Using Java to read / write Windows registry

How to use Java to read / write to the Windows registry?

#1 building

I added David's original release of Pure java code to allow access to 32-bit parts of the registry from a 64 bit JVM and vice versa. I don't think there is any other answer to this problem.

Here is:

/**
 * Pure Java Windows Registry access.
 * Modified by petrucio@stackoverflow(828681) to add support for
 * reading (and writing but not creating/deleting keys) the 32-bits
 * registry view from a 64-bits JVM (KEY_WOW64_32KEY)
 * and 64-bits view from a 32-bits JVM (KEY_WOW64_64KEY).
 *****************************************************************************/

import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
import java.lang.reflect.Method;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.prefs.Preferences;

public class WinRegistry {
  public static final int HKEY_CURRENT_USER = 0x80000001;
  public static final int HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = 0x80000002;
  public static final int REG_SUCCESS = 0;
  public static final int REG_NOTFOUND = 2;
  public static final int REG_ACCESSDENIED = 5;

  public static final int KEY_WOW64_32KEY = 0x0200;
  public static final int KEY_WOW64_64KEY = 0x0100;

  private static final int KEY_ALL_ACCESS = 0xf003f;
  private static final int KEY_READ = 0x20019;
  private static Preferences userRoot = Preferences.userRoot();
  private static Preferences systemRoot = Preferences.systemRoot();
  private static Class<? extends Preferences> userClass = userRoot.getClass();
  private static Method regOpenKey = null;
  private static Method regCloseKey = null;
  private static Method regQueryValueEx = null;
  private static Method regEnumValue = null;
  private static Method regQueryInfoKey = null;
  private static Method regEnumKeyEx = null;
  private static Method regCreateKeyEx = null;
  private static Method regSetValueEx = null;
  private static Method regDeleteKey = null;
  private static Method regDeleteValue = null;

  static {
    try {
      regOpenKey     = userClass.getDeclaredMethod("WindowsRegOpenKey",     new Class[] { int.class, byte[].class, int.class });
      regOpenKey.setAccessible(true);
      regCloseKey    = userClass.getDeclaredMethod("WindowsRegCloseKey",    new Class[] { int.class });
      regCloseKey.setAccessible(true);
      regQueryValueEx= userClass.getDeclaredMethod("WindowsRegQueryValueEx",new Class[] { int.class, byte[].class });
      regQueryValueEx.setAccessible(true);
      regEnumValue   = userClass.getDeclaredMethod("WindowsRegEnumValue",   new Class[] { int.class, int.class, int.class });
      regEnumValue.setAccessible(true);
      regQueryInfoKey=userClass.getDeclaredMethod("WindowsRegQueryInfoKey1",new Class[] { int.class });
      regQueryInfoKey.setAccessible(true);
      regEnumKeyEx   = userClass.getDeclaredMethod("WindowsRegEnumKeyEx",   new Class[] { int.class, int.class, int.class });  
      regEnumKeyEx.setAccessible(true);
      regCreateKeyEx = userClass.getDeclaredMethod("WindowsRegCreateKeyEx", new Class[] { int.class, byte[].class });
      regCreateKeyEx.setAccessible(true);  
      regSetValueEx  = userClass.getDeclaredMethod("WindowsRegSetValueEx",  new Class[] { int.class, byte[].class, byte[].class });  
      regSetValueEx.setAccessible(true); 
      regDeleteValue = userClass.getDeclaredMethod("WindowsRegDeleteValue", new Class[] { int.class, byte[].class });  
      regDeleteValue.setAccessible(true); 
      regDeleteKey   = userClass.getDeclaredMethod("WindowsRegDeleteKey",   new Class[] { int.class, byte[].class });  
      regDeleteKey.setAccessible(true); 
    }
    catch (Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
  }

  private WinRegistry() {  }

  /**
   * Read a value from key and value name
   * @param hkey   HKEY_CURRENT_USER/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
   * @param key
   * @param valueName
   * @param wow64  0 for standard registry access (32-bits for 32-bit app, 64-bits for 64-bits app)
   *               or KEY_WOW64_32KEY to force access to 32-bit registry view,
   *               or KEY_WOW64_64KEY to force access to 64-bit registry view
   * @return the value
   * @throws IllegalArgumentException
   * @throws IllegalAccessException
   * @throws InvocationTargetException
   */
  public static String readString(int hkey, String key, String valueName, int wow64) 
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException,
    InvocationTargetException 
  {
    if (hkey == HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE) {
      return readString(systemRoot, hkey, key, valueName, wow64);
    }
    else if (hkey == HKEY_CURRENT_USER) {
      return readString(userRoot, hkey, key, valueName, wow64);
    }
    else {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("hkey=" + hkey);
    }
  }

