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MODULE C

INTRO TO WIN32 AND C PROGRAMMING 1

 

My Training Period:      hours

 

Note:

Program examples compiled using Visual C++ .Net (Visual studio .Net 2003).  It is low-level programming and the .Net used is Unmanaged (/clr is not set: Project menu → your_project_name Properties… sub menu → Configuration Properties folder → General subfolder → Used Managed Extension setting set to No).  All programs are in debug mode.  The pre-requirement for this Module are structure, function, pointer and array.

 

Abilities

 

▪         Be familiar and play around with the Win32 programming mainly their Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and the environment.

▪         Able to understand and use Windows data type.

▪         Able to understand and use Windows header files properly.

▪         Able to understand and use the Windows system error codes through the GetLastError().

 

 

 

 

Some Basic Background Story of The Win32 APIs

 

-      The Win32 application programming interface (API) provides building blocks used by applications written for the Microsoft Windows operating system family.

-      It defines the 32-bit members of the Windows family from the programmer's point of view and you will find out later, 64-bit members also included.  Some members of the Windows family use the entire Win32 API, while others use subsets.

-      The Microsoft Foundation Class Library (MFC) encapsulates, or "wraps," most of the Win32 API but not all.

-      MFC versions 2.x and earlier encapsulated the 16-bit Windows API.  MFC supplies classes representing key Windows objects, such as windows, dialog boxes, brushes, pens, and fonts.

-      The member functions of these classes wrap most of the important Win32 API functions associated with the encapsulated object.

-      The MFC class member function calls the Win32 API function, and might add functionality.

-      The Active Template Library (ATL) is a set of template-based C++ classes that let you create small, fast Component Object Model (COM) objects.  ATL wraps Win32 and C run-time library APIs, but does not wrap Win32 to the extent that MFC does.

-      With Visual C++, you can program for Windows using either:

 

1.        C or C++ and the Win32 API.

2.        C++ and MFC or

3.        C++ and ATL.

 

-      For information about Win32 programming we normally refer to Win32 API and the documentation is available in the Platform SDK.

-      In the previous Module we have been introduced to some of the Microsoft implementation of the C using the C Run-time (CRT) libraries.  In this Module we will explore the Win32 APIs with C.

-      This API is designed for use by C/C++ programmers but in this Module we still drop the Windows graphical user interface and message-driven related things, the MFC and ATL.  Don’t worry; C/C++ codes are reusable in the MFC and ATL.

-      Whatever it is, from C/C++ view, these APIs are just functions.  As usual, we are going to learn how to use those functions.

-      We will learn several categories of the available APIs.  For others, please refer to the Platform SDK documentations.

-      First of all let start with the most basic information required to fully understand how to use the Win32 APIs: the Windows data types, header files issue and handles.

-      Other than the standard data types that you have found when doing the C/C++ programming, there is a lot more in Win32 programming.

-      Because of the update issue and the various Windows OS versions, using the same Windows header file doesn’t mean you will be provided with the same functionalities.  This issue will be solved by using macros.

-      Later on we will concentrate on the file management functions that available in Win32 APIs by collecting the required and related information and then try building simple working programs.

-      These functions used to deal with volumes, disks, directories (including paths) and files management.  The file system used in the discussion is NTFS.

-      The not so understandable stories about Windows file system and storage can be found Supplementary for Windows file system.

-      There is no new constructs you will find in this Module except functions, arrays, pointers and structures.

 

Windows Data Types

 

-      The data types supported by Microsoft Windows are used to define function return values, function and message parameters, structure members and variables.  They define the size and meaning of these elements.

-      The following Table contains types of character, integer, Boolean, pointer, and handle.  The character, integer, and Boolean types are common to most C/C++ compilers.  The types also include the 64 bits size.

-      If you have noticed, many types actually are derived from the basic types with new name using the typedef or #define and some are specific for the graphic functions.

-      Most of the pointer-type names begin with a prefix of P or LP (long pointer) and handle with H.

