Question

I found a snippet of code explaining how to use System.Diagnostics.Process.Start to run an external program in C#. The snippet shows running cmd.exe, which is in the path.

Let’s assume that there is some external program (Beyond Compare for example). I don’t know if it is installed on the PC. How can I check if this program is installed using C#? If the program is installed, I would like to find the path so that I can launch it.

Answer 1

Well, if you’re trying to see if a program exists where you’re looking for it (like BeyondCompare.exe), you can just use a call to:

System.IO.File.Exists("path_to_program.exe");

If it returns true, then you know your program exists and you can run it with your process runner code. If it returns false, then you know it’s not there and you shouldn’t launch your process.

If I’m misunderstanding your question, please let me know and I’ll update my answer accordingly.

Thanks. Hope this helps!