The code queries the registry for the MSBuildToolsPath value in two versions (4.0 and 14.0) of the MSBuild tools path using the reg.exe command.

Alternatively, in two sentences:

The code uses the reg.exe command to query the registry for the MSBuildToolsPath value in two versions (4.0 and 14.0) of the MSBuild tools path. The expected output is the value of MSBuildToolsPath for each specified registry path.

Cell 0

reg.exe query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\4.0" /v MSBuildToolsPath

reg.exe query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0" /v MSBuildToolsPath

# Define a function to get MSBuildToolsPath for a given version
function Get-MsBuildToolsPath {
    param (
        [string]$Version
    )
    
    # Define the registry key
    $key = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\$Version"
    
    # Try to get the value
    try {
        $value = (Get-ItemProperty -Path $key -Name MSBuildToolsPath).MSBuildToolsPath
    } catch {
        # If the value is not found, return $null
        Write-Warning "Value not found in registry key $key"
        return $null
    }
    
    # Return the value
    return $value
}

# Get MSBuildToolsPath for 4.0 and 14.0 versions
$toolsPath4_0 = Get-MsBuildToolsPath -Version 4.0
$toolsPath14_0 = Get-MsBuildToolsPath -Version 14.0

# Print the results
Write-Output "MSBuildToolsPath for 4.0: $toolsPath4_0"
Write-Output "MSBuildToolsPath for 14.0: $toolsPath14_0"

Code Breakdown

Purpose

The code is used to query the registry for specific values related to MSBuild tools.

Code Structure

The code consists of two commands:

1. reg.exe query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\4.0" /v MSBuildToolsPath
2. reg.exe query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0" /v MSBuildToolsPath

Parameters

• reg.exe: The command to query the registry.
• query: The action to perform on the registry.
• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\4.0: The registry path to query (version 4.0).
• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0: The registry path to query (version 14.0).
• /v: The option to specify the value to be queried.
• MSBuildToolsPath: The value to be queried.

Expected Output

The code will output the value of MSBuildToolsPath for each specified registry path.

Notes

• HKLM stands for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, which is a registry hive.
• The /v option is used to specify the value to be queried.