-      Handles refer to a resource that has been loaded into memory and will be discussed in another Module.

-      Well, we have so many data types here :o).

-      These various data types defined in several header files such as windef.h, basetsd.h, ddeml.h, shellapi.h, winuser.h, winsvc.h and winnt.h.

 

Term

Description

ATOM

Atom.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef WORD ATOM;

BOOL

Boolean variable (should be TRUE or FALSE).  This type is declared in windef.h as follows: typedef int BOOL;

BOOLEAN

Boolean variable (should be TRUE or FALSE).  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:  typedef BYTE BOOLEAN;

BYTE

Byte (8 bits).  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef unsigned char BYTE;

CALLBACK

Calling convention for callback functions.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:  #define CALLBACK __stdcall

CHAR

8-bit Windows (ANSI) character.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef char CHAR;

COLORREF

Red, green, blue (RGB) color value (32 bits).  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:  typedef DWORD COLORREF;

CONST

Variable whose value is to remain constant during execution.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:  #define CONST const

DWORD

32-bit unsigned integer.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef unsigned long DWORD;

DWORDLONG

64-bit unsigned integer.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef ULONGLONG DWORDLONG;

DWORD_PTR

Unsigned long type for pointer precision. Use when casting a pointer to a long type to perform pointer arithmetic.  Also commonly used for general 32-bit parameters that have been extended to 64 bits in 64-bit Windows.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:  typedef ULONG_PTR DWORD_PTR;

DWORD32

32-bit unsigned integer.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef unsigned int DWORD32;

DWORD64

64-bit unsigned integer.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef unsigned __int64 DWORD64;

FLOAT

Floating-point variable.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef float FLOAT;

HACCEL

Handle to an accelerator table.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HACCEL;

HANDLE

Handle to an object.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef PVOID HANDLE;

HBITMAP

Handle to a bitmap.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HBITMAP;

HBRUSH

Handle to a brush.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HBRUSH;

HCOLORSPACE

Handle to a color space.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

if(WINVER >= 0x0400)

typedef HANDLE HCOLORSPACE;

HCONV

Handle to a dynamic data exchange (DDE) conversation.  This type is declared in ddeml.h as follows:  typedef HANDLE HCONV;

HCONVLIST

Handle to a DDE conversation list.  This type is declared in ddeml.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HCONVLIST;

HCURSOR

Handle to a cursor.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HICON HCURSOR;

HDC

Handle to a device context (DC).  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HDC;

HDDEDATA

Handle to DDE data.  This type is declared in ddeml.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HDDEDATA;

HDESK

Handle to a desktop.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HDESK;

HDROP

Handle to an internal drop structure.  This type is declared in shellapi.h as follows:  typedef HANDLE HDROP;

HDWP

Handle to a deferred window position structure.  This type is declared in winuser.h as follows:  typedef HANDLE HDWP;

HENHMETAFILE

Handle to an enhanced metafile.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HENHMETAFILE;

HFILE

Handle to a file opened by OpenFile(), not CreateFile().  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:  typedef int HFILE;

HFONT

Handle to a font.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HFONT;

HGDIOBJ

Handle to a GDI object.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HGDIOBJ;

HGLOBAL

Handle to a global memory block.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HGLOBAL;

HHOOK

Handle to a hook.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HHOOK;

HICON

Handle to an icon.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HICON;

HINSTANCE

Handle to an instance.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HINSTANCE;

HKEY

Handle to a registry key.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HKEY;

HKL

Input locale identifier.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HKL;

HLOCAL

Handle to a local memory block.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HLOCAL;

HMENU

Handle to a menu.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HMENU;

HMETAFILE

Handle to a metafile.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HMETAFILE;

HMODULE

Handle to a module.  The value is the base address of the module.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:  typedef HINSTANCE HMODULE;

HMONITOR

Handle to a display monitor.   This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

if(WINVER >= 0x0500)

typedef HANDLE HMONITOR;

