CS609 Topic 1-92 - Pin

CS-609 Topics 1 To 92 By Pin2
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Topic 1: Windows Operating System

Software can be categorized into two main types: System Software and Application Software.
System Software is concerned to the system or its resources while Application Software is
related to some application. Operating System is one of the good examples of System software
that acts as a manager for the System’s resources. It arbitrates and schedules the resources
among the processes to avoid any kind of conflicts.
There are varieties of Operating Systems available in the market but Windows is one of the
important Operating Systems developed by Microsoft. It is widely used inside the PCs, Laptops,
enterprise servers, handheld devices and cell phones etc.
Core Features of Windows Operating System

1. Memory Management. Memory Management is the vital or key feature of Windows
Operating System. The OS is responsible for managing primary as well as secondary
memory. Virtual address space on secondary memory is also managed by OS to transfer
data between primary and secondary storage and accommodate a large process in small
memory space. All kinds of services and related data structures are supported by
Operating Systems to efficiently manage the Virtual memory space.
2. File systems. Windows OS manages all kinds of files and folders on disk in hierarchical
form. Large file naming space of 255 characters is supported by the OS. Number of APIs
are provided by the OS to access the files in both Sequential and Random mode.
3. Processors. Windows Operating System provides support to multiprocessors and multi
cores systems. It also arbitrates among the cores or processors to efficiently divide and
allocate computational tasks to them.
4. Resource naming and location. In Windows OS, the resources like processes or devices
are treated as objects and each object is assigned a unique name to identify, locate and
access it.
5. Multitasking. Windows OS supports multitasking. It manages processes, threads, and
other independent units, and their asynchronous execution. Tasks can be preempted
and scheduled according to dynamically calculated priorities.
6. Communication and Synchronization. The Windows OS provides constructs to manage
inter-process communication and synchronization within a computer or networked
computers.
7. Security and Protection. The Windows OS has a strong security mechanism to protect
resources from illegal and accidental access. A user cannot access other user data
without assigning privileges.
Topic 2: Windows Evolution

Windows exist in several versions. New versions of Windows are introduced from time to time.
Actually certain new APIs are included in the new version to improve or extend its
functionalities. The following major themes or features are considered while developing a new
version.
• Scalability. A new version of Windows OS runs on different platforms including PCs,
enterprise servers, multiprocessing systems, mobiles and systems having large memory space.
• Performance. A newer version of Windows certainly improves performance compared to
previous versions.
• Integration. A newer version must integrate with new technologies like web services, .NET
technologies, multimedia etc.
• Ease of use. Certain new APIs and improved GI in the new version can ensure ease of use.
• Enhanced API. Introducing new APIs or enhancements in existing APIs should be the main
theme of the new version.
Disk Operating System (DOS)
In the 1980s, Microsoft Disk Operating System was used inside the IBM PCs incorporating Intel
Processor. It was a text based and command line operating system. It was a single user OS. Its
filing system was based on FAT and was able to access up to the maximum of 4GB files.
Windows History
Keeping the demand of graphical user interface, Microsoft developed its first version Windows
3.1. In this version, DOS Kernel and FAT based file systems were used.
After that in the 1990s, certain new versions of Windows named Windows 95, 97 and 98 were
introduced supporting the 32-bit architecture of Intel’s processors.
Later on Windows NT versions were introduced supporting a file system based on new
technology called NTFS. Its security and file system was better than the previous versions.
Windows Server 2008 OS was developed for professional use to manage enterprise and server
applications. Support for multi-core technology and 64-bit applications was provided in this OS.
Other Windows versions supporting 32-bit, 64-bit architecture, multi-core and multiprocessing
were also introduced including Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8 and Windows 10.
Topic 3: Windows Market Role

Several competitors of Windows OS like UNIX, Linux etc. exist in the market; however, Windows
has its own unique status in the market. It has several significant advantages over other
operating systems.
Above 90% PCs are based on Intel’s processors and Windows is the most appropriate OS for
Intel PCs. In the world of desktop, the most dominant OS is the Microsoft Windows which
enjoys a market share of above 80%. Windows is not confined to the desktop, it also has
support for diverse platforms including multi-core, multiprocessing, servers and mobiles etc.
Due to its dominance role, certain applications and software development tools are available in
the market that can easily integrate with Windows OS and can develop windows applications
ranging from small scale to enterprise level.
One of the key features of Windows OS is its rich GUI that makes its use very convenient. This
interface can be easily customized according to the local setup. The size, color and visibility of
graphical interface objects can also be changed by the user.
Compared to other operating systems, certain modern features exist in Windows due to which
most of the developers develop their applications for Windows targeting the huge market of
Windows.
Topic 4: Windows, Standards and Open Systems
Open Source Software is a software that is publically available with its source code to use,
modify and distribute with original rights. It is developed by the community rather than a single
company or vendor. In contrast, proprietary software is copyrighted and only available to use
under a license.
Windows Operating system is a proprietary and copyrighted software of Microsoft corporation.

It is provided for use only under a License agreement. Without purchasing a license, its use is
illegal and is an act of copyright infringement.
Being a closed system, Windows has the following strengths.
· As Windows components are provided and updated only by a single vendor, its
implementation remains uniform throughout the world. Further, extensions in Window
components or APIs are only vendor-specific and so no non-standard extension is possible
except for platform differences.
Windows also support various types of hardware platforms like open systems.
Interoperability of Windows: Windows provide interoperability with non-window components.

● Windows OS provides support to the Standard C and C++ libraries. We can install and
use any C compilers on Windows systems.
● Socket is a resource that is required for interface when two computers are
interconnected to each other. Windows also supports sockets to communicate among
devices having different computer architectures and access to TCP/IP and other
networking protocols.
● It also supports the Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs) architecture to call the remote
functions in distributed client-server based applications.
● Windows also supports the X Windows system which is open source, cross platform
software providing GUI in a distributive network environment.
Topic 5: Windows Principles
● In Windows OS, all the system resources including processes, threads, memory, pipes,
DLL etc. are represented by objects which are identified and referenced by a handle.
These objects cannot be directly accessed. In case, if any application approaches to
access these objects directly, Windows throws an appropriate exception. The only way
to access and operate on these objects is a set of APIs provided by Windows. Several
APIs can be related to a single object to manipulate it differently.
● A long list of parameters is associated with each API where each parameter has its own
significance but only few parameters are specified for a specific operation.
● To perform the task of multitasking and multi-threading efficiently, Windows provides a
number of synchronization constructs to arbitrate among the resources.
● The names of Windows APIs are long and descriptive for its proper and convenient use.
● Some pre-defined data types required for Windows APIs are:
■ BOOL (for storing a single logical value)
■ HANDLE (a handle for object)
■ LPTSTR (a string pointer)
■ DWORD (32-bit unsigned integer)
● Windows Data types avoid the pointer operator (*).
● Some lowercase prefix letters with variable names are used to identify the type of
variable. This notation is called Hungarian notation. For example, in the variable name
lpszFilename, ‘lpsz’ is Hungarian notation representing a long pointer to zero
terminated string.
● windows.h is a header file including all the APIs prototypes and data types
Topic 6: 32-Bit and 64-Bit Source Code Portability

