Finding the path to dotnet.exe

In my Visual C++ application I want to spawn dotnet.exe to run my DLL. Now, my installer is correctly configured to detect if the .NET8 runtime is needed and will install it. So I know that it is available.

From my research it seems that this is the expected folder:

%programfiles%\dotnet.\dotnet.exe

I the moment I am using the following code:

CString strPath;
SHGetSpecialFolderPath(nullptr, strPath.GetBuffer(_MAX_PATH), CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES, FALSE);
strPath.ReleaseBuffer();
if (strPath.Right(1) != L"\\")
	strPath += L"\\";
strPath += L"dotnet\\dotnet.exe";

It works fine. But I am not sure about how safe it is to hardcode dotnet\dotnet.exe like that.In my specific case, I have adjusted my code like this:

CString CMeetingScheduleAssistantApp::GetMSAToolsConsoleAppPath()
{
	// Get the Program Files directory
	CString programFilesPath;
	SHGetSpecialFolderPath(nullptr, programFilesPath.GetBuffer(_MAX_PATH), CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES, FALSE);
	programFilesPath.ReleaseBuffer();
	// Ensure trailing backslash
	if (programFilesPath.Right(1) != L"\\")
		programFilesPath += L"\\";
	// Construct the full command line
	CString fullCommand;
	fullCommand.Format(L"\"%sdotnet\\dotnet.exe\" \"%sMSATools\\MSATools.dll\"",
		programFilesPath.GetString(), GetProgramPath().GetString());
	return fullCommand;
	// return GetProgramPath() + L"MSATools\\MSATools.exe";
}

It works ok, but again, I am using hardcoded values. It has also been alluded to that I should modernize this code to use SHGetKnownFolderPath.So, this is is what I have now:

CString CMeetingScheduleAssistantApp::GetMSAToolsConsoleAppPath()
{
	// Get the Program Files directory
	CString programFilesPath;
	PWSTR pszPath = nullptr;
	if (SUCCEEDED(SHGetKnownFolderPath(FOLDERID_ProgramFiles, 0, nullptr, &pszPath)))
	{
		programFilesPath = pszPath;
		CoTaskMemFree(pszPath);
	}
	else
	{
		// Fallback to old method if new one fails
		SHGetSpecialFolderPath(nullptr, programFilesPath.GetBuffer(_MAX_PATH), CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES, FALSE);
		programFilesPath.ReleaseBuffer();
	}
	// Ensure trailing backslash
	if (programFilesPath.Right(1) != L"\\")
		programFilesPath += L"\\";
	// Construct the full command line
	CString fullCommand;
	fullCommand.Format(L"\"%sdotnet\\dotnet.exe\" \"%sMSATools\\MSATools.dll\"",
		programFilesPath.GetString(), GetProgramPath().GetString());
	return fullCommand;
	// return GetProgramPath() + L"MSATools\\MSATools.exe";
}

Any improvements to this function to make it as robust as needed?