Get Version Info for .exe

Question

Does anybody know how got get the version info for a executable/file via Java. The scenario is that I have a file on my local system and if the version on the server is newer then the one on my system I need to download the file from the server.

Do you mean the meta information (right click and properties in windows)? — dacwe, Aug 02 '11 at 20:30
Yes I am looking for the information stored in the properties if the file. — GEverding, Aug 03 '11 at 11:17

GEverding · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-04T13:33:41.793

After spending hours online and coding I found a solution using JNA to get the Version Information for a file.

import com.sun.jna.Library;
import com.sun.jna.Memory;
import com.sun.jna.Native;
import com.sun.jna.Pointer;
import com.sun.jna.ptr.IntByReference;
import com.sun.jna.ptr.PointerByReference;
import com.sun.jna.win32.W32APIOptions;
import java.io.IOException;


public class FileVersionInfo
{
    interface Version extends Library {

        Version INSTANCE = (Version) Native.loadLibrary("Version", Version.class, W32APIOptions.UNICODE_OPTIONS);

        public int GetFileVersionInfoSizeW(String lptstrFilename, int dwDummy);

        public boolean GetFileVersionInfoW(String lptstrFilename, int dwHandle,
            int dwLen, Pointer lpData);

        public int VerQueryValueW(Pointer pBlock, String lpSubBlock,
            PointerByReference lplpBuffer, IntByReference puLen);

    }

    static class VS_FIXEDFILEINFO extends com.sun.jna.Structure {
        public int dwSignature;
        public int dwStrucVersion;
        public int dwFileVersionMS;
        public int dwFileVersionLS;
        public int dwProductVersionMS;
        public int dwProductVersionLS;
        public int dwFileFlagsMask;
        public int dwFileFlags;
        public int dwFileOS;
        public int dwFileType;
        public int dwFileSubtype;
        public int dwFileDateMS;
        public int dwFileDateLS;

           public VS_FIXEDFILEINFO(com.sun.jna.Pointer p){
                super(p);
           }
    }
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {

        int dwDummy = 0;
        int versionlength = Version.INSTANCE.GetFileVersionInfoSizeW(
                "C:\\Test\\chromeinstall.exe", dwDummy);

        byte[] bufferarray = new byte[versionlength];
        Pointer lpData = new Memory(bufferarray.length);    

        PointerByReference lplpBuffer = new PointerByReference();
        IntByReference puLen = new IntByReference();
        boolean FileInfoResult = Version.INSTANCE.GetFileVersionInfoW(
                "C:\\Test\\chromeinstall.exe",
                0, versionlength, lpData);
        System.out.println(FileInfoResult);
        int verQueryVal = Version.INSTANCE.VerQueryValueW(lpData,
                "\\", lplpBuffer,
                puLen);

        VS_FIXEDFILEINFO lplpBufStructure = new VS_FIXEDFILEINFO(
                lplpBuffer.getValue());
        lplpBufStructure.read();

        short[] rtnData = new short[4];
        rtnData[0] = (short) (lplpBufStructure.dwFileVersionMS >> 16);
        rtnData[1] = (short) (lplpBufStructure.dwFileVersionMS & 0xffff);
        rtnData[2] = (short) (lplpBufStructure.dwFileVersionLS >> 16);
        rtnData[3] = (short) (lplpBufStructure.dwFileVersionLS & 0xffff);

        for (int i = 0; i < rtnData.length; i++) {
            System.out.println(rtnData[i]);
        }

}

Thanks for this useful code! Just another side note for people using it: If you use this code inside a class with VS_FIXEDFILEINFO being an inner class, you may get the error "Class com.sun.jna.Structure can not access a member getfield". If so, simply add the keyword `public` to the inner class VS_FIXEDFILEINFO to fix it. — rene_buehling, Dec 16 '11 at 15:27
In Java 8 (maybe lower too), you have to implement a getFieldOrder() method. Unsure of what to put there though... The answer below by Antonis Zafiropoulos works however. — Mgamerz, Jul 26 '15 at 21:13

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 01 '13 at 10:24

For reference, a modified version of the code by GEverding, with JNA 4, using com.sun.jna.platform.win32

package examples;

import java.io.IOException;

import com.sun.jna.Memory;
import com.sun.jna.Pointer;
import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.VerRsrc.VS_FIXEDFILEINFO;
import com.sun.jna.ptr.IntByReference;
import com.sun.jna.ptr.PointerByReference;

public class FileVersion {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {

        String filePath = "C:\\Test\\chromeinstall.exe";

        IntByReference dwDummy = new IntByReference();
        dwDummy.setValue(0);

        int versionlength =
                com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Version.INSTANCE.GetFileVersionInfoSize(
                        filePath, dwDummy);

        byte[] bufferarray = new byte[versionlength];
        Pointer lpData = new Memory(bufferarray.length);
        PointerByReference lplpBuffer = new PointerByReference();
        IntByReference puLen = new IntByReference();

        boolean fileInfoResult =
                com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Version.INSTANCE.GetFileVersionInfo(
                        filePath, 0, versionlength, lpData);

        boolean verQueryVal =
                com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Version.INSTANCE.VerQueryValue(
                        lpData, "\\", lplpBuffer, puLen);

