Dependency Walker Path (DWP) Files

Dependency Walker


Dependency Walker Path (DWP) Files


Dependency Walker Path (DWP) files are used to define how Dependency Walker locates modules on your system. By default, Dependency Walker is set up to simulate the search algorithm that the operating system uses to locate modules. However, you can override this default and set up your own custom search criteria. See the Module Search Order Dialog section for more information.

DWP files are usually created by configuring a search order in the Module Search Order Dialog, and then choosing save from that dialog to save the search order to a DWP file. This DWP file can then be loaded at a later time from the Module Search Order Dialog or from the Command Line.

DWP files can also be created and edited by hand. DWP files are simply text files that contain a list of search groups. The following is a list of supported keywords:

SxS Side-by-Side components
KnownDLLs The system's "KnownDLLs" list
AppDir The application directory
32BitSysDir The 32-bit system directory
16BitSysDir The 16-bit system directory (Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/+ only)
OSDir The system's root OS directory
AppPath The application's registered "App Paths" directories
SysPath The system's "PATH" environment variable directories
UserDir A user defined directory

Each keyword must be on a line by itself. All keywords are case insensitive. Except for the UserDir keyword, no keyword can be specified more than once. The UserDir keyword is a special keyword that also requires a directory path. The syntax for it is:

UserDir c:\path\to\some\directory\

You may use system variables in the path as well. For example:

UserDir %build_directory%\%target_cpu%\debug\

All spaces and empty lines in the DWP file are ignored, except for spaces that are part of a directory path. No quotes should be used with any of the keywords or paths. You may add comments to the file by starting a line with a colon (:), semicolon (;), forward slash (/), single quote ('), or pound (#).