Get the installed AutoCAD version in a Windows Service application

Question

I am writing a Windows Service for generating CAD drawings and I need to detect which version is installed in the system.

What is the best way to get the installed AutoCAD version in a Windows Server environment? I know that I can get this info from the registry, but from which key? Is there any specific one for all the AutoCAD versions?

Answer 1

Yes, you can. Exactly you can found it here:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD

Then you can find value string name: CurVer It will say installed version.

Answer 2

The best way is to use Registry Key:

RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\\Autodesk\\AutoCAD");
var stringArray = key.GetSubKeyNames();

Now, stringArray is an array of strings containing all versions of installed AutoCADs.

Note1: It returns something like "R19.1" which you can easily link to the AutoCAD version, for example, "R19.1" is for AutoCAD 2021.

Note2: Don't forget to install Microsoft.Win32.Registry NuGet Package and include Microsoft.Win32.Registry.