FindExecutableImage function (dbghelp.h)

Article
02/22/2024

Locates an executable file.

To specify a callback function, use the FindExecutableImageEx function.

Syntax

HANDLE IMAGEAPI FindExecutableImage(
  [in]  PCSTR FileName,
  [in]  PCSTR SymbolPath,
  [out] PSTR  ImageFilePath
);

Parameters

[in] FileName

The name of the symbol file to be located. This parameter can be a partial path.

[in] SymbolPath

The path where symbol files are located. This can be multiple paths separated by semicolons. To retrieve the symbol path, use the SymGetSearchPath function.

[out] ImageFilePath

A pointer to a buffer that receives the full path of the executable file.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is an open handle to the executable file.

If the function fails, the return value is NULL. To retrieve extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

The FindExecutableImage function is provided so executable files can be located in several different directories through a single function call. The SymbolPath parameter can contain multiple paths, with each separated by a semicolon (;). When multiple paths are specified, the function searches each directory tree for the executable file. When the file is located, the search stops. Thus, be sure to specify SymbolPath with the paths in the correct order.

All DbgHelp functions, such as this one, are single threaded. Therefore, calls from more than one thread to this function will likely result in unexpected behavior or memory corruption. To avoid this, you must synchronize all concurrent calls from more than one thread to this function.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Target Platform	Windows
Header	dbghelp.h
Library	Dbghelp.lib
DLL	Dbghelp.dll
Redistributable	DbgHelp.dll 5.1 or later