Windows: Command line to read version info of an executable file?

Question

Does Windows have an executable that I can run in the command shell which returns the version number of an executable (.exe) file?

I see a lot of questions that show how to do it from different languages, and references to third party software to write it, but I can't find a simple shell command to do it. Additional points if I don't need to install anything.

It must be run as normal user. Not administrator.

Answer 1

wmic datafile where name="C:\\Windows\\System32\\msiexec.exe" get Version /value 

You can use wmic to do it. And you can wrap it into a batch file

@echo off
    setlocal enableextensions

    set "file=%~1"
    if not defined file goto :eof
    if not exist "%file%" goto :eof

    set "vers="
    FOR /F "tokens=2 delims==" %%a in ('
        wmic datafile where name^="%file:\=\\%" get Version /value 
    ') do set "vers=%%a"

    echo(%file% = %vers% 

    endlocal

Save it as (example) getVersion.cmd and call as getVersion.cmd "c:\windows\system32\msiexec.exe"

edited to adapt to comments and not require administrator rights. In this case, an hybrid cmd/javascript file is used to query wmi. Same usage

@if (@this==@isBatch) @then
@echo off
    setlocal enableextensions

    set "file=%~f1"
    if not exist "%file%" goto :eof

    cscript //nologo //e:jscript "%~f0" /file:"%file%"

    endlocal

    exit /b
@end
    var file = WScript.Arguments.Named.Item('file').replace(/\\/g,'\\\\');
    var wmi = GetObject('winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\\\.\\root\\cimv2')
    var files = new Enumerator(wmi.ExecQuery('Select Version from CIM_datafile where name=\''+file+'\'')) 

    while (!files.atEnd()){
        WScript.StdOut.WriteLine(files.item().Version);
        files.moveNext();
    };
    WScript.Quit(0)

Answer 2

If you are willing and able to use PowerShell, the following code will work. If you are on a supported Windows system, PowerShell will be available.

(Get-Item -Path 'C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_144\bin\java.exe').VersionInfo |
    Format-List -Force

If you must run it in a cmd.exe shell, you could use:

powershell -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command ^
    "(Get-Item -Path 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_201\bin\java.exe').VersionInfo |" ^
        "Format-List -Force"