  /**
   * Read value(s) and value name(s) form given key 
   * @param hkey  HKEY_CURRENT_USER/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
   * @param key
   * @param wow64  0 for standard registry access (32-bits for 32-bit app, 64-bits for 64-bits app)
   *               or KEY_WOW64_32KEY to force access to 32-bit registry view,
   *               or KEY_WOW64_64KEY to force access to 64-bit registry view
   * @return the value name(s) plus the value(s)
   * @throws IllegalArgumentException
   * @throws IllegalAccessException
   * @throws InvocationTargetException
   */
  public static Map<String, String> readStringValues(int hkey, String key, int wow64) 
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException 
  {
    if (hkey == HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE) {
      return readStringValues(systemRoot, hkey, key, wow64);
    }
    else if (hkey == HKEY_CURRENT_USER) {
      return readStringValues(userRoot, hkey, key, wow64);
    }
    else {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("hkey=" + hkey);
    }
  }

  /**
   * Read the value name(s) from a given key
   * @param hkey  HKEY_CURRENT_USER/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
   * @param key
   * @param wow64  0 for standard registry access (32-bits for 32-bit app, 64-bits for 64-bits app)
   *               or KEY_WOW64_32KEY to force access to 32-bit registry view,
   *               or KEY_WOW64_64KEY to force access to 64-bit registry view
   * @return the value name(s)
   * @throws IllegalArgumentException
   * @throws IllegalAccessException
   * @throws InvocationTargetException
   */
  public static List<String> readStringSubKeys(int hkey, String key, int wow64) 
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException 
  {
    if (hkey == HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE) {
      return readStringSubKeys(systemRoot, hkey, key, wow64);
    }
    else if (hkey == HKEY_CURRENT_USER) {
      return readStringSubKeys(userRoot, hkey, key, wow64);
    }
    else {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("hkey=" + hkey);
    }
  }

  /**
   * Create a key
   * @param hkey  HKEY_CURRENT_USER/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
   * @param key
   * @throws IllegalArgumentException
   * @throws IllegalAccessException
   * @throws InvocationTargetException
   */
  public static void createKey(int hkey, String key) 
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException 
  {
    int [] ret;
    if (hkey == HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE) {
      ret = createKey(systemRoot, hkey, key);
      regCloseKey.invoke(systemRoot, new Object[] { new Integer(ret[0]) });
    }
    else if (hkey == HKEY_CURRENT_USER) {
      ret = createKey(userRoot, hkey, key);
      regCloseKey.invoke(userRoot, new Object[] { new Integer(ret[0]) });
    }
    else {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("hkey=" + hkey);
    }
    if (ret[1] != REG_SUCCESS) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("rc=" + ret[1] + "  key=" + key);
    }
  }

  /**
   * Write a value in a given key/value name
   * @param hkey
   * @param key
   * @param valueName
   * @param value
   * @param wow64  0 for standard registry access (32-bits for 32-bit app, 64-bits for 64-bits app)
   *               or KEY_WOW64_32KEY to force access to 32-bit registry view,
   *               or KEY_WOW64_64KEY to force access to 64-bit registry view
   * @throws IllegalArgumentException
   * @throws IllegalAccessException
   * @throws InvocationTargetException
   */
  public static void writeStringValue
    (int hkey, String key, String valueName, String value, int wow64) 
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException 
  {
    if (hkey == HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE) {
      writeStringValue(systemRoot, hkey, key, valueName, value, wow64);
    }
    else if (hkey == HKEY_CURRENT_USER) {
      writeStringValue(userRoot, hkey, key, valueName, value, wow64);
    }
    else {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("hkey=" + hkey);
    }
  }

