Windows application data directory

Question

With the environment variable %allusersprofile% I can get the directory where common settings are stored. But most programs store their settings in the sub-folder "anwendungsdaten" (German, application data). Is there a way to get the direct path to this folder? The problem is that its name is language dependent. Thanks.

Answer 1

Not sure about what programming language you're using, so I'll assume the basic Windows api. In XP you can call SHGetFolderPath with CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA as a parameter. It looks like Vista and 7 have a new set of functions that do the same thing, you'd probably want to call SHGetKnownFolderPath.

In Windows Forms, you can use the Application.UserAppDataPath property.