C get executable name. How to use Copilot for code suggestions Chat for assistance with code and queries Get real-time help for your coding queries with GitHub Copilot Chat. For an updated version of these redistributable packages, see KB 3138367. In Windows there is api called GetModulePath(…) which returns the exe file path. We provide antivirus, anti-malware, VPN and scam detection for PCs, Macs and mobile devises. If you need to actually access the executable, you need to use the file in *. This generally comes from 'argv [0]' but on Unix systems it tries Is there a way in C/C++ to find the location (full path) of the current executed program? (The problem with argv[0] is that it does not give the full path. ) and certainly the best answer to the original question. Thanks in advance, Nilesh Examples The following command line compiles and links all C source files in the current directory. exe I would like to delete 8 characters to fully delete "test. I need to find out - in my C++ exe code - which dir the exe is. 695 According to the Stack Overflow answer at Is there an equivalent of 'which' on windows?, where. It contains well written, well thought and well explained computer science and programming articles, quizzes and practice/competitive programming/company interview Questions. I'm writing a script which will use the filename of running processes. exe is, and will use that path to find data folder. exe in Properties>Details. exe (or specific file name) is run twice Thanks Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency. MSYS2 provides up-to-date native builds for GCC, mingw-w64, CPython, CMake, Meson, OpenSSL, FFmpeg, Rust, Ruby, just to name a few. exe"? Right now it is working in my computer, but my program will be tested in a different computer where I don't know the name of the project/exe file. Argv [0] only returns the file name. Since program name is the name of source file like prog. app bundle on the Mac for the analogous operation, and whatever is appropriate for Linux. There are separate code for each platform to find the name of the executable file. Q: So, is there a way I can get the name of the application (not name of . The conversational Chat interface provides instant context aware suggestions, assists with debugging, and generates units tests, all within your development environment. Is this what your are doing? Not sure what you mean by "C": that is the name of exe? If so, sounds like the size of the buffer being passed is 2 bytes as "C" is commonly the drive name. exe using the string someapp. operator==operator!=operator<operator<=operator>operator>=operator<=> (until C++20)(until C++20)(until C++20)(until C++20)(until C++20)(C++20) operator/ operator<<operator>> swap(std::filesystem::path) hash_value u8path Helper classes hash<std::filesystem::path> formatter<std::filesystem::path> (C++26) [edit] path filename()const; (since C++17) Determine if a given file is an executable (. I'm using: Is there any way to change the output executable name (ProjectName. exe) to some custom name in Visual C++ 2010, without changing the project name? Thanks. Example 2: Get child item names in a directory This example lists only the names of items in a directory. I would like to display my current C file using C program. Remarks If a DLL is loaded in two processes, its file name in one process may differ in case from its file name in the other process. exe for our example. dir /O:N: Sorts files by name. c. exe " for command-line use. Git is lightning fast and has a huge ecosystem of GUIs, hosting services, and command-line tools. exe extension (${fileBasenameNoExtension}. One of the files that each process gets is /proc/[pid]/exe, which is a symbolic link to the actual executable the process is running. This prints the command name, which is the directory relative to the current working directory, plus the executable name (if available, which is not guaranteed) To get the current working directory, use getcwd() standard library C function. Command line arguments in C programming. As this screenshot shows, program run from the command line with current directory equal to the directory where the executable file lies results in the argv [0] being set to only file name, without the full path. But I want the file name as 'hello. Oct 8, 2010 · On a system like Linux, which uses glibc (the GNU C library), the value of argv[0] is available in a global variable called program_invocation_name: #include "call_realpath. Just download and un-zip the appropriate archive then double-click on " exiftool(-k). This task tells the C++ compiler to take the active file (${file}), compile it, and create an executable file (/Fe: switch) in the current directory (${fileDirname}) with the same name as the active file but with the . Of course, right now, I only need the drive and the path of the executable, so using strrchr () to get the address of the last '\\' in the path and setting the next character to a null would quickly and efficiently remove the filename from the path, allowing me to access the contents of the executable's folder. But if my file's extension is . 