Retrieve Package Identity and Installed Location in Windows Store Apps

In this article we are going to see how to retrieve the current application's identity and it's installed location in Windows Store Apps using C#.

In Windows Store Apps, identity consists of several things such as Version, packageId, Publisher, Full Name etc.

Here I use the Package API to retrieve the current application's identity and current package's installed location.

Here is the procedure.

Step 1

Create a new Blank Windows Store Application using C#.

Step 2

In the MainPage.XAML create the following markup.

<Page

x:Class="application_Package_Information.MainPage"

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

xmlns:local="using:application_Package_Information"

xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"

xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"

mc:Ignorable="d">

<Grid.RowDefinitions>

</Grid.RowDefinitions>

</StackPanel>

</Grid>

</Page>

Step 3

Here is the code of .cs file.

Add the following namespace to use the API:

using Windows.ApplicationModel;

Get the current Package using the Package API, as in:

Package package = Package.Current;

Get the Installed Location of the Package, as in:

Windows.Storage.StorageFolder installedLocation = Package.Current.InstalledLocation;

Reterive all the identity of the application and show in a textblock, as in:

OutputTextBlock.Text = String.Format("Name: \"{0}\"\n" +

"Version: {1}\n" +

"Architecture: {2}\n" +

"ResourceId: \"{3}\"\n" +

"Publisher: \"{4}\"\n" +

"PublisherId: \"{5}\"\n" +

"FullName: \"{6}\"\n" +

"FamilyName: \"{7}\"\n" +

"IsFramework: \"{8}\"\n"+

"Installed Location: {9}",

packageId.Name,

versionString(packageId.Version),

architectureString(packageId.Architecture),

packageId.ResourceId,

packageId.Publisher,

packageId.PublisherId,

packageId.FullName,

packageId.FamilyName,

package.IsFramework,

installedLocation.Path);

Here is the full code:

using System;

using Windows.ApplicationModel;

using Windows.Foundation;

using Windows.UI.Xaml;

using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls;

using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Primitives;

using Windows.UI.Xaml.Navigation;

namespace application_Package_Information

{

public sealed partial class MainPage : Page

{

public MainPage()

{

this.InitializeComponent();

}

protected override void OnNavigatedTo(NavigationEventArgs e)

{

}

String versionString(PackageVersion version)

{

return String.Format("{0}.{1}.{2}.{3}",

version.Major, version.Minor, version.Build, version.Revision);

}

String architectureString(Windows.System.ProcessorArchitecture architecture)

{

switch (architecture)

{

case Windows.System.ProcessorArchitecture.X86:

return "x86";

case Windows.System.ProcessorArchitecture.Arm:

return "arm";

case Windows.System.ProcessorArchitecture.X64:

return "x64";

case Windows.System.ProcessorArchitecture.Neutral:

return "neutral";

case Windows.System.ProcessorArchitecture.Unknown:

return "unknown";

default:

return "???";

}

void GetPackage_Click(Object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)

{

Package package = Package.Current;

PackageId packageId = package.Id;

Windows.Storage.StorageFolder installedLocation = Package.Current.InstalledLocation;