        VS_FIXEDFILEINFO lplpBufStructure = new VS_FIXEDFILEINFO(lplpBuffer.getValue());
        lplpBufStructure.read();

        int v1 = (lplpBufStructure.dwFileVersionMS).intValue() >> 16;
        int v2 = (lplpBufStructure.dwFileVersionMS).intValue() & 0xffff;
        int v3 = (lplpBufStructure.dwFileVersionLS).intValue() >> 16;
        int v4 = (lplpBufStructure.dwFileVersionLS).intValue() & 0xffff;

        System.out.println(
                String.valueOf(v1) + "." +
                        String.valueOf(v2) + "." +
                        String.valueOf(v3) + "." +
                        String.valueOf(v4));
    }
}

virlan2004 · Answer 3 · 2011-08-02T20:53:30.620

Due to portability issues I believe this kind of information is not actually available in java unless you access it using a less portable approach.

For example you could write a wrapper using JNI and C++ and use the GetFileVersionInfo API (see also this JavaWorld tip) of Windows to get that kind of information from the exe. Another approach would be to use a totally external application that outputs the version of the file and use the Runtime class to create a process and interact with that application.

Other approaches would require having access to the server and providing version checking from server side:

files contain the version number in their name,
save a separate file accessible to java that can provide the current version
save the date of the download on server side and checking if the current version is newer than the date when the last one was downloaded
check the md5 to see if the version is different, in case the server can contain only versions newer or equally as new as the client one

I like that approach. Im using JNA in other parts of my project and its a lot nicer then JNI so I will do the same thing using JNA. thanks — GEverding, Aug 03 '11 at 11:20

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 26 '15 at 22:21

I modified Antonis Zafiropoulos's answer and made a handy class you can just drop into your project. Note that the fileInfoResult and verQueryVal lines must exist even though they don't appear to do anything.

package yourpackage;

import com.sun.jna.Memory;
import com.sun.jna.Pointer;
import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.VerRsrc.VS_FIXEDFILEINFO;
import com.sun.jna.ptr.IntByReference;
import com.sun.jna.ptr.PointerByReference;

public class EXEFileInfo {
    public static int MAJOR = 0;
    public static int MINOR = 1;
    public static int BUILD = 2;
    public static int REVISION = 3;

    public static int getMajorVersionOfProgram(String path) {
        return getVersionInfo(path)[MAJOR];
    }

    public static int getMinorVersionOfProgram(String path) {
        return getVersionInfo(path)[MINOR];
    }

    public static int getBuildOfProgram(String path) {
        return getVersionInfo(path)[BUILD];
    }

    public static int getRevisionOfProgram(String path) {
        return getVersionInfo(path)[REVISION];
    }

    public static int[] getVersionInfo(String path) {
        IntByReference dwDummy = new IntByReference();
        dwDummy.setValue(0);

        int versionlength = com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Version.INSTANCE.GetFileVersionInfoSize(path, dwDummy);

        byte[] bufferarray = new byte[versionlength];
        Pointer lpData = new Memory(bufferarray.length);
        PointerByReference lplpBuffer = new PointerByReference();
        IntByReference puLen = new IntByReference();
        boolean fileInfoResult = com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Version.INSTANCE.GetFileVersionInfo(path, 0, versionlength, lpData);
        boolean verQueryVal = com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Version.INSTANCE.VerQueryValue(lpData, "\\", lplpBuffer, puLen);

        VS_FIXEDFILEINFO lplpBufStructure = new VS_FIXEDFILEINFO(lplpBuffer.getValue());
        lplpBufStructure.read();

        int v1 = (lplpBufStructure.dwFileVersionMS).intValue() >> 16;
        int v2 = (lplpBufStructure.dwFileVersionMS).intValue() & 0xffff;
        int v3 = (lplpBufStructure.dwFileVersionLS).intValue() >> 16;
        int v4 = (lplpBufStructure.dwFileVersionLS).intValue() & 0xffff;
        System.out.println("Version: " + v1 + "." + v2 + "." + v3 + "." + v4);
        return new int[] { v1, v2, v3, v4 };
    }
}

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 02 '11 at 20:38

2

If you mean the information you get in Property->Details on Windows, bear in mind that it's platform dependent! That being said SIGAR has Java bindings and a FileVersionInfo class that seems close to what you need.

answered Aug 02 '11 at 20:38

Vlad

10,602
2
36
38

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:25

0

There is a portable solution explained here (and this question is more or less a duplicate).

Basically, windows executable use the PE format (and linux ones ELF) and you can use the pecoff4j library to read this information in a portable way.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:25

Community

1
1

answered Sep 17 '15 at 13:07

Emmanuel Touzery

9,008
3
65
81

This is true, but unfortunately, pecoff4j is imperfect and will choke on many, legitimate DLLs. I have submitted a few fixes (at least to one fork), but I just ran into another issue. – Corrodias Sep 22 '18 at 02:08

mdwheaton · Answer 7 · 2022-11-11T21:55:58.530

0

Shell out to powershell if it's a windows program. This bit gets the file version. One and done:

$fileVersion = [System.Diagnostics.FileVersionInfo]::GetVersionInfo($FilePath).FileVersion

edited Nov 11 '22 at 21:55

answered Nov 11 '22 at 21:55

mdwheaton

1
2

Get Version Info for .exe

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