[SOLVED] Ruby - how to read registry keys for 32 bit and 64 bit applications from 32 bit ruby

Ruby - how to read registry keys for 32 bit and 64 bit applications from 32 bit ruby

I am using ruby 32 bit in my application. I am using "win32/registry" for reading registry keys.

When i use

reg = Win32::Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.open('SOFTWARE\app_path')
reg_typ, reg_val = reg.read('somekey')

It by default reads in path

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\app_path

Now some of the applications are 64 bit and I want to check for

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\app_path

h. But, by default it always try to find under "WOW6432Node"

Any suggestion on what I am missing and how can i read registry for both 32 and 64 bit applications from ruby?

Solution

Apparently win32/registry is not defining the KEY_WOW64_{32,64}KEY flags which are used to do that. But since Ruby allows re-opening classes and modules you can easily add them on your own:

module Win32::Registry::Constants
  KEY_WOW64_64KEY = 0x0100
  KEY_WOW64_32KEY = 0x0200
end

To read a 64-bit key:

reg = Win32::Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.open('SOFTWARE\app_path',
        Win32::Registry::KEY_READ | Win32::Registry::KEY_WOW64_64KEY)

To read a 32-bit key:

reg = Win32::Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.open('SOFTWARE\app_path',
        Win32::Registry::KEY_READ | Win32::Registry::KEY_WOW64_32KEY)

You can open a feature request for that on Ruby's bug tracker (or I can do it for you if you prefer).