Windows keeps two versions of each API, one for 32-bit and other for 64-bit. A 32-bit code can
be run on 64-bit hardware but will be unable to exploit some features of 64-bit like accessing
large disk space or using large pointer or 64-bit operation.
Latest versions of Windows support both 32 and 64-bit architectures by keeping two versions of
each API, one for 32-bit and other for 64-bit.
Interoperability of 32 and 64-bit: A single source code can be built for 32-bit as well as 64-bit
versions. To decide whether executable code of 32 or 64-bit is generated by the compiler at
runtime, it depends on its settings or configuration. Further, to decide which version of API is
used, it is also based on the compiler’s configuration.
A 32-bit code can run on 64-bit hardware successfully but will be unable to use some features
of 64-bit like large disk space, large pointer etc.
A source code developed for 64-bit architecture cannot easily run on a 32-bit machine. For this
purpose, re-compilation of the program is required and suitable configuration is made in the
compiler to generate a 32-bit executable code.
Topic 7: When to use Standard C Library for File Operations
Windows provides a set of built-in APIs to perform I/O operations. A related API with specific
parameters is invoked for the concerned resource and I/O operation is performed.
Similarly, certain C/C++ standard functions are available to perform I/O operations. For example,
fopen(), fclose(), fread(), fwrite() etc. are C functions that can be used to perform I/O
operations related to files.
Differences between Windows APIs and Standard Functions
Standard C functions can be used inside the source code to run on Windows platform because
Windows has system calls at low level to support C/C++ functions for I/O operations.
If it is required to run a program on cross-platform, then it is preferred to use the standard

C/C++ library functions inside the source code. However, in this case, the advanced Windows
features like locking, synchronization, asynchronous I/O, inter process communication etc.
cannot be achieved.
In case, if portability is not focused and required to avail the advanced Windows features, then
it is preferred to use the Windows APIs.
Topic 8: A Simple File Copy Program Using Standard C Library

// cpC. Basic File Copy Program: C Library Implementation
// Copy File1 to File2
#include<stdio.h>
#include<errno.h>
#define BUF_SIZE 256
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
FILE *inFile, *outFile;

char rec[BUF_SIZE];
size_t bytesIn, bytesOut;
if(argc!=3) {
printf(“Usage: cp file1 file2\n”);
return 1; }
inFile=fopen(argv[1], “rb”);
if(inFile==NULL) {
perror(argv[1]);
return 2;
}
outFile=fopen(argv[2], “wb”);
if(outFile==NULL) {
perror(argv[2]);
return 3; }
/* Process the input file a record at a time */

while((bytesIn = fread(rec, 1, BUF_SIZE, inFile)) > 0)
{
bytesOut=fwrite(rec, 1, bytesIn, outFile);
if(bytesOut != bytesIn) {
perror(“Fatal write error”);
return 4; }
}
fclose(inFile);
fclose(outFile);
return 0;
}
This program is used to copy one file to another using C standard functions. In this program, a
buffer of size 256 bytes is used in which the chunks of file are copied one by one.
The source file is opened in read binary mode and the destination file in write binary mode
using the C fopen() function.
If both are successfully opened, then a file is read inside a loop chunk by chunk using fread()
function and written onto the destination file using fwrite() function. After a few iterations, the
file will be written to the destination file and both files are closed.
Topic 9: A Simple File Copy Program Using Windows APIs

Program 1 - 2
// cpC. Basic File Copy Program: Windows Implementation
#include<stdio.h>
#include<windows.h>
#include<stringapiset.h>
HANDLE hIn, hOut;
DWORD nIn, nOut;
CHAR buffer[BUF_SIZE];
LPWSTR lpwszFile1, lpwszFile2;
INT iLen1, iLen2;
if(argc !=3) {
fprintf(stderr, “Usage: cp file1 file2\n”);
return 1; }
lpwszFile1 = (LPTSTR)malloc(510);
iLen1 = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, argv[1], -1, lpwszFile1, 510);
hIn=CreateFile(lpwszFile1, GENERIC_READ, FILE_SHARE_READ, NULL,
OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, NULL);
if (hIn==INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
fprintf(stderr, “Cannot open input file. Error: %x\n”, GetLastError());
return 2; }
hOut=CreateFile(lpwszFile2, GENERIC_WRITE, 0, NULL, CREATE_ALWAYS,

FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, NULL);
if (hOut== INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
fprintf(stderr, “cannot open output file. Error: %x\n”, GetLastError());
CloseHandle(hIn);
return 3;
}
while((ReadFile(hIn, buffer, BUF_SIZE, &nIn, NULL) && nIn > 0) {

WriteFile(hOut, buffer, nIn, &nOut, NULL);
if (nIn != nOut) {
fprintf(“Fatal write error: %x\n”, GetLastError());
CloseHandle(hIn);
CloseHandle(hOut);
return 4;
}
}
CloseHandle(hIn);
CloseHandle(hOut);
return 0;
}
In this program, Windows APIs are used instead of C standard functions. In the main program,
the words in capital letters like HANDLE, DWORD, CHAR, LPWSTR and INT are Windows data
types. As the file paths given in command line parameters are in ASCII format, the parameters
will be first converted to Unicode using the MultiByteToWideChar() function.
After that, a file is opened for reading purposes and its handle is stored in hIn. Similarly,
another file is created for writing purposes and its handle is stored in hOut.
If files are successfully opened, then the source file is read in a loop and written to the
destination file. At the end both the handles for files are closed.
Topic 10: A Simple File Copy Program Using Windows Convenience Function
Numerous Windows functions are used to perform various tasks at low level. However,
Windows has a set of Convenience functions that combine several functions to perform a
common task. In most cases, these functions improve the performance because several tasks
are performed by a single function.
For example, CopyFile() is a convenience function that replaces the algorithms used for creating,
opening, reading and writing one file to another.
Program 1 - 3
/* cpC. Basic File Copy Program: Windows Implementation

using convenience function CopyFile() */
#include<stdio.h>
#include<windows.h>
LPWSTR lpwszFile1, lpwszFile2;
INT iLen1, iLen2;

if(argc !=3) {
fprintf(stderr, “Usage: cp file1 file2\n”);
return 1;
}
if (!CopyFile(lpwszFile1, lpwszFile2, FALSE)

{
fprintf(stderr, “CopyFile Error: %x\n”, GetLastError());
return 2;
}
return 0;
}
Lecture 11: Windows File System

Windows supports various file systems.
● NT File System
NTFS is an important file system supported by Windows, its main features are:
o Security: One user cannot access other user data without privileges.
o Fault tolerance (if a portion of disk corrupts, it works because different copies
of information are maintained in this files system).
o Encryption (data encrypted/decrypted, provide security)
o Compression (Space capacity increased due to data compression)
o Supports very huge file size
● File Allocation Tables
o FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 (Start version of File Systems, also supported by
Windows)
● Compact Disk File System (CDFS)
o Support CD
● Supports Universal Disk Format (UDF) & Live File System (LFS) also
Lecture 12: File Naming Conventions

● Windows OS supports a number of File Systems. Each file system has its own
mechanism for naming files.
Certain Limitations for File Naming

● Letters like A, B, C etc. are used to represent Drive, Network Drives are represented by
higher letters like N, K, L etc.
● Double slash (\\) in the start of path represents remote resource
● Forward slash ( \ ) or backslash ( / ) is used as a path name separator
● The first 31 ASCII characters (control characters) cannot be used in file names
● Special symbols like \, /, colon (:), pipe (|) etc. cannot be used in filenames
● File and directory names are case insensitive
● File name and extensions are separated by (.)
● Max size for file name is 255 and for path is 260 characters.
● File extension takes 2 – 4 bytes

● Single dot (.) represents current directory while double dot (..) represents one step back
(up) directory
Lecture 13: Creating and Opening Files (Using Windows API)
The CreateFile() API
CreateFile() API with a list of parameters is used to open or create a new file. Its return type is
HANDLE to an open file object in case of successful opening or creation. The parameters are:
lpFileName: It is a string pointer that points to a filename to be opened or created.
dwDesiredAccess: It is a 32-bit double word which specifies the GENERIC_READ and WRITE
access.
dwShareMode: This mode specifies how the file is shared?