5. How can I get the process name in C? The same name, which is in /proc/$pid/status. Sometimes you may want to get the current executable file path of your C# program. How to get the path to executable from Visual C++ Console App (CRT, not MFC) Hi! I want get the path to the executable. Prerequisite Execution process of a C/C++ program. The Name parameter returns only the file or directory names from the specified path. HINTS, PATHS Specify directories to search in addition to the default locations. Caveats Only call _get_pgmptr () if your program has a narrow entry point, like main () or WinMain (). On Linux, the filename of your binary is the destination of a symlink at /proc/self/exe. May 29, 2020 · argv [0] doesn't always give the full path of the app, it can just give the exe name, e. 1,2) Returns the absolute path of the current working directory, obtained as if (in native format) by POSIX getcwd. 2. Is there a platform-agnostic and filesystem-agnostic method to obtain the full path of the directory from where a program is running using C/C++? Not to be confused with the current working directo get_executable_name (3) - Linux man page Name get_executable_name - Obtains the full path to the current executable. In mfc this is done with GetProcessImageFileName or GetModuleFileNameEx, but this is not possible using a 'standard' c++. When I open a PowerShell window and type an executable file name in order to run it, I expect the actual executable to be found among the folders specified in %PATH This executable includes one source file and depends on the previous two libraries. I want to get the name of the currently running program, that is the executable name of the program. Nov 25, 2025 · In this blog, we’ll demystify why `argv [0]` fails, explore platform-specific methods to retrieve the executable path, and discuss cross-platform solutions to ensure robustness in your C projects. Malwarebytes official site: all-in-one cybersecurity software for all your devices. But, here in this program, please consider program name is the name of executable file (like prog – which is created after compilation of the program) that we are going to print using program. (2) returns path() if error occurs. When the compiler compiles code it spits out an executable. Initially, I decided to query the Name entry in Hello. Labels starting with a colon refer to a target with that name in the current BUILD. Maybe it's possible to get folder name of that path without filename? Hi I want to count specific title in process . Once finished, type quit to properly log off of the Steam servers. Thanks in advance, Nilesh I'm trying to get filename (directory) of file and make its subdirectory. exe and is created in the directory "C:\Users\User Name\repos\My Project\bin". for example when I run twice calc. I know I could use dirname/which in shell and env var passed into c code. NET executable's path and directory using the C# programming language. WinExec("program_name. The Get-ChildItem cmdlet uses the Path parameter to specify the directory C:\Test. /a -lfilename", <program_name> is what I want to print for the executable. The working folder is needed to access settings, database, images, or resource files residing in the same directory as the currently running C# executable file of your program. Current executable name, in C++ sys. My get_process_name(proc) function uses GetModuleFileNameEx to get the executable path and GetProcessImageFileName in order to retrieve the name of the executable file. exe it would be able to tell the path is c:\projects\testapps\getapppath. Allegro game programming library. Also, on some platforms I think you can arbitrarily manipulate what gets put into argv [0], but I'm not too familiar with this. 2 I am trying get path of the exe file at the same folder where this program will been. Validate validate is a command that will check all the server files to make sure they match the SteamCMD files. Is there any way to get name of the executable (either ProjectFoo or ProjectFoo_UnitTests) in C++ code like below? Syntax might not be correct but I hope it clarifies the intention. exe", SW_SHOW); I'm using Visual Studio 2010. exe), resulting in helloworld. but i couldnt figure out how to do, i did something like this but it only gets the current programs path, and i dont know how to replace filenames between my program and the program i want to get path. Download MinGW-w64 - for 32 and 64 bit Windows for free. I mean that i run the executable in a different path everytime. app/Contents/MacOS/ and the appropriate file on Linux. Hello. So after looking around and finding that there really isn't a standard way to do this across platforms, I have come up with this solution to find the path to the executable and build the output filename including path information to put the output file in the same directory as the executable Cut at the last backslash and only keep the stuff after? Btw, "i wanted to get path of the exe" and "it gets the pathbut i only need the exe name" are mutually exclusive/confusing. Thank for your help guys The Visual C++ Redistributable Packages install run-time components that are required to run C++ applications that are built by using Visual Studio 2013. the main problem here is getting the file name. Your All-in-One Learning Portal. Thanks in advance. 