PE Version Reader

A cross-platform Laravel package for extracting version information from Windows PE files (.exe, .dll, .sys) and archives (.zip, .tar.gz, .rar, .7z). Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows without WinAPI.

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Requirements

• PHP 8.1+
• Laravel 10, 11, or 12
• ext-zip
• ext-phar

Optional (for archive formats)

Format	Requirement
.zip	ext-zip (included in PHP by default)
.tar.gz	ext-phar (included in PHP by default)
.rar	unrar binary
.7z	7z / 7za binary

Installing binaries

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

apt install unrar p7zip-full

macOS

brew install rar p7zip

Windows

Download and install WinRAR and 7-Zip. Make sure their directories are added to PATH, or the package will attempt to find them at their default installation paths automatically.

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Installation

composer require vendor/pe-version-reader

Laravel will auto-discover the service provider via package auto-discovery.

If auto-discovery is disabled, register the provider manually in bootstrap/providers.php:

Brstoker\PeVersionReader\PeVersionReaderServiceProvider::class,

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Usage

Basic — auto-detect file type

use Brstoker\PeVersionReader\PeVersionReader;

$reader = app(PeVersionReader::class);

$info = $reader->read('/path/to/filename.zip');
$info = $reader->read('/path/to/filename.exe');
$info = $reader->read('/path/to/library.dll');
$info = $reader->read('/path/to/driver.sys');

Explicit methods

// PE file directly
$info = $reader->readExe('/path/to/filename.exe');

// Archive — looks for a PE file matching the archive name in the archive root
$info = $reader->readZip('/path/to/filename.zip');

Working with the result

$info = $reader->read('/path/to/filename.zip');

if ($info === null) {
    // PE file with matching name was not found inside the archive
}

// Version strings
echo $info->fileVersion;      // "1.0.39.0"
echo $info->productVersion;   // "1.0.39"

// Version parts
echo $info->fileMajor;   // 1
echo $info->fileMinor;   // 0
echo $info->fileBuild;   // 39
echo $info->filePatch;   // 0

echo $info->productMajor;  // 1
echo $info->productMinor;  // 0
echo $info->productBuild;  // 39
echo $info->productPatch;  // 0

// Metadata
echo $info->companyName;      // "Acme Corp"
echo $info->productName;      // "filename"
echo $info->fileDescription;  // "filename updater"
echo $info->originalFilename; // "filename.exe"
echo $info->internalName;     // "filename"
echo $info->legalCopyright;   // "Copyright (C) 2026"
echo $info->comments;         // null

// Full array
$info->toArray();

toArray() returns:

[
    'file_version'    => '1.0.39.0',
    'product_version' => '1.0.39',

    'file_version_parts' => [
        'major' => 1,
        'minor' => 0,
        'build' => 39,
        'patch' => 0,
    ],

    'product_version_parts' => [
        'major' => 1,
        'minor' => 0,
        'build' => 39,
        'patch' => 0,
    ],

    'company_name'      => 'Acme Corp',
    'product_name'      => 'filename',
    'file_description'  => 'filename updater',
    'original_filename' => 'filename.exe',
    'internal_name'     => 'filename',
    'legal_copyright'   => 'Copyright (C) 2026',
    'comments'          => null,
]

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How it works

PE files (.exe, .dll, .sys)

The package reads the binary file directly and locates the VS_VERSION_INFO resource embedded in the PE format. Version numbers are extracted from the VS_FIXEDFILEINFO structure, and string fields (company name, product name, etc.) are parsed from the StringFileInfo block. No WinAPI calls are made — the parser works entirely in pure PHP on any OS.

Archives (.zip, .tar.gz)

The package looks for a PE file in the root of the archive whose name (without extension) matches the archive name. For example, filename.zip must contain filename.exe, filename.dll, or filename.sys at the root level. Matching is case-insensitive. Once found, the file is extracted to a temporary directory, parsed, and the temp directory is cleaned up automatically.

Archives (.rar, .7z)

Same name-matching logic applies. Extraction is handled by shelling out to unrar (for .rar) or 7z / 7za (for .7z). The package auto-detects the binary location, including default installation paths on Windows (C:\Program Files\WinRAR\, C:\Program Files\7-Zip\).

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Exception	When
InvalidArgumentException	Unsupported file extension passed to read()
FileNotFoundException	File does not exist at the given path
RuntimeException	Archive cannot be opened or extraction failed
UnsupportedFormatException	Required binary not found (unrar, 7z)

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Supported formats summary

Format	Driver	External dependency
.exe .dll .sys	Pure PHP PE parser	None
.zip	ext-zip	None
.tar.gz	ext-phar	None
.rar	unrar shell	unrar binary
.7z	7z shell	7z / 7za binary

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License

MIT