  /**
   * Delete a given key
   * @param hkey
   * @param key
   * @throws IllegalArgumentException
   * @throws IllegalAccessException
   * @throws InvocationTargetException
   */
  public static void deleteKey(int hkey, String key) 
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException 
  {
    int rc = -1;
    if (hkey == HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE) {
      rc = deleteKey(systemRoot, hkey, key);
    }
    else if (hkey == HKEY_CURRENT_USER) {
      rc = deleteKey(userRoot, hkey, key);
    }
    if (rc != REG_SUCCESS) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("rc=" + rc + "  key=" + key);
    }
  }

  /**
   * delete a value from a given key/value name
   * @param hkey
   * @param key
   * @param value
   * @param wow64  0 for standard registry access (32-bits for 32-bit app, 64-bits for 64-bits app)
   *               or KEY_WOW64_32KEY to force access to 32-bit registry view,
   *               or KEY_WOW64_64KEY to force access to 64-bit registry view
   * @throws IllegalArgumentException
   * @throws IllegalAccessException
   * @throws InvocationTargetException
   */
  public static void deleteValue(int hkey, String key, String value, int wow64) 
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException 
  {
    int rc = -1;
    if (hkey == HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE) {
      rc = deleteValue(systemRoot, hkey, key, value, wow64);
    }
    else if (hkey == HKEY_CURRENT_USER) {
      rc = deleteValue(userRoot, hkey, key, value, wow64);
    }
    if (rc != REG_SUCCESS) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("rc=" + rc + "  key=" + key + "  value=" + value);
    }
  }

  //========================================================================
  private static int deleteValue(Preferences root, int hkey, String key, String value, int wow64)
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException 
  {
    int[] handles = (int[]) regOpenKey.invoke(root, new Object[] {
        new Integer(hkey), toCstr(key), new Integer(KEY_ALL_ACCESS | wow64)
    });
    if (handles[1] != REG_SUCCESS) {
      return handles[1];  // can be REG_NOTFOUND, REG_ACCESSDENIED
    }
    int rc =((Integer) regDeleteValue.invoke(root, new Object[] { 
          new Integer(handles[0]), toCstr(value) 
          })).intValue();
    regCloseKey.invoke(root, new Object[] { new Integer(handles[0]) });
    return rc;
  }

  //========================================================================
  private static int deleteKey(Preferences root, int hkey, String key) 
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException 
  {
    int rc =((Integer) regDeleteKey.invoke(root, new Object[] {
        new Integer(hkey), toCstr(key)
    })).intValue();
    return rc;  // can REG_NOTFOUND, REG_ACCESSDENIED, REG_SUCCESS
  }

  //========================================================================
  private static String readString(Preferences root, int hkey, String key, String value, int wow64)
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException 
  {
    int[] handles = (int[]) regOpenKey.invoke(root, new Object[] {
        new Integer(hkey), toCstr(key), new Integer(KEY_READ | wow64)
    });
    if (handles[1] != REG_SUCCESS) {
      return null; 
    }
    byte[] valb = (byte[]) regQueryValueEx.invoke(root, new Object[] {
        new Integer(handles[0]), toCstr(value)
    });
    regCloseKey.invoke(root, new Object[] { new Integer(handles[0]) });
    return (valb != null ? new String(valb).trim() : null);
  }

  //========================================================================
  private static Map<String,String> readStringValues(Preferences root, int hkey, String key, int wow64)
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException 
  {
    HashMap<String, String> results = new HashMap<String,String>();
    int[] handles = (int[]) regOpenKey.invoke(root, new Object[] {
        new Integer(hkey), toCstr(key), new Integer(KEY_READ | wow64)
    });
    if (handles[1] != REG_SUCCESS) {
      return null;
    }
    int[] info = (int[]) regQueryInfoKey.invoke(root, new Object[] {
        new Integer(handles[0])
    });

    int count  = info[2]; // count  
    int maxlen = info[3]; // value length max
    for(int index=0; index<count; index++)  {
      byte[] name = (byte[]) regEnumValue.invoke(root, new Object[] {
          new Integer(handles[0]), new Integer(index), new Integer(maxlen + 1)
      });
      String value = readString(hkey, key, new String(name), wow64);
      results.put(new String(name).trim(), value);
    }
    regCloseKey.invoke(root, new Object[] { new Integer(handles[0]) });
    return results;
  }