● 0 signifies that file will not be shared
● FILE_SHARE_READ allows the file to be shared for concurrent read
● FILE_SHARE_WRITE allows the file to be shared for writing.
lpSecurityAttributes: points to a security attributes structure.
dwCreate: signifies whether to create a new file or overwrite an existing one.

● CREATE_NEW: Creates a new file. If the file already exists, then fail.
● CREATE_ALWAYS: Creates a new file or overwrites an existing one.
● OPEN_EXISTING: open an existing file or fail if the file does not exist
● OPEN_ALWAYS: open an existing file, if it does not exist, then create it.
dwFlagsAndAttributes: It signifies attributes of the newly created file.

hTemplateFile: It is the Handle of an open file that specifies attributes to apply to a newly
created file.
Lecture 14: Reading/Writing a File
The ReadFile() API is used to read data from file to buffer.
Syntax:
BOOL ReadFile(HANDLE hFile, LPVOID lpBuffer, DWORD nNumberOfBytesToRead, LPDWORD

lpNumberOfBytesRead, LPOVERLAPPED lpOverlapped);
● If the file is not opened in concurrent mode, then ReadFile() starts reading from the
current position.
● If the current location is End of File, then no Errors occur and *lpNumberOfBytesRead is
set to zero
● The function returns FALSE if it fails in case any of the parameter is invalid
Parameters
● HANDLE hFile is the file handle

● LPVOID lpBuffer is the address of the array that stores the data read from the file.
● DWORD nNumberOfBytesToRead is the number of bytes to be read from the file
● LPDWORD lpNumberOfBytesRead is the number of bytes actually read
● LPOVERLAPPED lpOverlapped is used for concurrent processing.
The WriteFile() API is used to write data from buffer to file.
Syntax:
BOOL WriteFile(HANDLE hFile, LPCVOID lpBuffer, DWORD nNumberOfBytesToWrite, LPDWORD

lpNumberOfBytesWritten, LPOVERLAPPED lpOverlapped);
To write through the current size of file, the file must be opened with
FILE_FLAG_WRITE_THROUGH option
Lecture 15: Closing a File
After opening & using a file, it is required to close and invalidate the file handles in order to
release the system resources.
The CloseFile() API is used to close a file. A file handle is passed as parameter to this API as a
result of which the API will return True or False value. If the operation is successful, then it
returns True value. In case if the handle is already invalid, then it will return False value.
Lecture 16: Generic Characters

● Windows supports both ASCII (8-bit standard) and Unicode (16-bit standard) characters
● Windows have different API function variants to deal with both Unicode and ASCII
characters.
● Unicode is used to represent characters in other languages like Arabic, Chinese, Urdu etc.
● The structure of a program is different for Unicode and ASCII characters.
● Generic program or code works for both the ASCII and Unicode.
● Windows provides a set of data types for ASCII, a set of data types for Unicode and a set
of data types for Generic code like TCHAR, LPTSTR, LPCTST etc.
● For Unicode the following two macros should be used before including <windows.h>
○ #define UNICODE: it includes all the function headers
○ #define _UNICODE: it includes variable types
○ These macros will force the generic data type to be replaced by Unicode data
types.
● sizeof() operator should be used in coding instead of hard coding if required.
● Use generic C Library functions like _itot(), _stprintf(), _tcscopy() etc.
● Use the _TEXT or T_macro for representing string constants.
● <tchar.h> file should be included for generic C functions.
● Most of the APIs in the latest version of Windows expect to pass the parameters in
Unicode, therefore a generic code should be written instead of ASCII code.
Lecture 17: Generic Functions

● Besides Generic data types, Windows also supports generic functions.
● Examples of generic functions are:
_tcscmp() instead of lstrcmp(), _tcscmpi() instead of lstrcmpi()
● Some functions that deal with Unicode characters and strings and work with locale
settings transparently are:
o CharUpper()
o IsCharAlphaNumeric()
o CompareString()
● Generic main() function is modified in terms of data types of its parameters and its
name as mentioned below:
int _tmain(int argc, LPTSTR argv[])
● <windows.h> and <tchar.h> header files must be included before the main() function.
● Windows usually have two versions for each API function. For example, TextOut will
have two variants i.e. TextOutA(16 bit API) and TextOutW(32 bit API)
● The use of Generic data types and Unicode macro enables the compiler to decide which
version to choose
Lecture 18: Unicode Strategies
While writing a new code or enhancing an existing one, a programmer can adapt any of the
following strategies based on requirements.
● Ignore Unicode Policy

● Use 8 bit only
● Ignore Unicode
● Use data types like char or CHAR
● Most of the Windows cannot be used ignoring unicode
● Use standard library functions like printf(), scanf(), atoi() etc.
Using Generic Code Policy
● The Unicode macro is used to switch between 8 bit and Unicode

● Generic functions are used
● Generic data types are used
Using Unicode Policy
● Use Unicode only

● Unicode functions are used
● Wide characters data types are used
Unicode and 8-bit Policy
● Handle Unicode and 8-bit

● Write code for both Unicode and 8-bit

● Decision regarding which option to choose is made at runtime
● Use of Unicode only strategy is now increasing popularly
● Use of generic code makes the code more flexible
Lecture 19: Reporting Errors

● Windows Operating System provides the facility to report errors, if occurs.
● It is an important and salient feature of Windows to display error messages for user
convenience.
● The important Windows function for reporting errors is GetLastError(). It returns the
code for the last system error.
● Another function FormatMessage() translates the error code into meaningful English or
language selected in preferences.
● A message string reference against the error code is stored in another parameter.
● Another function LocalFree() is also used with FormatMessage() to deallocate the
allocated local memory.
Lecture 20: Example for Reporting Errors

The following two header files must be included for different functions, prototypes, and data
types.
<environment.h> and <everything.h>
<environment.h> includes a Unicode macro for the environment of the program.
<everything.h> includes all the header files required for typical Windows program
Example:
#include<everything.h>
VOID ReportError(LPCTSTR userMessage, DWORD exitCode, BOOL printErrorMessage)
{
DWORD eMsgLen, errNum,=GetLastError();
LPTSTR lpvSysMsg;
_ftprintf(stderr, _T(“%s\n”), userMessage)
if (printErrorMessage)
eMsgLen = FormatMessage(FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER |
FORMAT_MESSAGE_FORM_SYSTEM, NULL, errNum, MAKELANGID(LANG_NEUTRAL,
SUBLANG_DEFAULT), (LPTSTR) &lpvSysMsg, 0, NULL);
if (eMsgLen > 0)
{
_fprintf(stderr, _T(“%s\n”), lpvSysMsg);
}
else
{
_ftprintf (stderr, _T(“Last Error Number; %d\n”), errNum);
}
if (lpvSysMsg != NULL)
LocalFree(lpvSysMsg);
}
if (exitCode>0)
{
ExitProcess(exitCode);
return;
}
}
Here this function ReportError() receives three parameters. Inside this function, the result of
GetLast() function is stored in the variable, errNum. A generic string variable “lpvSysMsg” is
declared for storing the error message.
If the user likes to print the error message, then the error code will first format and convert it
into a string using the FormatMessage() function.
If message length is greater than 0, then it will print the message, otherwise will print the error
code and memory is deallocated.
Topic 20:
Example: Reporting Errors
We will discuss an example of reporting errors. Windows have provide certain