2 I want to get the current executable's file path without the executable name at the end. The _pgmptr global variable contains the full path to the executable associated with the operator==operator!=operator<operator<=operator>operator>=operator<=> (until C++20)(until C++20)(until C++20)(until C++20)(until C++20)(C++20) operator/ operator<<operator>> swap(std::filesystem::path) hash_value u8path Helper classes hash<std::filesystem::path> formatter<std::filesystem::path> (C++26) [edit] path filename()const; (since C++17) How to find the . The Windows executable archives include Perl. exe " to read the application documentation, drag-and-drop files and folders to view meta information, or rename to " exiftool. when the application is simply started from the local directory. If you're trying to do something like move the . Is there any substitute for GetModulePath in linux? I am new to linux. Let's check them out: Step 1: Open Command Prompt First things first, let's open the Command Prompt. Thank for your help guys Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use. For example, get C:\Program Files\SomeApp\someapp. exe file) from the . Submitted files will be added to or removed from antimalware definitions based on the analysis results. What I want to do is grab the name of that executable when it runs. exe. Powerful digital protection, always by your side. I mean get path to exe file if we run code from else dir. dll, and so on) - Checking the extension is probably not good enough. To provide easy installation of packages and a way to keep them updated it features a package management system called Pacman, which should be familiar to Arch Linux users. 2 If you are trying to get the executable image name of a given process, take a look at GetModuleFileName. exe does this on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2003 and later: Example C:\> where ping Output: C:\Windows\System32\PING. exe argv [0] doesn't always give the full path of the app, it can just give the exe name, e. My intention is to get the name of the running executable file,in every platform (Windows,Mac Os x,Linux) with the same code. g. I try to get the name of executable name of all of my launched windows and my problem is that: I use the method UINT GetWindowModuleFileName( HWND hwnd, LPTSTR lpszFileName, UINT cchFileNam argv [0] doesn't always give the full path of the app, it can just give the exe name, e. And the best way to create subdir. Nov 4, 2025 · Explore multiple OS-specific and modern C++ techniques to accurately determine the full directory path of the currently executing program, differentiating it from the Current Working Directory. Is it possible? How to get executable's full path using C/C++? Hi, I think this question might be typical! I have an execuatable that could be moved around in my file sys tree. How can I get the file name of process from a process handle? I'm using Win32 C++ (Visual C++ Express Edition). When using this to specify names with and without a version suffix, we recommend specifying the unversioned name first so that locally-built packages can be found before those provided by distributions. Hello, How to get the exe file path by c or c++ program in linux. So if I run the command "cc -o <program_name> sourcefile. The best way depends a little from the programming language which you use and from other requirements. You have different option which you can use to receive exe names of currently running processes (process names like you wrote). How can I do this? Notice, it doesn't have a window so FindWindow won't work. from executable file name we get cpp file name & the rest is easy. Build Product Names and Info Build products are named using one of the following templates: As this screenshot shows, program run from the command line with current directory equal to the directory where the executable file lies results in the argv [0] being set to only file name, without the full path. exe file? Even better would be a way to get into strings the information that you can see of an . However, I'm unable to determine the full executable name of some processes. Possible Duplicate: Extracting the current executable name I created a program that reads configuration from ini file, the name of that file should be identical to name of executable but of cou Possible Duplicate: How to get the application executable name in Windows (C++ Win32 or C++/CLI)? How can I get the current instance's file name & path from within my native win32 C++ application? For example; if my application was c:\projects\testapps\getapppath. exe, Get-Command (or its abbreviation gcm), as where is the default alias for Where-Object. Where executable is the name of the executable that is created when I link a source file against the library used to call the syscall. exe in my system and then run my c++ program I show calc. Is there any programmatic way of doing this? The beta name for the non-beta branch is "public", so app_update 90 -beta public will take you off of the beta branch for HLDS. In C/C++ you get it from args[0]. h> void get_executable_name (char *buf, int size); Description Fills 'buf' with the full path to the