Registry.GetValue Error. C# in Visual Studio 2010

Question

I am attempting to get a value from the registry in order to complete a print function using crystal reports.

But it errors out when I do the path because my registry path isn't working properly.

     Values- Global.gAPPNAME = "TEST" Global.gAPPSECTION = "STARTUP"

     Global.gREPORTDIR = Registry.GetValue(Global.gAPPNAME, Global.gAPPSECTION, "REPORTDIR").ToString();

When it hits the Global.gREPORTDIR line I get the error - "registry key name must start with a valid base key name"

I am new to this and I was wondering whether this is something that can be fixed with code or something I need to find within the actual computer to find the correct path. Any advice would help. Thanks.

Answer 1

You need to specify a valid root name:

Valid root names are HKEY_CURRENT_USER , HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE , HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT , HKEY_USERS , HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA , HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG , and HKEY_DYN_DATA .

Answer 2

You can read about Registry.GetValue here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/microsoft.win32.registry.getvalue.aspx

So your error comes from first parameter:

Valid root names are HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_USERS, HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA, HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG, and HKEY_DYN_DATA. For example, in Visual Basic the string "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\MyTestKey" accesses key/value pairs for the subkey "MyTestKey" in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER root.

You can use static keys for easy use

Registry.LocalMachine.Name