API’s in which the functions of getlasterror() and formatmessage(), we will see
how we can use these functions to report errors. For this we will make a generic
function that we will use in reporting errors.
To write code we need following customized header files
● Enviornment.h
● Everything.h
Enviornment.h includes macros for the environment of the program which is

basically used of UNICODE macro.
#if(WIN32_WINNT>=0x600)
#define WIN32_WINNT 0x600 /* Enable use of NT 5 (XP,2000,2003) functions

*/
#else
#if (WIN32_WINNT>=0x500 ) /*enable use of NT5(XP,2000,2003) functions */
#endif
#endif
In environment.h we have also
#ifdef UNICODE
#define_UNICODE
#endif
#ifndef UNICODE
#undef_UNICODE
#endif
#define LANG_DFLT LANG_ENGLISH // set default language
#define SUBLANG_DFLT SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
Everything.h includes all the header file that will be typically required for all the
subsequent window programs.
#include “ENVIORNMENT.h
#include<windows.h> // all headers
#include<tchar.h> // generic functions
#include<stdio.h> // use for working in CLI
#include<stdlib.h>
#include<malloc.h>// memory allocation
#include<io.h> // input output operations
#include<WinSock2.h> // for windows socket operations
#include “support.h”
#include _MT
#include <process.h> // for multi tasking and multi threading
#endif
Following is the code of reporting errors.
#include “Everything.h”
VOID ReportError{LPCTSTR userMessage, DWORD exitCode, BOOL

printErrorMessage}
DWORD eMsgLen, errNum=GetLastError();

LPSTR lpvSysMsg;
_ftprint(stderr,_t(“%s\n”},userMessage};
If (printErrorMessage)
eMsgLen= FormatMessage{FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER|
FORMATE_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM,
NULL,errNUM,MAKELANGID{LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT),
(LPSTR)&lpsSysMSg,0,NULL);
If(eMsgLen>0)
_ftprint(stder,T(“%s\n”|,lpvSysMsg));
Else
_ftprint{stderr,_T{“LastErrorNumber,%d\n”},errNum};
If (lpvSysMsg!=NULL) LOCALFree(lpvSysMsg);
If(exitCode>0)
ExitProcess(exitCode);
return;
}
Topic 21:- Standard IO devices:
Reading Material:
There are three standard IO devices used in Operating system.
● Input
● Output
● Error
An input operation is performed by default on standard IO devices. For example we

does not mention in printf command where to print, it print the letter or any string by
default on standard Output device and in getch, character is get by default input device.
All the IO devices are manipulate in windows through handles.
Certain APIs are used to acquire handle to standard IO devices.
HANDLE GetStdHandle(DWORD nStdHandle);
● It returns a valid handle if the function succeed

● In case of failure it return INVALID_HANDEL_VALUE
● Successive calls to the functions will still run the same handle
● If the handle is closed it makes it subsequently unusable for the process in
future.
Three types of values can be pass to the nSTDHandle
1. STD_INPUT_HANDLE
2. STD_OUPUT_HANDLE
3. STD_ERROR_HANDLE
STD_INPUT_HANDLE contains CONIN$(Console input) as an environment variable,

STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE contains CONOUT$(Console Output) as an environment variable.
Operating system have also the concept of redirection using the given API
BOOL SetStdHandle(DWORD nStdHandle, HANDLE hHandle);
It also return true if calls succeed and return false in case of fail.
Topic 22: Copying multiple files using windows API
Reading Content:
We will see in this module how to display files using cosonle APIs of windows,
in other words display file on screen is actually copying file on console. For this
we made utility function “options()”. We will also use this function further. This
function take a variable list of parameters and use to parse these variable list.
Basically we specify the list of parameters of a program on command prompt,
there are number of options in it. Option () is use to parse these options. It
identify the “-“ prefix and check all the possible options, and set the flag
against the set options.
Following is the code of the program
#include “Everything.h”
#include <stdarg.h>
DWORD Options (int argc, LPCTSTR argv [], LPCTSTR OptStr, …) /*… show the
parameters list are variables */
Va_list pFlagList;
LPBOOL pFlag;
Int iFlag = 0, iArg;
Va_start (pFlagList, OptStr);
While ( (pFlag= Va)arg (pFlagList, LPBOOL)) != NULL
&& iFlag<(int)_tcslen (OptStr)){
*pFlag= False;
For (iArg= 1; !(*(pFlag) && iArg <argc &&argv[iARG] [0]== _T(‘-‘); iArg++)
*pFlag = _memtchr (argv [iArg], OptStr [iFlag], _tcslen (argv [iArg]))!=

NULL
iFlag++;
Va_end (pFlagList);
For (iArg= 1; !(*(pFlag) && iArg <argc &&argv[iARG] [0]== _T(‘-‘); iArg++);
Retrun iArg;
This utility or program takes the number of parameters through command

prompt, in which we specify option and file names. The Files names which are
given , it open these file and try to print the content of these file on console
and if no file name is given then it take the data from standard input and send
to the standard output. It also use report error function in case of any error
occur.
CatFile Function:
Static VOID CatFile (HANDLE hInFile, HANDLE hOutFile)
DWORD nIn, nOut;
BYTE buffer [BUF_SIZE];
While (ReadFile(hInFile, buffer, BUF_SIZE, $nIn, NULL) && (nIn !=0 )
&& WriteFile (hOutFile, buffer, nIn, &Out, NULL));
Return;
}
Topic 23 : Encrypting files
Reading Content:
Encryption is a very old technique, and roman empire use to encrypt secret
conversation in war days and they use Ceasar Cipher algorithm to encrypt. In
this method an alphabet is substituted by another alphabet placed n positions
forward in circular manner. The text that is changed using encryption method is
called Cipher text.
The text that we are going to encrypt is called plain text so it is denoted by P
and after encrypt we present it with C.
File Encryption Program
● if n=1 then A will be replaced by B, B will be replaced by C and so on

uptil Z which will be again replaced by A.
● if n=2 then A will be replaced by C, B will be replaced by Dand so on uptil
Y which will be again replaced by A
● it uses the function C= (P + n) mod 26
We take mod 26 because total character are 26.
We use mod 256 because of ASCII character
File Encryption Program
● The program uses a slightly different version of Ceasar Cipher adapted

for ASCII characters
● C = (P + n) mod 256
This technique is not exactly cipher but little bit similar to cipher. Following is
the code of encrypting file
#include "Everything.h"
#include <io.h>
BOOL cci_f (LPCTSTR, LPCTSTR, DWORD);
int _tmain (int argc, LPTSTR argv [])
if (argc != 4)
ReportError (_T ("Usage: cci shift file1 file2"), 1, FALSE);
if (!cci_f (argv [2], argv [3], _ttoi(argv[1])))
ReportError (_T ("Encryption failed."), 4, TRUE);
return 0;
BOOL cci_f (LPCTSTR fIn, LPCTSTR fOut, DWORD shift)
HANDLE hIn, hOut;
DWORD nIn, nOut, iCopy;
BYTE buffer [BUF_SIZE], bShift = (BYTE)shift;
BOOL writeOK = TRUE;
hIn = CreateFile (fIn, GENERIC_READ, 0, NULL, OPEN_EXISTING,

if (hIn == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) return FALSE;
hOut = CreateFile (fOut, GENERIC_WRITE, 0, NULL, CREATE_ALWAYS,