HPALETTE

Handle to a palette.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HPALETTE;

HPEN

Handle to a pen.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HPEN;

HRESULT

Return code used by interfaces.   It is zero upon success and nonzero to represent an error code or status information.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef LONG HRESULT;

HRGN

Handle to a region.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HRGN;

HRSRC

Handle to a resource.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HRSRC;

HSZ

Handle to a DDE string.  This type is declared in ddeml.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HSZ;

HWINSTA

Handle to a window station.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE WINSTA;

HWND

Handle to a window.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE HWND;

INT

32-bit signed integer.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef int INT;

INT_PTR

Signed integral type for pointer precision.  Use when casting a pointer to an integer to perform pointer arithmetic.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

#if defined(_WIN64)

typedef __int64 INT_PTR;

#else

typedef int INT_PTR;

INT32

32-bit signed integer.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef signed int INT32;

INT64

64-bit signed integer.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef signed __int64 INT64;

LANGID

Language identifier.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef WORD LANGID;

LCID

Locale identifier.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef DWORD LCID;

LCTYPE

Locale information type.  This type is declared in winnls.h as follows:

typedef DWORD LCTYPE;

LGRPID

Language group identifier.  This type is declared in winnls.h as follows:

typedef DWORD LGRPID;

LONG

32-bit signed integer.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef long LONG;

LONGLONG

64-bit signed integer.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef __int64 LONGLONG;

#else

typedef double LONGLONG;

LONG_PTR

Signed long type for pointer precision.  Use when casting a pointer to a long to perform pointer arithmetic.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

#if defined(_WIN64)

typedef __int64 LONG_PTR;

#else

typedef long LONG_PTR;

LONG32

32-bit signed integer.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef signed int LONG32;

LONG64

64-bit signed integer.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef __int64 LONG64;

LPARAM

Message parameter.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef LONG_PTR LPARAM;

LPBOOL

Pointer to a bool.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef BOOL *LPBOOL;

LPBYTE

Pointer to a BYTE.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef BYTE *LPBYTE;

LPCOLORREF

Pointer to a COLORREF value.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef DWORD *LPCOLORREF;

LPCSTR

Pointer to a constant null-terminated string of 8-bit Windows (ANSI) characters.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:  typedef CONST CHAR *LPCSTR;

LPCTSTR

An LPCWSTR if UNICODE is defined, an LPCSTR otherwise.

This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

#ifdef UNICODE

typedef LPCWSTR LPCTSTR;

#else

typedef LPCSTR LPCTSTR;

LPCVOID

Pointer to a constant of any type.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef CONST void *LPCVOID;

LPCWSTR

Pointer to a constant null-terminated string of 16-bit Unicode characters.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:  typedef CONST WCHAR *LPCWSTR;

LPDWORD

Pointer to a DWORD.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef DWORD *LPDWORD;

LPHANDLE

Pointer to a HANDLE.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE *LPHANDLE;

LPINT

Pointer to an int.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef int *LPINT;

LPLONG

Pointer to a LONG.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef long *LPLONG;

LPSTR

Pointer to a null-terminated string of 8-bit Windows (ANSI) characters.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:  typedef CHAR *LPSTR;

LPTSTR

An LPWSTR if UNICODE is defined, an LPSTR otherwise.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

#ifdef UNICODE

typedef LPWSTR LPTSTR;

#else

typedef LPSTR LPTSTR;

LPVOID

Pointer to any type.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef void *LPVOID;

LPWORD

Pointer to a WORD.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef WORD *LPWORD;

LPWSTR

Pointer to a null-terminated string of 16-bit Unicode characters.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:  typedef WCHAR *LPWSTR;

LRESULT

Signed result of message processing.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef LONG_PTR LRESULT;

PBOOL

Pointer to a bool.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef BOOL *PBOOL;

PBOOLEAN

Pointer to a bool.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef BOOLEAN *PBOOLEAN;

PBYTE

Pointer to a BYTE.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef BYTE *PBYTE;

PCHAR

Pointer to a CHAR.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef CHAR *PCHAR;

PCSTR

Pointer to a constant null-terminated string of 8-bit Windows (ANSI) characters.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:  typedef CONST CHAR *PCSTR;

PCTSTR

A PCWSTR if UNICODE is defined, a PCSTR otherwise.

