Creating 7 registry values under a registry key without repetition

Question

I am developing an windows application using vb.net. Now I want to add 7 values in registry HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\MYAPP.

Each value (out of 7) should be added only when it does not exist in the subkey.

In the end I want to see only 7 under MYAPP SUBKEY. How do I do that? I need your help.

Answer 1

You can use the GetValue of a RegistryKey object and test the result, if Nothing then the value does not exist.

Here is a complete example that should get you working. Note that you might need admin rights to create keys and values depending on the machine permissions:

    Dim myAppKey = Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(Microsoft.Win32.RegistryHive.CurrentUser, Microsoft.Win32.RegistryView.Default)
    If myAppKey Is Nothing Then Throw New Exception("Failed to open registry")

    Dim subKeyName = "SOFTWARE\MYAPP"

    'attempt to open the subkey with write acces because we need this if we are creating values
    Dim subKey = myAppKey.OpenSubKey(subKeyName, True)
    If subKey Is Nothing Then
        'create the sub key because it doesn't exist
        myAppKey.CreateSubKey(subKeyName)
        're open the new key
        subKey = myAppKey.OpenSubKey(subKeyName, True)
    End If

    'create values in a loop for testing
    For i = 0 To 6
        If subKey.GetValue("Value" & i) Is Nothing Then
            'value does not exist so create it
            subKey.SetValue("Value" & i, i)
        End If
    Next