  //========================================================================
  private static List<String> readStringSubKeys(Preferences root, int hkey, String key, int wow64)
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException 
  {
    List<String> results = new ArrayList<String>();
    int[] handles = (int[]) regOpenKey.invoke(root, new Object[] {
        new Integer(hkey), toCstr(key), new Integer(KEY_READ | wow64) 
        });
    if (handles[1] != REG_SUCCESS) {
      return null;
    }
    int[] info = (int[]) regQueryInfoKey.invoke(root, new Object[] {
        new Integer(handles[0])
    });

    int count  = info[0]; // Fix: info[2] was being used here with wrong results. Suggested by davenpcj, confirmed by Petrucio
    int maxlen = info[3]; // value length max
    for(int index=0; index<count; index++)  {
      byte[] name = (byte[]) regEnumKeyEx.invoke(root, new Object[] {
          new Integer(handles[0]), new Integer(index), new Integer(maxlen + 1)
          });
      results.add(new String(name).trim());
    }
    regCloseKey.invoke(root, new Object[] { new Integer(handles[0]) });
    return results;
  }

  //========================================================================
  private static int [] createKey(Preferences root, int hkey, String key)
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException 
  {
    return (int[]) regCreateKeyEx.invoke(root, new Object[] {
      new Integer(hkey), toCstr(key)
    });
  }

  //========================================================================
  private static void writeStringValue(Preferences root, int hkey, String key, String valueName, String value, int wow64)
    throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException 
  {
    int[] handles = (int[]) regOpenKey.invoke(root, new Object[] {
        new Integer(hkey), toCstr(key), new Integer(KEY_ALL_ACCESS | wow64)
    });
    regSetValueEx.invoke(root, new Object[] { 
          new Integer(handles[0]), toCstr(valueName), toCstr(value) 
          }); 
    regCloseKey.invoke(root, new Object[] { new Integer(handles[0]) });
  }

  //========================================================================
  // utility
  private static byte[] toCstr(String str) {
    byte[] result = new byte[str.length() + 1];

    for (int i = 0; i < str.length(); i++) {
      result[i] = (byte) str.charAt(i);
    }
    result[str.length()] = 0;
    return result;
  }
}

#2 building

Another library

https://code.google.com/p/java-registry/

This will launch reg.exe in the background to read / write temporary files. I didn't end up using it, but it looked like a very comprehensive implementation. If I do use it, I may delve into it and add better management of subprocesses.

#3 building

My former editor of @ David's answer was turned down. This is some useful information.

This is so effective because Sun implements the Windows Preferences class as part of the JDK, but it is package private . Part of the implementation uses JNI.

Use the factory method at run time to choose implementation here: http : //grepcode.com/file/repository.grepcode.com/java/root/jdk/openjdk/7-b147/java/util/prefs/Preferences.java# Preferences.0factory

The real question: why does OpenJDK not expose this API?

#4 building

It's crazy... I got the code from one of the articles here, but I didn't see 18 comments, one of which said it didn't read the dword value

Anyway, I refactor the bottom layer of the code into something with less ifs and method s.

Enumeration may improve, but once I try to read a number or byte array and fail, I give up

So here is:

package com.nu.art.software.utils;


import java.lang.reflect.Method;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.prefs.Preferences;

/**
 *
 * @author TacB0sS
 */
public class WinRegistry_TacB0sS {

    public static final class RegistryException
            extends Exception {

        private static final long serialVersionUID = -8799947496460994651L;

        public RegistryException(String message, Throwable e) {
            super(message, e);
        }

        public RegistryException(String message) {
            super(message);
        }


    }

    public static final int KEY_WOW64_32KEY = 0x0200;

    public static final int KEY_WOW64_64KEY = 0x0100;

    public static final int REG_SUCCESS = 0;

    public static final int REG_NOTFOUND = 2;

    public static final int REG_ACCESSDENIED = 5;

    private static final int KEY_ALL_ACCESS = 0xf003f;

    private static final int KEY_READ = 0x20019;

    public enum WinRegistryKey {
        User(Preferences.userRoot(), 0x80000001), ;

        // System(Preferences.systemRoot(), 0x80000002);

        private final Preferences preferencesRoot;

        private final Integer key;

        private WinRegistryKey(Preferences preferencesRoot, int key) {
            this.preferencesRoot = preferencesRoot;
            this.key = key;
        }
    }

    private enum WinRegistryMethod {
        OpenKey("WindowsRegOpenKey", int.class, byte[].class, int.class) {

