C++ [Windows] Path to the folder where the executable is located [duplicate]

Answer 1

By default, the directory that the exe is run from should be the starting location. So opening a file in a subfolder should be as easy as

fstream infile; 
infile.open(".\\subfolder\\filename.ext");

from within your program.

However, there is no real way to GUARANTEE this will always work unless you either use a framework that wraps the needed features (I'd look at boost), or using the Windows API directly such as GetModuleFileName (as sean e suggested)

Answer 2

GetThisPath.h

/// dest is expected to be MAX_PATH in length.
/// returns dest
///     TCHAR dest[MAX_PATH];
///     GetThisPath(dest, MAX_PATH);
TCHAR* GetThisPath(TCHAR* dest, size_t destSize);

GetThisPath.cpp

#include <Shlwapi.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "shlwapi.lib")

TCHAR* GetThisPath(TCHAR* dest, size_t destSize)
{
    if (!dest) return NULL;
    if (MAX_PATH > destSize) return NULL;

    DWORD length = GetModuleFileName( NULL, dest, destSize );
    PathRemoveFileSpec(dest);
    return dest;
}

mainProgram.cpp

TCHAR dest[MAX_PATH];
GetThisPath(dest, MAX_PATH);

---

Update: PathRemoveFileSpec is deprecated in Windows 8. However the replacement, PathCchRemoveFileSpec, is available in Windows 8+ only. (Thanks to @askalee for the comment)

I think this code below might work, but I'm leaving the above code up there until the below code is vetted. I don't have a compiler set up to test this at the moment. If you have a chance to test this code, please post a comment saying if this below code worked and on what operating system you tested. Thanks!

GetThisPath.h

/// dest is expected to be MAX_PATH in length.
/// returns dest
///     TCHAR dest[MAX_PATH];
///     GetThisPath(dest, MAX_PATH);
TCHAR* GetThisPath(TCHAR* dest, size_t destSize);

GetThisPath.cpp

#include <Shlwapi.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "shlwapi.lib")

TCHAR* GetThisPath(TCHAR* dest, size_t destSize)
{
    if (!dest) return NULL;

    DWORD length = GetModuleFileName( NULL, dest, destSize );
#if (NTDDI_VERSION >= NTDDI_WIN8)
    PathCchRemoveFileSpec(dest, destSize);
#else
    if (MAX_PATH > destSize) return NULL;
    PathRemoveFileSpec(dest);
#endif
    return dest;
}

mainProgram.cpp

TCHAR dest[MAX_PATH];
GetThisPath(dest, MAX_PATH);

• NTDDI_WIN8 from this answer
• Thanks @Warpspace for the suggested change!

Answer 3

Use GetModuleFileName to find out where your exe is running from.

WCHAR path[MAX_PATH];
GetModuleFileNameW(NULL, path, MAX_PATH);

Then strip the exe name from path.