Accessing the Windows Registry with the API

Public Function GetSettingLong( _
             ByVal hKey As Long, _
             ByVal strPath As String, _
             ByVal strValue As String, _
        Optional Default As Long) As Long

Dim lRegResult As Long
Dim lValueType As Long
Dim lBuffer As Long
Dim lDataBufferSize As Long
Dim hCurKey As Long

' Set up default value
If Not IsEmpty(Default) Then
GetSettingLong = Default
Else
GetSettingLong = 0
End If

lRegResult = RegOpenKey(hKey, _
                strPath, hCurKey)
lDataBufferSize = 4 
          ' 4 bytes = 32 bits = long

lRegResult = RegQueryValueEx(hCurKey, _
                    strValue, 0&, _
                    lValueType, lBuffer, _
                    lDataBufferSize)

If lRegResult = ERROR_SUCCESS Then

If lValueType = REG_DWORD Then
GetSettingLong = lBuffer
End If

Else
'there is a problem
End If

lRegResult = RegCloseKey(hCurKey)
End Function

Public Sub SaveSettingLong(ByVal hKey As Long, ByVal _
strPath As String, ByVal strValue As String, ByVal _
lData As Long)
Dim hCurKey As Long
Dim lRegResult As Long

lRegResult = RegCreateKey(hKey, strPath, hCurKey)

lRegResult = RegSetValueEx(hCurKey, strValue, 0&, _
REG_DWORD, lData, 4)

If lRegResult <> ERROR_SUCCESS Then
'there is a problem
End If

lRegResult = RegCloseKey(hCurKey)
End Sub

These two functions are probably the simplest of the three data types. We know the length of data that we want to retrieve so we don't need any extra calls.

Public Function GetSettingLong(ByVal hKey As Long, _
ByVal strPath As String, ByVal strValue As String, _
Optional Default As Long) As Long

Dim lRegResult As Long
Dim lValueType As Long
Dim lBuffer As Long
Dim lDataBufferSize As Long
Dim hCurKey As Long

' Set up default value
If Not IsEmpty(Default) Then
GetSettingLong = Default
Else
GetSettingLong = 0
End If

lRegResult = RegOpenKey(hKey, strPath, hCurKey)
lDataBufferSize = 4 ' 4 bytes = 32 bits = long

lRegResult = RegQueryValueEx(hCurKey, strValue, 0&, _
lValueType, lBuffer, lDataBufferSize)

If lRegResult = ERROR_SUCCESS Then

If lValueType = REG_DWORD Then
GetSettingLong = lBuffer
End If

Else
'there is a problem
End If

lRegResult = RegCloseKey(hCurKey)
End Function

Public Sub SaveSettingLong(ByVal hKey As Long, ByVal _
strPath As String, ByVal strValue As String, ByVal lData As Long)
Dim hCurKey As Long
Dim lRegResult As Long

lRegResult = RegCreateKey(hKey, strPath, hCurKey)

lRegResult = RegSetValueEx(hCurKey, strValue, 0&, _
REG_DWORD, lData, 4)

If lRegResult <> ERROR_SUCCESS Then
'there is a problem
End If

lRegResult = RegCloseKey(hCurKey)
End Sub

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This article was originally published on November 20, 2002