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Java Forum / General / February 2007Java - Awareness of other programs installed on PC
Is there way in JAVA to access information about the installed programs on the PC. I mean somehow you could grab some information about all items in (lets say for windows) the Start-Programs. Thanks for ur help > Is there way in JAVA to access information about the installed > programs on the PC. I mean somehow you could grab some information > about all items in (lets say for windows) the Start-Programs. Why? What does this program give to the end user? Andrew T. > > Is there way in JAVA to access information about the installed > > programs on the PC. I mean somehow you could grab some information [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Andrew T. well there are many possibilities .. thats not the point .. is it possible and how ??? >>> Is there way in JAVA to access information about the installed >>> programs on the PC. I mean somehow you could grab some information [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > well there are many possibilities .. thats not the point .. is it > possible and how ??? You'll have to forgive Andrew. He seems to avoid answering questions asked by the poster and ask his own instead if he thinks his are more relevant. Your reasons don't matter to me but they seem to matter to him. Until it is determined that it matters to help you with your problem it's really none of my business *why* you want to do something. Anyway, in the specific case of Start menu entries, these entries are shortcuts that exist as files (like any other Windows shortcut) in a User's profile directory. Each user has a Start Menu folder that contains programs that were installed only for them (most apps are installed under the All Users profile). So you could just use Java to look at a user's start menu entries by looking at the Start Menu folder for that user. If you need anything else like accessing the Windows registry through Java I can't help you. I seem to recall looking for something like that a few weeks ago and I think I found some libraries that could do that but they weren't free. hope that helps Brandon > Anyway, in the specific case of Start menu entries, these entries are > shortcuts that exist as files (like any other Windows shortcut) in a > User's profile directory. And elsewhere ('All users' as it's called on my Windows installation, though I imagine that name varies with language). And I wouldn't put it past MS to include "magic" entries in there too. But that (even when generalised) doesn't sound very useful to me. The nearest thing to a correct list of installed software in Windows is the one used by the "Add/Remove programs" application. But even that isn't really correct (I have many apps on this box which weren't "installed" in the normal sense -- Eclipse, for one). So, it really comes down to what the OP is /really/ trying to do. Which is what Andew asked. -- chris On Feb 14, 12:40 pm, "Chris Uppal" <chris.up...@metagnostic.REMOVE- THIS.org> wrote: > > Anyway, in the specific case of Start menu entries, these entries are > > shortcuts that exist as files (like any other Windows shortcut) in a [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > -- chris well Thank you guys for all ur help .. to clear up all this mess .. here is what I had in mind .. I was thinking along the lines of having a Java program automate the startup of other programs on ur PC ..using keywords .. kind of like launchy http://www.launchy.net/ .. difference is that launchy is written in C so it makes it a perfect candidate for windows stuff .. what launchy does is that indexes the start up programs for u to create a list of programs that u could start with some keyword matching mechanism .. I understand that for something like this java should not be the choice especially since it defeats the whole platform-independant- langauge concept. but I think this can be implemented in platform- independant manner so I guess I am just gonna drop the idea of indexing the Start menu or something like that .. the simplest thing would be to just let the user specify the executables and with the help of some pattern matching you can make it easier for user to get to that program .. but automating things is always better .. so if u have any ideas regarding this stuff .. please share Again thanks for your help .. > Is there way in JAVA to access information about the installed > programs on the PC. I mean somehow you could grab some information > about all items in (lets say for windows) the Start-Programs. To access the Windows registry you will need JNI. You can find the items in the start menu by just listing files and directories, but if you need to read the content of the .lnk files I believe you are in unsupported land. There are probably some Win32 API to access the info and this will also require JNI. I think the bottom line is that Java is not a god choice for the task. Arne >> Is there way in JAVA to access information about the installed >> programs on the PC. I mean somehow you could grab some information >> about all items in (lets say for windows) the Start-Programs. > > To access the Windows registry you will need JNI. He could always use System.execute() with some native commands for accessing the registry etc. Doesn't sound very nice though. > You can find the items in the start menu by just > listing files and directories, but if you need to [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I think the bottom line is that Java is not a god > choice for the task. Agreed.... (I had a giggle at 'god' choice btw! Started imaging Sun's other products, e.g. Sun Jehova.) > (I had a giggle at 'god' choice btw! Started imaging Sun's other > products, e.g. Sun Jehova.) It would run on the Jehova Virtuous Machine. - Lew >> (I had a giggle at 'god' choice btw! Started imaging Sun's other >> products, e.g. Sun Jehova.) > > It would run on the Jehova Virtuous Machine. :) > - Lew >> I think the bottom line is that Java is not a god >> choice for the task. > > Agreed.... > (I had a giggle at 'god' choice btw! Started imaging Sun's other > products, e.g. Sun Jehova.) Absolutely unintentional. I just missed an 'o'. :-) Arne Free MagazinesGet these publications absolutely FREE for up to 12 months. There are no hidden fees and no obligation. Simply choose a title, complete the application form and submit it. Read more ...
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