CLI)

Demonstrates various Windows-specific tasks using the Windows SDK.

The following topics demonstrate various Windows operations performed with the Windows SDK using Visual C++.

Determine if Shutdown Has Started

The following code example demonstrates how to determine whether the application or the .NET Framework is currently terminating. This is useful for accessing static elements in the .NET Framework because, during shutdown, these constructs are finalized by the system and cannot be reliably used. By checking the HasShutdownStarted property first, you can avoid potential failures by not accessing these elements.

Example

// check_shutdown.cpp
// compile with: /clr
using namespace System;
int main()
{
   if (Environment::HasShutdownStarted)
      Console::WriteLine("Shutting down.");
   else
      Console::WriteLine("Not shutting down.");
   return 0;
}

Determine the User Interactive State

The following code example demonstrates how to determine whether code is being run in a user-interactive context. If UserInteractive is false, then the code is running as a service process or from inside a Web application, in which case you should not attempt to interact with the user.

Example

// user_interactive.cpp
// compile with: /clr
using namespace System;

int main()
{
   if ( Environment::UserInteractive )
      Console::WriteLine("User interactive");
   else
      Console::WriteLine("Noninteractive");
   return 0;
}

Read Data from the Windows Registry

The following code example uses the CurrentUser key to read data from the Windows registry. First, the subkeys are enumerated using the GetSubKeyNames method and then the Identities subkey is opened using the OpenSubKey method. Like the root keys, each subkey is represented by the RegistryKey class. Finally, the new RegistryKey object is used to enumerate the key/value pairs.

Example

// registry_read.cpp
// compile with: /clr
using namespace System;
using namespace Microsoft::Win32;

int main( )
{
   array<String^>^ key = Registry::CurrentUser->GetSubKeyNames( );

   Console::WriteLine("Subkeys within CurrentUser root key:");
   for (int i=0; i<key->Length; i++)
   {
      Console::WriteLine("   {0}", key[i]);
   }

   Console::WriteLine("Opening subkey 'Identities'...");
   RegistryKey^ rk = nullptr;
   rk = Registry::CurrentUser->OpenSubKey("Identities");
   if (rk==nullptr)
   {
      Console::WriteLine("Registry key not found - aborting");
      return -1;
   }

   Console::WriteLine("Key/value pairs within 'Identities' key:");
   array<String^>^ name = rk->GetValueNames( );
   for (int i=0; i<name->Length; i++)
   {
      String^ value = rk->GetValue(name[i])->ToString();
      Console::WriteLine("   {0} = {1}", name[i], value);
   }

   return 0;
}

Remarks

The Registry class is merely a container for static instances of RegistryKey. Each instance represents a root registry node. The instances are ClassesRoot, CurrentConfig, CurrentUser, LocalMachine, and Users.

In addition to being static, the objects within the Registry class are read-only. Furthermore, instances of the RegistryKey class that are created to access the contents of the registry objects are read-only as well. For an example of how to override this behavior, see How to: Write Data to the Windows Registry (C++/CLI).

There are two additional objects in the Registry class: DynData and PerformanceData. Both are instances of the RegistryKey class. The DynData object contains dynamic registry information, which is only supported in Windows 98 and Windows Me. The PerformanceData object can be used to access performance counter information for applications that use the Windows Performance Monitoring System. The PerformanceData node represents information that is not actually stored in the registry and therefore cannot be viewed using Regedit.exe.

Read Windows Performance Counters

Some applications and Windows subsystems expose performance data through the Windows performance system. These counters can be accessed using the PerformanceCounterCategory and PerformanceCounter classes, which reside in the System.Diagnostics namespace.

The following code example uses these classes to retrieve and display a counter that is updated by Windows to indicate the percentage of time that the processor is busy.

Note

This example requires administrative privileges to run on Windows Vista.

