PRB: GetVersion Returns 3.10 from Windows for Workgroups 3.11

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows versions 3.0 and 3.1
• Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows for Workgroups version 3.11

SYMPTOMS

GetVersion() returns 3.10 when running under Windows for Workgroups version 3.11.

CAUSE

GetVersion() still returns 3.10 from Windows for Workgroups version 3.11 because there are too many applications that are checking for version 3.10. GetVersion() returns 3.10 to maintain compatibility with those applications that check for Windows version 3.10.

RESOLUTION

Windows applications that use the C language can use the following set of functions to get the actual version information.

  GetFileVersionInfoSize("user.exe"...);
  GetFileVersionInfo("user.exe"...);
  VerQueryValue(...);

Below is a Visual Basic program that uses the GetFileVersionInfo() function to get the actual version information.

   Declare Function GetFileVersionInfo% Lib "ver.dll"
      (ByVal lpszFileName$, ByVal handle As Any, ByVal
       cbBuf&, ByVal lpvData$)

     Dim pos As Integer
     Dim version As String * 255
     Dim ans As String
     ' get the version info and fill the version string
     ret% = GetFileVersionInfo("user.exe", 0&, 254, version)
     ' find the position in the string where the FileVersion stamp is.
     pos = InStr(1, version, "FileVersion")
     ' 12 = lengh of "FileVersion" +1 for the null
     ' 4  = length of string to return i.e. "3.11"
     ans = Mid$(version, pos + 12, 4)
     ' display answer
     MsgBox ans