How can you find ArcGIS version programatically?

Question

Is there a way using ArcObjects.net to find out what version of ArcGIS is installed on a machine (i.e. 9.3., 10.0, 10.1)?

• Nick: or even a registry location would be helpful. I just need a way for the program to figure out what version of ArcGIS the user has installed. File paths won't work because ArcGIS doesn't seem to uninstall the old folders in the AppData folder

Answer 1

In ArcObjects .NET, use the RuntimeManager e.g.:

Listing all installed runtimes:

var runtimes = RuntimeManager.InstalledRuntimes;
foreach (RuntimeInfo runtime in runtimes)
{
 System.Diagnostics.Debug.Print(runtime.Path);
 System.Diagnostics.Debug.Print(runtime.Version);
 System.Diagnostics.Debug.Print(runtime.Product.ToString());
}

or, to just get the currently active runtime:

bool succeeded = ESRI.ArcGIS.RuntimeManager.Bind(ProductCode.EngineOrDesktop);
if (succeeded)
{
 RuntimeInfo activeRunTimeInfo = RuntimeManager.ActiveRuntime;
 System.Diagnostics.Debug.Print(activeRunTimeInfo.Product.ToString());
}

Also in arcpy, you can use GetInstallInfo.

• blah238: Reason for downvote?
• PolyGeo: I gave +1 so was surprised to see 0 when I looked back just now too - I also liked your ArcPy reminder.
• stakx: IIRC RuntimeManager was introduced with ArcGIS 10.0, and therefore cannot be used to detect earlier ArcGIS versions.
• stakx: Same goes for ArcPy -- that did not exist yet in versions prior to 10.0.

Answer 2

On a Win7 64 bit PC this Registry Key may help. I have 10.0 installed, and it reads 10.0.2414.

\HKLM\software\wow6432Node\esri\Arcgis\RealVersion

• Kelly Thomas: This one is useful for when ArcObjects is unavailable, I use when building installers.
• mwalker: On 32-bit this key is HKLM\SOFTWARE\ESRI\ArcGIS\RealVersion
• Kirk Kuykendall: @mwalker Also on 64 bit with 10.1 I see HKLM\SOFTWARE\ESRI\ArcGIS\RealVersion, I wonder if this key exists at 10.0?
• blah238: @Kirk, I do not have that key on 64-bit at 10.1 -- wonder why not.
• Kirk Kuykendall: @blah238 I've got 10.1 sp1, both desktop and server installed. Not sure which installation created the key.

Answer 3

There seems to be an interface called IArcGISVersion with a getVersions method which may be what you need.

UPDATE

Above relates to Java (thanks @blah238) - here is link to .NET (thanks @JasonScheirer)

• blah238: That is for Java only.
• Jason Scheirer: Link to the .Net version.

Answer 4

You can also get the ArcGIS version by querying the version of AfCore.dll. This requires knowing the ArcGIS install directory, which you can either get by querying the registry or by hardcoding (it's C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop10.3\ for most users).

/// <summary>
/// Find the version of the currently installed ArcGIS Desktop
/// </summary>
/// <returns>Version as a string in the format x.x or empty string if not found</returns>
internal string GetArcGISVersion()
{
 try
 {
 FileVersionInfo fvi = FileVersionInfo.GetVersionInfo(Path.Combine(Path.Combine(GetInstallDir(), "bin"), "AfCore.dll"));
 return string.Format("{0}.{1}", fvi.FileMajorPart, fvi.FileMinorPart);
 }
 catch (FileNotFoundException ex)
 {
 Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Could not get ArcGIS version: {0}. {1}", ex.Message, ex.StackTrace));
 }
 return "";
}
/// <summary>
/// Look in the registry to find the install directory of ArcGIS Desktop.
/// Searches in reverse order, so latest version is returned.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>Dir name or empty string if not found</returns>
private string GetInstallDir()
{
 string installDir = "";
 string esriKey = @"Software\Wow6432Node\ESRI";
 foreach (string subKey in GetHKLMSubKeys(esriKey).Reverse())
 {
 if (subKey.StartsWith("Desktop"))
 {
 installDir = GetRegValue(string.Format(@"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\{0}\{1}", esriKey, subKey), "InstallDir");
 if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(installDir))
 return installDir;
 }
 }
 return "";
}
/// <summary>
/// Returns all the subkey names for a registry key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
/// </summary>
/// <param name="keyName">Subkey name (full path excluding HKLM)</param>
/// <returns>An array of strings or an empty array if the key is not found</returns>
private string[] GetHKLMSubKeys(string keyName)
{
 using (RegistryKey tempKey = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(keyName))
 {
 if (tempKey != null)
 return tempKey.GetSubKeyNames();
 return new string[0];
 }
}
/// <summary>
/// Reads a registry key and returns the value, if found.
/// Searches both 64bit and 32bit registry keys for chosen value
/// </summary>
/// <param name="keyName">The registry key containing the value</param>
/// <param name="valueName">The name of the value</param>
/// <returns>string representation of the actual value or null if value is not found</returns>
private string GetRegValue(string keyName, string valueName)
{
 object regValue = null;
 regValue = Registry.GetValue(keyName, valueName, null);
 if (regValue != null)
 {
 return regValue.ToString();
 }
 // try again in 32bit reg
 if (keyName.Contains("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE"))
 regValue = Registry.GetValue(keyName.Replace(@"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software", @"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node"), valueName, null);
 else if (keyName.Contains("HKEY_CURRENT_USER"))
 regValue = Registry.GetValue(keyName.Replace(@"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software", @"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wow6432Node"), valueName, null);
 if (regValue != null)
 {
 return regValue.ToString();
 }
 return "";
}