if (hOut == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
CloseHandle(hIn);
return FALSE;
while (writeOK && ReadFile (hIn, buffer, BUF_SIZE, &nIn, NULL) && nIn > 0) {
for (iCopy = 0; iCopy < nIn; iCopy++)
buffer[iCopy] = buffer[iCopy] + bShift;
writeOK = WriteFile (hOut, buffer, nIn, &nOut, NULL);
CloseHandle (hIn);
CloseHandle (hOut);
return writeOK;
Topic 24: File and Directory Management
Reading Content:
We will see in this module the types of API for file management. Windows
provides lots of function for file and directory management. These functions
are pretty straightforward and easy to use.
• Such functions perform operations like
• Delete
• Copy
• Rename
Delete
 Delete function will help to delete the file on a given path. For deleting file
the following API is used.
 BOOL DeleteFile(LPCTSTR lpFileName) ;
 Returns TRUE if the file at the given valid file path is deleted
Copy
 For copying file the following API is used .
 BOOL CopyFile( LPCTSTR lpExistingFileName, LPCTSTR lpNewFileName, BOOL

bFailIfExists );
 Copies an existing file from lpExistingFileName path to lpNewFileName, If

new filename is same as existing then the file is overwritten only if
bFailIfExists is false. It returns TRUE if the file at the given file is copied
successfully
Hard Copy
 Windows also provides hardlinks. Following API is used for creating

hardlinks
BOOL CopyHardLink(LPCTSTR lpFileName, LPCTSTR lpExistingFileName,

LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpSecurityAttributes );
 Creates a hard link for existing file
 Both the files must be on same system volume
 Security attributes will apply on new file name
Move
 Use the following APIs to move files
 BOOL MoveFile( LPCTSTR lpExistingFileName, LPCTSTR lpNewFileName);

 BOOL MoveFileEx( LPCWSTR lpExistingFileName, LPCWSTR lpNewFileName,
 DWORD dwFlags );
 MoveFile() fails if new file already exists. We use MoveFileEx() to overwrite

existing file.
 MoveFileEx() is the extended version of MoveFile() It can be used for both

files and directories
Topic 25: Directory Management
We will discuss the functions which we can use for directory management. We
will do different directory operation like create directory , remove directory and
move directory.
For create directory we will use the following function
BOOL CreateDirectory(LPCTSTR lpPathName,
LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpSecurityAttributes
);
For remove directory we will use the following function
BOOL RemoveDirectory(
LPCSTR lpPathName
);
• lpPathName specifies the path of the directory to be created or deleted.

Current Directory
In windows and many other operating system concept of current directory or

current working directory is also exist. Each Process has a current working
directory which can be changed/retrieved using the following API
BOOL SetCurrentDirectory(
LPCTSTR lpPathName
);
DWORD GetCurrentDirectory(
DWORD nBufferLength,
LPTSTR lpBuffer
);
Topic 27: Printing and Prompting on Console
In the previous module we see the certain APIs , which perform input/output
operations on console, now we use these APIs. We create two types of utility
functions, one is help us to display string on console and other is pass some
message to user and also take input from users. Following are names and
description of these functions.
Variable parameter list
●PrintStrings() function is designed which take variable list of parameters.
●Variable parameter list is processed using va_start(), va_arg()and va_end()

library functions
Console Prompt functions:

● This function devised such that it prompt a given message to the user
on console
● Further it also receives user response through the console
Print String Function:
#include <stdarg.h>
BOOL PrintStrings (HANDLE hOut, ...){
DWORD msgLen, count;
LPCTSTR pMsg;
va_list pMsgList; /* Current message string. */
va_start (pMsgList, hOut); /* Start processing msgs. */
while ((pMsg = va_arg (pMsgList, LPCTSTR)) != NULL) { // read variable

list
msgLen = lstrlen (pMsg); // message length
if (!WriteConsole (hOut, pMsg, msgLen, &count, NULL) // in case of write

console fail
&& !WriteFile (hOut, pMsg, msgLen * sizeof (TCHAR),

&count, NULL)) {
va_end (pMsgList);
return FALSE;
va_end (pMsgList);
return TRUE;
BOOL PrintMsg (HANDLE hOut, LPCTSTR pMsg){
return PrintStrings (hOut, pMsg, NULL);
Console Prompt Function
BOOL ConsolePrompt (LPCTSTR pPromptMsg, LPTSTR pResponse, DWORD

maxChar, BOOL echo){
HANDLE hIn, hOut;
DWORD charIn, echoFlag;
BOOL success;
// create console input file
hIn = CreateFile (_T("CONIN$"), GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE, 0,
NULL, OPEN_ALWAYS, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, NULL);
// create console output file
hOut = CreateFile (_T("CONOUT$"), GENERIC_WRITE, 0,
NULL, OPEN_ALWAYS, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, NULL);
/* Should the input be echoed? */
echoFlag = echo ? ENABLE_ECHO_INPUT : 0;
success = SetConsoleMode (hIn, ENABLE_LINE_INPUT | echoFlag |

ENABLE_PROCESSED_INPUT)
&& SetConsoleMode (hOut, ENABLE_WRAP_AT_EOL_OUTPUT |

ENABLE_PROCESSED_OUTPUT)
&& PrintStrings (hOut, pPromptMsg, NULL)
&& ReadConsole (hIn, pResponse, maxChar - 2, &charIn,

NULL);
/* Replace the CR-LF by the null character. */
if (success)
pResponse [charIn - 2] = _T('\0');
else
ReportError (_T("ConsolePrompt failure."), 0, TRUE);
CloseHandle (hIn);
CloseHandle (hOut);
return success;
Topic 28:
In this module we will see a small code which will use get current directory.
Printing Current Directory
This example uses the GetCurrentDirectory() function to get the current

directory, further it uses the console IO to print the path.
#define DIRNAME_LEN (MAX_PATH + 2)
int _tmain (int argc, LPTSTR argv [])

TCHAR pwdBuffer [DIRNAME_LEN];
DWORD lenCurDir;
//calling getcurrent directory and name stored in pwdbuffer
lenCurDir = GetCurrentDirectory (DIRNAME_LEN, pwdBuffer);
if (lenCurDir == 0) // in case of failure
ReportError (_T ("Failure getting pathname."), 1, TRUE);
if (lenCurDir > DIRNAME_LEN)
ReportError (_T ("Pathname is too long."), 2, FALSE);
PrintMsg (GetStdHandle (STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE), pwdBuffer); // in case of

correction
return 0;
Topic 29:
If we see historically, there were some file system which was of 12-bit after that
we have 32-bit system and still somewhere 32-bit file system are used. FAT
based system allowed a maximum file size of 232 bytes which is 4GB. NTFS
theoretically provides the file size limit of 264 which is very huge.
Files of such proportion are called huge files. Although for most of the
application 32 bit file space is sufficient. However due to rapid technological
changes leading to increased disk spaces its useful to know how to deal with 64
bit huge file spaces and windows facilitate with some API’s that support 64-bit
file system.
Topic 30:
File Pointer APIs
Whenever a file is opened using CreateFile() the file pointer is placed at the start
of file. The file pointer changes as ReadFile() or WriteFile() operations are
performed. Every subsequent read/write operation is performed at the current
file pointer position.
SetFilePointer() and SetFilePointerEx() functions are used to change file pointer