Example

// processor_timer.cpp
// compile with: /clr
#using <system.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Threading;
using namespace System::Diagnostics;
using namespace System::Timers;

ref struct TimerObject
{
public:
   static String^ m_instanceName;
   static PerformanceCounter^ m_theCounter;

public:
   static void OnTimer(Object^ source, ElapsedEventArgs^ e)
   {
      try
      {
         Console::WriteLine("CPU time used: {0,6} ",
          m_theCounter->NextValue( ).ToString("f"));
      }
      catch(Exception^ e)
      {
         if (dynamic_cast<InvalidOperationException^>(e))
         {
            Console::WriteLine("Instance '{0}' does not exist",
                  m_instanceName);
            return;
         }
         else
         {
            Console::WriteLine("Unknown exception... ('q' to quit)");
            return;
         }
      }
   }
};

int main()
{
   String^ objectName = "Processor";
   String^ counterName = "% Processor Time";
   String^ instanceName = "_Total";

   try
   {
      if ( !PerformanceCounterCategory::Exists(objectName) )
      {
         Console::WriteLine("Object {0} does not exist", objectName);
         return -1;
      }
   }
   catch (UnauthorizedAccessException ^ex)
   {
      Console::WriteLine("You are not authorized to access this information.");
      Console::Write("If you are using Windows Vista, run the application with ");
      Console::WriteLine("administrative privileges.");
      Console::WriteLine(ex->Message);
      return -1;
   }

   if ( !PerformanceCounterCategory::CounterExists(
          counterName, objectName) )
   {
      Console::WriteLine("Counter {0} does not exist", counterName);
      return -1;
   }

   TimerObject::m_instanceName = instanceName;
   TimerObject::m_theCounter = gcnew PerformanceCounter(
          objectName, counterName, instanceName);

   System::Timers::Timer^ aTimer = gcnew System::Timers::Timer();
   aTimer->Elapsed += gcnew ElapsedEventHandler(&TimerObject::OnTimer);
   aTimer->Interval = 1000;
   aTimer->Enabled = true;
   aTimer->AutoReset = true;

   Console::WriteLine("reporting CPU usage for the next 10 seconds");
   Thread::Sleep(10000);
   return 0;
}

Retrieve Text from the Clipboard

The following code example uses the GetDataObject member function to return a pointer to the IDataObject interface. This interface can then be queried for the format of the data and used to retrieve the actual data.

Example

// read_clipboard.cpp
// compile with: /clr
#using <system.dll>
#using <system.Drawing.dll>
#using <system.windows.forms.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Windows::Forms;

[STAThread] int main( )
{
   IDataObject^ data = Clipboard::GetDataObject( );

   if (data)
   {
      if (data->GetDataPresent(DataFormats::Text))
      {
         String^ text = static_cast<String^>
           (data->GetData(DataFormats::Text));
         Console::WriteLine(text);
      }
      else
         Console::WriteLine("Nontext data is in the Clipboard.");
   }
   else
   {
      Console::WriteLine("No data was found in the Clipboard.");
   }

   return 0;
}

Retrieve the Current Username

The following code example demonstrates the retrieval of the current user name (the name of the user logged into Windows). The name is stored in the UserName string, which is defined in the Environment namespace.

Example

// username.cpp
// compile with: /clr
using namespace System;

int main()
{
   Console::WriteLine("\nCurrent user: {0}", Environment::UserName);
   return 0;
}

Retrieve the .NET Framework Version

The following code example demonstrates how to determine the version of the currently installed .NET Framework with the Version property, which is a pointer to a Version object that contains the version information.

Example

// dotnet_ver.cpp
// compile with: /clr
using namespace System;
int main()
{
   Version^ version = Environment::Version;
   if (version)
   {
      int build = version->Build;
      int major = version->Major;
      int minor = version->Minor;
      int revision = Environment::Version->Revision;
      Console::Write(".NET Framework version: ");
      Console::WriteLine("{0}.{1}.{2}.{3}",
            build, major, minor, revision);
   }
   return 0;
}

Retrieve the Local Machine Name

The following code example demonstrates the retrieval of the local machine name (the name of the computer as it appears on a network). You can accomplish this by getting the MachineName string, which is defined in the Environment namespace.

Example

// machine_name.cpp
// compile with: /clr
using namespace System;

int main()
{
   Console::WriteLine("\nMachineName: {0}", Environment::MachineName);
   return 0;
}

Retrieve the Windows Version

The following code example demonstrates how to retrieve the platform and version information of the current operating system. This information is stored in the System.Environment.OSVersion property and consists of an enumeration that describes the version of Windows in broad terms and a Version object that contains the exact build of the operating system.