current executable, writing at most 'size' bytes. Is there any function to get the exact path where the executable is even if the executable path changes. In C#, you may need to get the current executable file path to access resources like settings, databases, images, or other files located in the same directory as the running program. Learn how to easily extract the `EXE` name of a running program in C+ + using simple code examples and explanations. . @jgpt, errorcode 299 will be returned if the binary calling GetModuleFileNameEx() is 32-bit and the target process is 64-bit. You can use the readlink system call to find the destination of a symlink. c -L . NAMES Specify one or more possible names for the program. This example assumes that the task and the test task already exist on the local computer. 0 In Windows C/C++ there is a global variable extern char * _pgmptr that can be read as well as an unsafe string copy from _get_pgmptr(char ** buffer). Beneath the process name are listed handle values (in hexadecimal), the type of object the handle is associated with, and the name of the object if it has one. When in search mode, Handle prints the process names and id's are listed on the left side and the names of the objects that had a match are on the right. The names returned are relative to the value of the Path parameter. Get EXE Location C++. The mingw-w64 project is a complete runtime environment for gcc to support binaries native to Windows 64-bit and 32-bit operating systems. gn file. dir /S: Lists files in the specified directory and all subdirectories. How to List All Files in a Directory Now, we will be discussing 4 basic steps to list all files in a directory using the Command Prompt. exe to a new location, make sure you get the . Submit suspected malware or incorrectly detected files for analysis. Get the information about this executable (the company name, the product name, and so on). exe, so I can call TerminateProcess on it. 0 one simple way to know the current executable name is argv[0], which tells you the name of the current executable in C. exe" text in installer and then join //test (_tcscat (installer, _T ("\\test"));) Is it possible. The _pgmptr global variable contains the full path to the executable associated with the Current executable name, in C++ sys. The WinGet command line tool enables developers to discover, install, upgrade, remove and configure applications on Windows computers. This is the only reliable way to get the executable's path across any c# project (winforms, wpf, console, etc. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets. exe, . Synopsis #include <allegro. Is there any way to use a variable, constant, or something, in order to avoid the string "program_name. The only problem is every where I search, I only get ways to grab the Hello, How to get the exe file path by c or c++ program in linux. Hope this helps a bit. print the content of your program's source file to console, without user inputting the file name or giving it in source. I know that the executable name can be obtained by argv[0]. I never did this before and thus am not aware if there is a Windows API (or lightweight C/C++ library) to do that or if it is even That sounds odd. c' for example. In Windows there is GetModuleFileName() function to get the name of executable,but it works on Visual Studio. ) Solution To summarize: Since folder with data will be near executable and getExePath () will tell me where . I'm trying to get the process handle of, say example. h" Retrieves the name of the executable file for the specified process. This example retrieves the name of the application associated with a given task and displays that name on the screen. I do not want to parse that file. the following solution is windows only. EXE In PowerShell use where. What is the best way to get current path in cpp. Closed 10 years ago. The resulting executable file is named PROCESS. Thanks. The global variable _pgmptr is automatically initialized to the full path of the executable file, and can be used to retrieve the full path name of an executable file. So how do I get this info? Thank you! I'd like to get the full path of an executable given the executable's filename without resorting to a full search of the filesystem. argv [0] holds the name of the currently running script, you might use __file__, but if called from within a module you would then get the module's __file__ attribute. The provided code retrieves and prints the absolute path of the executable file being run on a Linux system: Find answers to Get executable path/executable name in c++ at runtime? from the expert community at Experts Exchange Since folder with data will be near executable and getExePath () will tell me where . It should be the full path of the executable, like C:\Program Files\myapplication\my. This can be essential for managing file paths relative to the executable, ensuring that the program can properly locate and use these resources. So you can get the actual full executable path like this: This tutorial explains how to get executable file path on Linux using C++. A complete runtime environment for gcc. viby, xgc1uk, bpcrk, 7bro, m5n6dn, poptw, 3mvx, dswl, adpw, y5ro,