position. For random file accessSetFilePointer() is clumsy to used for 64 bit
operations. SetFilePointerEx() can be more readily used for 64 bit operations
Use of SetFilePointer() used is difficult as compared to SetFilePointerEx().
SetFilePointer()
DWORD SetFilePointer(
HANDLE hFile,
LONG lDistanceToMove, // for 32-bit file
PLONG lpDistanceToMoveHigh, // pointer to a long for NTFS
DWORD dwMoveMethod
);
hFile
A handle to the file.
lDistanceToMove
The low order 32-bits of a signed value that specifies the number of bytes to
move the file pointer.
lpDistanceToMoveHigh
A pointer to the high order 32-bits of the signed 64-bit distance to move.
dwMoveMethod
The starting point for the file pointer move.
FILE_BEGIN // file pointer move number of bytes w.r.t the start of file
FILE_CURRENT // file pointer move with respect to the current position
FILE_END // file pointer move w.r.t the end of file
Topic 31:
For large files that may have size 264 , we need to understand the 64 bit
arithmetic. To facilitate 64-bit integer arithmetic windows provide a union
LARGE_INTEGER. This union has structure for dealing with lower and higher
double words Moreover it also has a field to deal with whole quadword of type
LONGLONG.
Definition of Structure of large integer
typedef union _LARGE_INTEGER {
struct {
DWORD LowPart;
LONG HighPart;
};
struct {
DWORD LowPart;
LONG HighPart;
} u;
LONGLONG QuadPart;
} LARGE_INTEGER;
Extension of SetFilePointerEx
BOOL SetFilePointerEx(
HANDLE hFile,
LARGE_INTEGER liDistanceToMove,
PLARGE_INTEGER lpNewFilePointer,
DWORD dwMoveMethod
);
hFile
A handle to the file. The file handle must have been created with the
GENERIC_READ or GENERIC_WRITE access right
liDistanceToMove
The number of bytes to move the file pointer.
lpNewFilePointer
A pointer to a variable to receive the new file pointer.
dwMoveMethod
he starting point for the file pointer move.
FILE_BEGIN
FILE_CURRENT
FILE_END
Topic 32:
Overlap structure is a structure which is defined in the ‘windows.h’ and can be

used with read file and write file API’s. This structure can also be used to set file
pointer position, Although the name is overlapped but it is not necessary that
can used only for overlapped operations, we also used in multitasking.
SetFilePointer() or SetFilePointerEx() need not be invoked we can achieve this

goal using readfile and write file. Also, you can append to the file by specifying
0xffffffff in both Offset and OffsetHigh fields
Definition of Overlap structure:
typedef struct _OVERLAPPED {
ULONG_PTR Internal; // reserved filed
ULONG_PTR InternalHigh; // reserved filed
union {
struct {
DWORD Offset;
DWORD OffsetHigh;
} DUMMYSTRUCTNAME;
PVOID Pointer;
} DUMMYUNIONNAME;
HANDLE hEvent;
} OVERLAPPED, *LPOVERLAPPED;
Implementation:
filePos.QuadPart=x; // large integer variable
ov.Offset=filePos.LowPart; // place low part of file position
ov.OffsetHigh=filePos.HighPart; // place high part of file position
ReadFile(hFile, buf, sizeof(buf), &nRead, &ov);
…..
WriteFile(hFile, buf, sizeof(buf), &nWrite, &ov);
Topic 33:
One method of getting file size is already exist and that is to open a file first
using create file, once file is open the file pointer is pointing to the first byte
then we move file pointer to the end of file (eof). So file pointer is move from
starting to end of file is give use the size of the file. Windows also provides an
API to get file size GetFileSizeEx()
GetFileSizeEx()
BOOL GetFileSizeEx(
HANDLE hFile,
PLARGE_INTEGER lpFileSize
);
hFile
A handle to the file. The handle must have been created with the
FILE_READ_ATTRIBUTES access right
lpFileSize
A pointer to a LARGE_INTEGER structure that receives the file size, in bytes.
Windows also give option to set the size. The file size can also be changed,
reducing the file size truncate data. Increasing the file size can be useful where
the size of file is expected to grow. We use SetEndOfFileEx() to change the file
size.
Topic 34:
In this topic we discuss the example of creates a file with a capacity of specified
records. The file has a header followed by equal size records. The feature of
this example is, user can modify any record randomly and get the total count of
records in the file.
#define STRING_SIZE 256
typedef struct _RECORD { /* File record structure */
DWORD referenceCount; /* 0 meands an

empty record */
SYSTEMTIME recordCreationTime;
SYSTEMTIME recordLastRefernceTime;
SYSTEMTIME recordUpdateTime;
TCHAR dataString[STRING_SIZE];
} RECORD;
typedef struct _HEADER { /* File header descriptor */
DWORD numRecords;
DWORD numNonEmptyRecords;
} HEADER;
int _tmain (int argc, LPTSTR argv[])
HANDLE hFile;
LARGE_INTEGER currentPtr;
DWORD OpenOption, nXfer, recNo;
RECORD record;
TCHAR string[STRING_SIZE], command, extra;
OVERLAPPED ov = {0, 0, 0, 0, NULL}, ovZero = {0, 0, 0, 0, NULL};
HEADER header = {0, 0};
SYSTEMTIME currentTime;
BOOLEAN headerChange, recordChange;
int prompt = (argc <= 3) ? 1 : 0;
if (argc < 2)
ReportError (_T("Usage: RecordAccess file [nrec [prompt]]"), 1, FALSE);
OpenOption = ((argc > 2 && _ttoi(argv[2]) <= 0) || argc <= 2) ?

OPEN_EXISTING : CREATE_ALWAYS;
hFile = CreateFile (argv[1], GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE,
0, NULL, OpenOption, FILE_FLAG_RANDOM_ACCESS,

NULL);
if (hFile == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
ReportError (_T("RecordAccess error: Cannot open existing file."), 2,

TRUE);
if (argc >= 3 && _ttoi(argv[2]) > 0) {
header.numRecords = _ttoi(argv[2]);
if (!WriteFile(hFile, &header, sizeof (header), &nXfer,

&ovZero))
ReportError (_T("RecordAccess Error: WriteFile

header."), 4, TRUE);
currentPtr.QuadPart = (LONGLONG)sizeof(RECORD) *
_ttoi(argv[2]) + sizeof(HEADER);
if (!SetFilePointerEx (hFile, currentPtr, NULL, FILE_BEGIN))
ReportError (_T("RecordAccess Error: Set

Pointer."), 4, TRUE);
if (!SetEndOfFile(hFile))
ReportError (_T("RecordAccess Error: Set End of

File."), 5, TRUE);
if (prompt) _tprintf (_T("Empty file with %d records

created.\n"), header.numRecords);
return 0;
if (!ReadFile(hFile, &header, sizeof (HEADER), &nXfer, &ovZero))
ReportError (_T("RecordAccess Error: ReadFile header."),

6, TRUE);
if (prompt) _tprintf (_T("File %s contains %d non-empty records

of size %d.\n Total capacity: %d\n"),
argv[1], header.numNonEmptyRecords, sizeof(RECORD),

header.numRecords);
while (TRUE) {
headerChange = FALSE; recordChange = FALSE;

if (prompt) _tprintf (_T("Enter

r(ead)/w(rite)/d(elete)/qu(it) record#\n"));
_tscanf (_T("%c%u%c"), &command, &recNo, &extra);
if (command == _T('q')) break;
if (recNo >= header.numRecords) {
if (prompt) _tprintf (_T("record Number is too

large. Try again.\n"));
continue;
currentPtr.QuadPart = (LONGLONG)recNo *
sizeof(RECORD) + sizeof(HEADER);
ov.Offset = currentPtr.LowPart;
ov.OffsetHigh = currentPtr.HighPart;
if (!ReadFile (hFile, &record, sizeof (RECORD), &nXfer,

&ov))
ReportError (_T("RecordAccess: ReadFile failure."),

7, FALSE);
GetSystemTime (&currentTime); /* Use to update record

time fields */
record.recordLastRefernceTime = currentTime;
if (command == _T('r') || command == _T('d')) { /* Report record contents, if

any */
if (record.referenceCount == 0) {
if (prompt) _tprintf (_T("record

Number %d is empty.\n"), recNo);
continue;
} else {
if (prompt) _tprintf (_T("record

