process.argv[0] contains full node.exe path on Windows, docs say it must be just "node"

[Dmitry-Me]

• Version: 4.4.6.0
• Platform: Windows 7 Enterprise SP1
• Subsystem: no idea

Documentation https://nodejs.org/api/process.html#process_process_argv says process.argv[0] must be node but I run this code on Windows

console.log('argv[0]: ' + process.argv[0]);

and it outputs this

argv[0]: C:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs\node.exe

which kind of isn't the same as node. It was node on some earlier versions - perhaps a couple years ago.

Here's how I run my code: I started cmd.exe, cdd into C:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs, so it's now the current path and I run

node fullPathToJsFile

[Fishrock123]

./node -p 'process.argv[0]'
/Users/Jeremiah/Documents/node/out/Release/node

The docs are arguably not entirely correct. It will be the node binary, wherever that is. (Including the path.)

[Fishrock123]

More specifically, how you invoked the node binary. node ... will have node but ./ will append the path to the local node.

[Dmitry-Me]

I started cmd, cdd into C:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs, so it's now the current path. I run

 node fullPathToJsFile

[addaleax]

There’s this line which will always set process.argv[0] to process.execPath, so usually it won’t matter how node was invoked.

[tarungarg546]

I am up for taking this up.
What needs to done exactly modifying docs?

[cjihrig]

The process.argv docs should be updated to say that the first element will be process.execPath. It would probably be good to link there too.

[Dmitry-Me]

@cjihrig Why did the behavior change since perhaps two years ago? I remember clearly that a while ago it was node, not full path.

[addaleax]

#1194 was the PR that changed this for Windows.

[cjihrig]

I honestly don't recall.