How to resolve location of %UserProfile% programmatically in C++?

Question

I'd like to find the directory of the current user profile programmatically in C++.

Answer 1

SHGetSpecialFolderLocation is the best way to get at most of the special paths on Windows. Passed CSIDL_PROFILE it should retrieve the folder you are interested in.

If you are actually interested in the contents of the %UserProfile% environment variable you could try ExpandEnvironmentStrings

Answer 2

Simplest way on Windows & Linux:

char *szBuff;
szBuff=std::getenv("USERPROFILE");  //Returning value of %USERPROFILE%