Number %d. Reference Count: %d \n"),
recNo, record.referenceCount);
if (prompt) _tprintf (_T("Data: %s\n"),

record.dataString);
/* Exercise: Display times. See ls.c for an

example */
if (command == _T('d')) { /* Delete the record */
record.referenceCount = 0;
header.numNonEmptyRecords--;
headerChange = TRUE;
recordChange = TRUE;
} else if (command == _T('w')) { /* Write the record, even if for the first time */
if (prompt) _tprintf (_T("Enter new data string for

the record.\n"));
_fgetts (string, sizeof(string), stdin); // Don't use

_getts (potential buffer overflow)
string[_tcslen(string)-1] = _T('\0'); // remove the

newline character
if (record.referenceCount == 0) {
record.recordCreationTime =
currentTime;
header.numNonEmptyRecords++;
headerChange = TRUE;
record.recordUpdateTime = currentTime;
record.referenceCount++;
_tcsncpy (record.dataString, string,

STRING_SIZE-1);
recordChange = TRUE;
} else {
if (prompt) _tprintf (_T("command must be r, w,

or d. Try again.\n"));}
/* Update the record in place if any record contents

have changed. */
if (recordChange && !WriteFile (hFile, &record, sizeof

(RECORD), &nXfer, &ov))
ReportError (_T("RecordAccess: WriteFile update

failure."), 8, FALSE);
/* Update the number of non-empty records if required

*/
if (headerChange) {
if (!WriteFile (hFile, &header, sizeof (header),

&nXfer, &ovZero))
ReportError (_T("RecordAccess: WriteFile

update failure."), 9, FALSE);
if (prompt) _tprintf (_T("Computed number of non-empty

records is: %d\n"), header.numNonEmptyRecords);
if (!ReadFile(hFile, &header, sizeof (HEADER), &nXfer, &ovZero))
ReportError (_T("RecordAccess Error: ReadFile header."),

10, TRUE);
if (prompt) _tprintf (_T("File %s NOW contains %d non-empty

records.\nTotal capacity is: %d\n"),
argv[1], header.numNonEmptyRecords,
header.numRecords);
CloseHandle (hFile);
return 0;
}
Topic 35:
Windows provide a certain set of APIs for search files/folders within the hierarchical
structure of Directories/folders. These APIs include:
FindFirstFile(), FindFirstFileEx(), FindNextFile() and FindClose(). Detail of these APIs are:
FindFirstFile() API
Handle FindFirstFile(LPCSTR lpFileName, LPWIN32_FIND_DATA A lpFindFileData);
Where lpFileName represents the directory or path, and the filename. The name can
include wildcard characters, for example, an asteristk (*) or a question mark (?).
lpFindFileData: A pointer to the WIN32_FIND_DATA structure that receives

information about a found file or directory.
Structure or Detail of WIN32_FIND_DATA structure:
typedef struct _WIN32_FIND_DATA {
DWORD dwFileAttributes;
FILETIME ftCreationTime;
FILETIME ftLastAccessTime;
FILETIME ftLastWriteTime;
DWORD nFileSizeHigh;
DWORD nFileSizeLow;
DWORD dwReserved0;
DWORD dwReserved1;
CHAR cFileName[Max_Path];
CHAR cAlternateFileName[14];
DWORD dwFileType;
DWORD dwCreatorType;
DWORD WFinderFlags;
};
FindNextFile() API:
BOOL FindNextFile(HANDLE hFindFile, LPWIN32_FIND_DATA A lpFindFileData );
Where hFindFile represents the search handle returned by a previous call to the
FindFirstFile or FindFirstFileEx function &
lpFindFileData is a pointer to the WIN32_FIND_DATA structure that receives

information about the found file or sub-directory.
FindClose() API
BOOL FindClose(HANDLE hFindFile);
Topic 36:
Certain other APIs are also used for getting the file attributes but these API need to
have an open file handle rather than scan a directory or use a filename.
GetFileTime() API
BOOL GetFileTime(HANDLE hFile, LPFILETIME lpCreationTime, LPFILETIME

lpLastAccessTime, LPFILETIME lpLastWriteTime);
Where hFile is a handle to the file or directory.
lpCreationTime is a pointer to a FILETIME structure to receive the data and time the file
or directory was created.
lpLastAccessTime is a pointer to a FILETIME structure to receive the data and time the
file or directory was last accessed.
lpLastWriteTime is a pointer to a FILETIME structure to receive the data and time the
file or directory was last written to truncated or overwritten.
FileTimeToSystemTime() API
It converts the file time into system time.
SystemTimeToFileTime() API
It converts the system time into file time.
CompareFileTime() API
It compares file times of two files. It returns -1 if less, 0 if equal and +1 if greater.
SetFileTime() API
It sets the three time of file. NULL used if the file time is not to be changed.
FileTimeToLocalFileTime() and LocalFileTimeToFileTime() APIs converts UTC and local

File time.
GetFileType API
It provides information regarding the type of file (disk file or pipes)
GetFileAttributes() API
DWORD GetFileAttributes(LPCTSTR lpFileName);
Where lpFileName is the name of a file or directory. Its return value is:
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,

FILE_ATTRIBUTE_TEMPORARY.
In case of failure, the return value is INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES whose value is

0xFFFFFFFF.
Topic 37:
Windows provide the facility of creating temporary files for storing the intermediate
results. These files are assigned unique names in a directory with extension .tmp.
Certain APIs are used for creating temporary files. These include:
GetTempFileName API
UINT GetTempFileName(LPCTSTR lpPathName, LPCTSTR lpPrefixString, UINT uUnique,

LPSTR lpTempFileName);
Where lpPathName represents the directory path for the filename. The string cannot be
longer than 14 characters.
lpPrefixString represents the null-terminated prefix string. The first 3 characters of

this string is used as a prefix of the filename.
uUnique represents an unsigned integer to be used in creating the temporay filename.

lpTempFileName is a pointer to the buffer that receives the temporary filename
Topic 38:
We can get the attributes of a file, listing of files and can traverse the directory
structure using certain windows APIs.
An application called lsW is used for showing files and listing their attributes. It uses
two option switched that is –l and –R where –l option is used to list the attributes of
files in a folder and –R is used for recursive traversal through subfolders.
This application or program will work with a relative pathname; it will not work with
absolute pathname.
Program: File Listing and Directory Traversal
BOOL TraverseDirectory(LPTSTR, LPTSTR, DWORD, LPBOOL);
DWORD FileType(LPWIN32_FIND_DATA);
BOOL ProcessItem(LPWIN32_FIND_DATA, DWORD, LPBOOL);
Int _tmain(int argc, LPTSTR argv[])
BOOL flags[MAX_OPTIONS], ok=TRUE;
TCHAR searchPattern[MAX_PATH +1], currPath[MAX_PATH_LONG +1],

parrentPath[MAX_PATH_LONG +1];
LPTSTR pSlash, pSearchPattern;
int i, fileIndex;
DWORD pathLength;
fileIndex = Options(argc, argv, _T(“RI”), &flags[0], &flags[1], NULL);
/* parse the search pattern into two parts: the parent and the filename or wild card
expression. The filename is the longest suffix not containing a slash. The parent is the
remaining prefix with a slash. This is performed for all command line search pattern. If
no file is specified, use * as the search pattern */
pathLength = getCurrentDirectory(MAX_PATH_LONG, currPath);
if(pathLength==0 || pathLength>= MAX_PATH_LONG)
{ /* pathLength>= MAX_PATH_LONG (32780) should be impossible */
ReportError(_T(“GetCurrentDirectory failed”, 1, TRUE);