            @Override
            protected void verifyReturnValue(Object retValue)
                    throws RegistryException {
                int[] retVal = (int[]) retValue;
                if (retVal[1] != REG_SUCCESS)
                    throw new RegistryException("Action Failed, Return Code: " + retVal[1]);
            }
        },
        CreateKeyEx("WindowsRegCreateKeyEx", int.class, byte[].class) {

            @Override
            protected void verifyReturnValue(Object retValue)
                    throws RegistryException {
                int[] retVal = (int[]) retValue;
                if (retVal[1] != REG_SUCCESS)
                    throw new RegistryException("Action Failed, Return Code: " + retVal[1]);
            }
        },
        DeleteKey("WindowsRegDeleteKey", int.class, byte[].class) {

            @Override
            protected void verifyReturnValue(Object retValue)
                    throws RegistryException {
                int retVal = ((Integer) retValue).intValue();
                if (retVal != REG_SUCCESS)
                    throw new RegistryException("Action Failed, Return Code: " + retVal);
            }
        },
        DeleteValue("WindowsRegDeleteValue", int.class, byte[].class) {

            @Override
            protected void verifyReturnValue(Object retValue)
                    throws RegistryException {
                int retVal = ((Integer) retValue).intValue();
                if (retVal != REG_SUCCESS)
                    throw new RegistryException("Action Failed, Return Code: " + retVal);
            }
        },
        CloseKey("WindowsRegCloseKey", int.class),
        QueryValueEx("WindowsRegQueryValueEx", int.class, byte[].class),
        EnumKeyEx("WindowsRegEnumKeyEx", int.class, int.class, int.class),
        EnumValue("WindowsRegEnumValue", int.class, int.class, int.class),
        QueryInfoKey("WindowsRegQueryInfoKey", int.class),
        SetValueEx("WindowsRegSetValueEx", int.class, byte[].class, byte[].class);

        private Method method;

        private WinRegistryMethod(String methodName, Class<?>... classes) {
            // WinRegistryKey.User.preferencesRoot.getClass().getMDeclaredMethods()
            try {
                method = WinRegistryKey.User.preferencesRoot.getClass().getDeclaredMethod(methodName, classes);
            } catch (Exception e) {
                System.err.println("Error");
                System.err.println(e);
            }
            method.setAccessible(true);
        }

        public Object invoke(Preferences root, Object... objects)
                throws RegistryException {
            Object retValue;
            try {
                retValue = method.invoke(root, objects);
                verifyReturnValue(retValue);
            } catch (Throwable e) {
                String params = "";
                if (objects.length > 0) {
                    params = objects[0].toString();
                    for (int i = 1; i < objects.length; i++) {
                        params += ", " + objects[i];
                    }
                }
                throw new RegistryException("Error invoking method: " + method + ", with params: (" + params + ")", e);
            }
            return retValue;
        }

        protected void verifyReturnValue(Object retValue)
                throws RegistryException {}
    }

    private WinRegistry_TacB0sS() {}

    public static String readString(WinRegistryKey regKey, String key, String valueName)
            throws RegistryException {
        int retVal = ((int[]) WinRegistryMethod.OpenKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, regKey.key, toCstr(key),
                new Integer(KEY_READ)))[0];

        byte[] retValue = (byte[]) WinRegistryMethod.QueryValueEx.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, retVal,
                toCstr(valueName));
        WinRegistryMethod.CloseKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, retVal);

        /*
         * Should this return an Empty String.
         */
        return (retValue != null ? new String(retValue).trim() : null);
    }

    public static Map<String, String> readStringValues(WinRegistryKey regKey, String key)
            throws RegistryException {
        HashMap<String, String> results = new HashMap<String, String>();
        int retVal = ((int[]) WinRegistryMethod.OpenKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, regKey.key, toCstr(key),
                new Integer(KEY_READ)))[0];

        int[] info = (int[]) WinRegistryMethod.QueryInfoKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, retVal);

        int count = info[2]; // count
        int maxlen = info[3]; // value length max
        for (int index = 0; index < count; index++) {
            byte[] name = (byte[]) WinRegistryMethod.EnumValue.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, retVal,
                    new Integer(index), new Integer(maxlen + 1));
            String value = readString(regKey, key, new String(name));
            results.put(new String(name).trim(), value);
        }