This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

#ifdef UNICODE

typedef LPCWSTR PCTSTR;

#else

typedef LPCSTR PCTSTR;

PCWSTR

Pointer to a constant null-terminated string of 16-bit Unicode characters.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:  typedef CONST WCHAR *PCWSTR;

PDWORD

Pointer to a DWORD.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef DWORD *PDWORD;

PDWORDLONG

Pointer to a DWORDLONG.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef DWORDLONG *PDWORDLONG;

PDWORD_PTR

Pointer to a DWORD_PTR.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef DWORD_PTR *PDWORD_PTR;

PDWORD32

Pointer to a DWORD32.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef DWORD32 *PDWORD32;

PDWORD64

Pointer to a DWORD64.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef DWORD64 *PDWORD64;

PFLOAT

Pointer to a FLOAT.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef FLOAT *PFLOAT;

PHANDLE

Pointer to a HANDLE.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef HANDLE *PHANDLE;

PHKEY

Pointer to an HKEY.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef HKEY *PHKEY;

PINT

Pointer to an int.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef int *PINT;

PINT_PTR

Pointer to an INT_PTR.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef INT_PTR *PINT_PTR;

PINT32

Pointer to an INT32.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef INT32 *PINT32;

PINT64

Pointer to an INT64.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef INT64 *PINT64;

PLCID

Pointer to an LCID.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef PDWORD PLCID;

PLONG

Pointer to a LONG.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef LONG *PLONG;

PLONGLONG

Pointer to a LONGLONG.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef LONGLONG *PLONGLONG;

PLONG_PTR

Pointer to a LONG_PTR.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef LONG_PTR *PLONG_PTR;

PLONG32

Pointer to a LONG32.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef LONG32 *PLONG32;

PLONG64

Pointer to a LONG64.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef LONG64 *PLONG64;

POINTER_32

32-bit pointer.  On a 32-bit system, this is a native pointer.  On a 64-bit system, this is a truncated 64-bit pointer.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

#if defined(_WIN64)

#define POINTER_32 __ptr32

#else

#define POINTER32

POINTER_64

64-bit pointer.  On a 64-bit system, this is a native pointer.  On a 32-bit system, this is a sign-extended 32-bit pointer.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

#define POINTER_64 __ptr64

PSHORT

Pointer to a SHORT.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef SHORT *PSHORT;

PSIZE_T

Pointer to a SIZE_T.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef SIZE_T *PSIZE_T;

PSSIZE_T

Pointer to a SSIZE_T.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef SSIZE_T *PSSIZE_T;

PSTR

Pointer to a null-terminated string of 8-bit Windows (ANSI) characters.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:  typedef CHAR *PSTR;

PTBYTE

Pointer to a TBYTE.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef TBYTE *PTBYTE;

PTCHAR

Pointer to a TCHAR.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

typedef TCHAR *PTCHAR;

PTSTR

A PWSTR if UNICODE is defined, a PSTR otherwise.  This type is declared in winnt.h as follows:

#ifdef UNICODE

typedef LPWSTR PTSTR;

#else

typedef LPSTR PTSTR;

PUCHAR

Pointer to a UCHAR.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef UCHAR *PUCHAR;

PUINT

Pointer to a UINT.  This type is declared in windef.h as follows:

typedef UINT *PUINT;

PUINT_PTR

Pointer to a UINT_PTR.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef UINT_PTR *PUINT_PTR;

PUINT32

Pointer to a UINT32.  This type is declared in basetsd.h as follows:

typedef UINT32 *PUINT32;

PUINT64