Getting path output from object

First - I'M A TOTAL NEWBIE, both with my C skills which are a long forgotten memory, as well as with Max external building. So please be merciful - I have cobbled together what follows by cutting and pasting things from the SDK, found code on the web, etc..

I'm trying to build an external that will deliver the path of the VST plugin directory on Windows, based on the data that is in the Windows registry. I know how to do this task with mxj and Java, but want to avoid using mxj if possible.

The code below compiles and works, such that if I send the output to a print object (after banging the inlet), I see the correct path in the Max window, but if I instead capture the output to a message box, all of the / characters are stripped out of it. What am I doing wrong? Specific code changes would be greatly appreciated... as would other suggestions/tips for the code in general.

Thanks,
Dan

#include "ext.h"
#include "ext_obex.h"
#include
#include
#include

////////////////////////// object struct
typedef struct _winvstpath
{
    t_object ob;
    void *m_outlet1;
} t_winvstpath;

///////////////////////// function prototypes
//// standard set
void *winvstpath_new(t_symbol *s, long argc, t_atom *argv);
void winvstpath_free(t_winvstpath *x);
void winvstpath_assist(t_winvstpath *x, void *b, long m, long a, char *s);
void winvstpath_bang(t_winvstpath *x);

//////////////////////// global class pointer variable
void *winvstpath_class;
char data[256];
char key1[180]="SOFTWARE\VST";
HKEY hkey; // Handle to registry key
unsigned long datalen; // data field length(in), data returned length(out)
unsigned long datatype; // #defined in winnt.h (predefined types 0-11)

int main(void)
{
    t_class *c;
    c = class_new("winvstpath", (method)winvstpath_new, (method)winvstpath_free,

(long)sizeof(t_winvstpath), 0L, A_GIMME, 0);
    class_addmethod(c, (method)winvstpath_assist, "assist", A_CANT, 0);
    class_addmethod(c, (method)winvstpath_bang, "bang", 0);
    class_register(CLASS_BOX, c); /* CLASS_NOBOX */
    winvstpath_class = c;
    return 0;
}

void winvstpath_assist(t_winvstpath *x, void *b, long m, long a, char *s)
{
    if (m == ASSIST_INLET) { // inlet
        sprintf(s, "Bang for path", a);
    }
    else {    // outlet
        sprintf(s, "Path for VST folder", a);
    }
}

void winvstpath_free(t_winvstpath *x)
{
    ;
}

void *winvstpath_new(t_symbol *s, long argc, t_atom *argv)
{
    t_winvstpath *x = NULL;
    long i;
    if (x = (t_winvstpath *)object_alloc(winvstpath_class)) {
    for (i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
     if ((argv + i)->a_type == A_LONG) {
    object_post((t_object *)x, "arg %ld: long (%ld)", i, atom_getlong(argv+i));
    } else if ((argv + i)->a_type == A_FLOAT) {
    object_post((t_object *)x, "arg %ld: float (%f)", i, atom_getfloat(argv+i));
    } else if ((argv + i)->a_type == A_SYM) {
    object_post((t_object *)x, "arg %ld: symbol (%s)", i, atom_getsym(argv+i)->s_name);
    } else {
    object_error((t_object *)x, "forbidden argument");
    }
    }
    }
    x->m_outlet1 = outlet_new((t_object *)x, NULL);
    return (x);
}

void winvstpath_bang(t_winvstpath *x)
{
    if (!RegOpenKeyExA(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,key1,0,KEY_QUERY_VALUE,&hkey) == ERROR_SUCCESS) {
        post("Error opening HKLM subkey: %sn",key1);
    }

    datalen = 255;

    if (RegQueryValueExA(hkey, "VstPluginsPath", NULL, &datatype, data, &datalen) == ERROR_SUCCESS) {
        outlet_anything(x->m_outlet1,gensym(data),0,NIL);
    }

    RegCloseKey(hkey);
}