        WinRegistryMethod.CloseKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, retVal);
        return results;
    }

    public static List<String> readStringSubKeys(WinRegistryKey regKey, String key)
            throws RegistryException {
        List<String> results = new ArrayList<String>();
        int retVal = ((int[]) WinRegistryMethod.OpenKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, regKey.key, toCstr(key),
                new Integer(KEY_READ)))[0];

        int[] info = (int[]) WinRegistryMethod.QueryInfoKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, retVal);

        int count = info[0]; // Fix: info[2] was being used here with wrong results. Suggested by davenpcj, confirmed by
                                // Petrucio
        int maxlen = info[3]; // value length max
        for (int index = 0; index < count; index++) {
            byte[] name = (byte[]) WinRegistryMethod.EnumValue.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, retVal,
                    new Integer(index), new Integer(maxlen + 1));
            results.add(new String(name).trim());
        }

        WinRegistryMethod.CloseKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, retVal);
        return results;
    }

    public static void createKey(WinRegistryKey regKey, String key)
            throws RegistryException {
        int[] retVal = (int[]) WinRegistryMethod.CreateKeyEx.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, regKey.key, toCstr(key));
        WinRegistryMethod.CloseKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, retVal[0]);
    }

    public static void writeStringValue(WinRegistryKey regKey, String key, String valueName, String value)
            throws RegistryException {
        int retVal = ((int[]) WinRegistryMethod.OpenKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, regKey.key, toCstr(key),
                new Integer(KEY_ALL_ACCESS)))[0];

        WinRegistryMethod.SetValueEx.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, retVal, toCstr(valueName), toCstr(value));
        WinRegistryMethod.CloseKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, retVal);
    }

    public static void deleteKey(WinRegistryKey regKey, String key)
            throws RegistryException {
        WinRegistryMethod.DeleteKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, regKey.key, toCstr(key));
    }

    public static void deleteValue(WinRegistryKey regKey, String key, String value)
            throws RegistryException {
        int retVal = ((int[]) WinRegistryMethod.OpenKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, regKey.key, toCstr(key),
                new Integer(KEY_ALL_ACCESS)))[0];
        WinRegistryMethod.DeleteValue.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, retVal, toCstr(value));
        WinRegistryMethod.CloseKey.invoke(regKey.preferencesRoot, retVal);
    }

    // utility
    private static byte[] toCstr(String str) {
        byte[] result = new byte[str.length() + 1];

        for (int i = 0; i < str.length(); i++) {
            result[i] = (byte) str.charAt(i);
        }
        result[str.length()] = '\0';
        return result;
    }
}

Note: don't read anything else here!

#5 building

You don't actually need a third party package. Windows has the reg utility for all registry operations. To get the command format, go to the DOS property and type:

reg /?

You can call reg through the Runtime class:

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("reg <your parameters here>");

Using the above command, it's easy to edit the key and add a new one. To read the registry, you need to get the output of reg, which is a bit tricky. This is the code:

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.StringWriter;

/**
 * @author Oleg Ryaboy, based on work by Miguel Enriquez 
 */
public class WindowsReqistry {

    /**
     * 
     * @param location path in the registry
     * @param key registry key
     * @return registry value or null if not found
     */
    public static final String readRegistry(String location, String key){
        try {
            // Run reg query, then read output with StreamReader (internal class)
            Process process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("reg query " + 
                    '"'+ location + "\" /v " + key);

            StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(process.getInputStream());
            reader.start();
            process.waitFor();
            reader.join();
            String output = reader.getResult();

            // Output has the following format:
            // \n<Version information>\n\n<key>\t<registry type>\t<value>
            if( ! output.contains("\t")){
                    return null;
            }

            // Parse out the value
            String[] parsed = output.split("\t");
            return parsed[parsed.length-1];
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            return null;
        }

    }

    static class StreamReader extends Thread {
        private InputStream is;
        private StringWriter sw= new StringWriter();

        public StreamReader(InputStream is) {
            this.is = is;
        }

        public void run() {
            try {
                int c;
                while ((c = is.read()) != -1)
                    sw.write(c);
            }
            catch (IOException e) { 
        }
        }

        public String getResult() {
            return sw.toString();
        }
    }
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        // Sample usage
        String value = WindowsReqistry.readRegistry("HKCU\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\" 
                 + "Explorer\\Shell Folders", "Personal");
        System.out.println(value);
    }
}

Keywords: Java Windows JDK jvm

Added by jbardin on Thu, 19 Mar 2020 10:55:39 +0200