Example

// os_ver.cpp
// compile with: /clr
using namespace System;

int main()
{
   OperatingSystem^ osv = Environment::OSVersion;
   PlatformID id = osv->Platform;
   Console::Write("Operating system: ");

   if (id == PlatformID::Win32NT)
      Console::WriteLine("Win32NT");
   else if (id == PlatformID::Win32S)
      Console::WriteLine("Win32S");
   else if (id == PlatformID::Win32Windows)
      Console::WriteLine("Win32Windows");
   else
      Console::WriteLine("WinCE");

   Version^ version = osv->Version;
   if (version)
   {
      int build = version->Build;
      int major = version->Major;
      int minor = version->Minor;
      int revision = Environment::Version->Revision;
      Console::Write("OS Version: ");
      Console::WriteLine("{0}.{1}.{2}.{3}",
                   build, major, minor, revision);
   }

   return 0;
}

Retrieve Time Elapsed Since Startup

The following code example demonstrates how to determine the tick count, or number of milliseconds that have elapsed since Windows was started. This value is stored in the System.Environment.TickCount member and, because it is a 32-bit value, resets to zero approximately every 24.9 days.

Example

// startup_time.cpp
// compile with: /clr
using namespace System;

int main( )
{
   Int32 tc = Environment::TickCount;
   Int32 seconds = tc / 1000;
   Int32 minutes = seconds / 60;
   float hours = static_cast<float>(minutes) / 60;
   float days = hours / 24;

   Console::WriteLine("Milliseconds since startup: {0}", tc);
   Console::WriteLine("Seconds since startup: {0}", seconds);
   Console::WriteLine("Minutes since startup: {0}", minutes);
   Console::WriteLine("Hours since startup: {0}", hours);
   Console::WriteLine("Days since startup: {0}", days);

   return 0;
}

Store Text in the Clipboard

The following code example uses the Clipboard object defined in the System.Windows.Forms namespace to store a string. This object provides two member functions: SetDataObject and GetDataObject. Data is stored in the Clipboard by sending any object derived from Object to SetDataObject.

Example

// store_clipboard.cpp
// compile with: /clr
#using <System.dll>
#using <System.Drawing.dll>
#using <System.Windows.Forms.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Windows::Forms;

[STAThread] int main()
{
   String^ str = "This text is copied into the Clipboard.";

   // Use 'true' as the second argument if
   // the data is to remain in the clipboard
   // after the program terminates.
   Clipboard::SetDataObject(str, true);

   Console::WriteLine("Added text to the Clipboard.");

   return 0;
}

Write Data to the Windows Registry

The following code example uses the CurrentUser key to create a writable instance of the RegistryKey class corresponding to the Software key. The CreateSubKey method is then used to create a new key and add to key/value pairs.

Example

// registry_write.cpp
// compile with: /clr
using namespace System;
using namespace Microsoft::Win32;

int main()
{
   // The second OpenSubKey argument indicates that
   // the subkey should be writable.
   RegistryKey^ rk;
   rk  = Registry::CurrentUser->OpenSubKey("Software", true);
   if (!rk)
   {
      Console::WriteLine("Failed to open CurrentUser/Software key");
      return -1;
   }

   RegistryKey^ nk = rk->CreateSubKey("NewRegKey");
   if (!nk)
   {
      Console::WriteLine("Failed to create 'NewRegKey'");
      return -1;
   }

   String^ newValue = "NewValue";
   try
   {
      nk->SetValue("NewKey", newValue);
      nk->SetValue("NewKey2", 44);
   }
   catch (Exception^)
   {
      Console::WriteLine("Failed to set new values in 'NewRegKey'");
      return -1;
   }

   Console::WriteLine("New key created.");
   Console::Write("Use REGEDIT.EXE to verify ");
   Console::WriteLine("'CURRENTUSER/Software/NewRegKey'\n");
   return 0;
}

Remarks

You can use the .NET Framework to access the registry with the Registry and RegistryKey classes, which are both defined in the Microsoft.Win32 namespace. The Registry class is a container for static instances of the RegistryKey class. Each instance represents a root registry node. The instances are ClassesRoot, CurrentConfig, CurrentUser, LocalMachine, and Users.

Environment

See also

.NET Programming with C++/CLI (Visual C++)