Topic 39: Setting File Times
UNIX Touch command changes file access and changes the time to
current system time.
For changing file time the GetSystemTimeAsFileTime is more

convenient than calling Get SystemTime followed by
SystemTimeToFileTime.
These two functions are provided by sysinfoapi.h api used to retrieve

system time.
GetSystemTimeAsFileTime() take file pointer as argument and retrieves
the current system date and time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
format.
GetSystemTime() A pointer to a SYSTEMTIME structure to receive the

current system date and time. Retrieves the current system date and
time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) format.
SetFileTime() Sets the date and time that the specified file or directory
was created, last accessed, or last modified.
Topic 40: File Processing Strategies
C Library for file processing have following features:

 Code is portable to Operating system running other than windows.
 Convenient line and character oriented functions are simply string
processing.
 The functions are higher level and easy to use than windows
functions.
 Line and stream character-oriented functions can be migrated to
generic calls.
C library also have some limitations but some performance advantages

are also present when compared to windows functions.
Topic 41: File Locking
Windows OS can lock files completely or some part of a file.There are

two functions avalible LockfileEx and LockFile.
The syntax and parameters list of LockfileEx is given below:
BOOL LockFileEx(
HANDLE hFile,
DWORD dwFlags,
DWORD dwReserved,
DWORD nNumberOfBytesToLockLow,
DWORD nNumberOfBytesToLockHigh,
LPPVERLAPPED lpOverlapped
)
To Unlock a file UnlockFileEx() function is used.Parameters list is

highly similar to LockFileEx.
Topic 42: Releasing file locks
If a program does not release a lock or holds the lock longer, other
programs will not be able to proceed and their performance will be
negatively impacted.
Therefore, programs should be designed in such a way that locks are

released after the usage is completed using appropriate functions.
Topic 43: Lock Logic consequences
 File locking can generate deadlocks just like deadlocks generated

by mutual exclusion locks.
 A read or write may be able to complete its request before
encountering a conflicting lock.
 The read or write will return false, and the byte transfer count will
be less than the number requested.
 Shared locks if not used properly also generate unexpected errors,
as if one process have a shared lock on a file other processes can
only ready the file but cannot write into it.
Topic 44: The Registry
The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores low level

settings for the Microsoft Windows operating system and for
applications that opt to use the registry. The OS kernel, device drivers,
services, Security Accounts Manager, and user interfaces all can read
and update the registry values.
In other words, the registry or Windows Registry contains different

information e.g. settings, options, and other values for programs and
hardware installed on the system. For example, when a program is
installed, a new key containing settings such as its version is added to
the Windows Registry.
Topic 45: Registry Keys
The registry contains two basic elements: keys and values. Registry
keys are container objects similar to folders. Registry values are non-
container objects similar to files. Keys may contain values and sub-
keys. Keys are referenced with a syntax similar to Windows' path
names, using backslashes to indicate levels of hierarchy. Keys must
have a case insensitive name without backslashes.
The hierarchy of registry keys can only be accessed from a known root
key handle (which is anonymous but whose effective value is a
constant numeric handle) that is mapped to the content of a registry
key pre-loaded by the kernel from a stored "hive", or to the content of
a sub-key within another root key, or mapped to a registered service

or DLL that provides access to its contained sub-keys and values.
E.g. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows refers to the

sub-key "Windows" of the sub-key "Microsoft" of the sub-key
"Software" of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE root key.
There are seven predefined root keys, traditionally named according to

their constant handles defined in the Win32 API, or by synonymous
abbreviations (depending on applications):[4]
 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKLM
 HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG or HKCC
 HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT or HKCR
 HKEY_CURRENT_USER or HKCU
 HKEY_USERS or HKU
 HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA (only in Windows NT, but invisible in
the Windows Registry Editor)[5]
 HKEY_DYN_DATA (only in Windows 9x, and visible in the Windows
Registry Editor)
Topic 46: Key Management
Service Manager stores many settings in the registry. You seldom have
to edit the registry yourself, because most of those settings are
derived from entries that you make in day-to-day use. However, some
changes to settings might occasionally be required. Service Manager
stores most registry values in the following locations:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\System
Center<version>\Service Manager\Console
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\System
Center<version>
Topic 47: Listing Registry Keys
You can show all items directly within a registry key by using Get-
ChildItem. Add the optional Force parameter to display hidden or
system items. For example, this command displays the items directly
within PowerShell drive HKCU:, which corresponds to the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry hive:
PowerShell
Get-ChildItem -Path HKCU:\ | Select-Object Name
You can also specify this registry path by specifying the registry
provider's name, followed by ::. The registry provider's full name is
Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry, but this can be shortened to just
Registry. Any of the following commands will list the contents directly
under HKCU:.
PowerShell
Get-ChildItem -Path Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USERGet-ChildItem -
Path Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USERGet-
ChildItem -Path Registry::HKCUGet-ChildItem -Path
Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKCUGet-ChildItem HKCU:
Topic 48: Exception and their Handlers
Structured exception handling (SEH) is a Microsoft extension to C to

handle certain exceptional code situations, such as hardware faults,
gracefully. Although Windows and Microsoft C++ support SEH, we
recommend that you use ISO-standard C++ exception handling. It
makes your code more portable and flexible. However, to maintain
existing code or for particular kinds of programs, you still might have
to use SEH.
Topic 49: Try and Except Blocks
Different languages have different implementation for exception

handling.
For example Python handles the exception following way:

The try block lets you test a block of code for errors.
The except block lets you handle the error.
The else block lets you execute code when there is no error.
The finally block lets you execute code, regardless of the result of the
try- and except blocks.
Topic 50: Filter Expressions
Writing an exception filter in windows
You can handle an exception either by jumping to the level of the

exception handler or by continuing execution. Instead of using the
exception handler code to handle the exception and falling through,
you can use a filter expression to clean up the problem. Then, by
returning EXCEPTION_CONTINUE_EXECUTION (-1), you may resume
normal flow without clearing the stack.
It's a good idea to use a function call in the filter expression whenever
filter needs to do anything complex. Evaluating the expression causes
execution of the function, in this case, Eval_Exception.
This handler passes control to another handler unless the exception is

an integer or floating-point overflow. If it is, the handler calls a
function (ResetVars is only an example, not an API function) to reset
some global variables. The __except statement block, which in this
example is empty, can never be executed because Eval_Exception
never returns EXCEPTION_EXECUTE_HANDLER (1).
Using a function call is a good general-purpose technique for dealing

with complex filter expressions. Two other C language features that
are useful are:
 The conditional operator

 The comma operator
Topic 52: Exceptions Handling Sequence
Exception Handling sequence for python is given below:
try:
You do your operations here;
......................
except ExceptionI:
If there is ExceptionI, then execute this block.
except ExceptionII:
If there is ExceptionII, then execute this block.
......................
else:
If there is no exception then execute this block.
Topic 53: Floating-Point Exceptions
IEEE defines a standard for floating-point exceptions it is called IEEE Standard for Binary
Floating-Point Arithmetic (IEEE 754). This standard have defined five types of floating-point
exception:
 Invalid operation
 Division by zero
 Overflow
 Underflow
 Inexact calculation
Topic 54: Errors and Exceptions
Errors Exception
Errors are usually raised by the environment in Exceptions are caused by the code of the
which the application is running. app the code belongs to.
The use of try-catch blocks can handle
It is not possible to recover from an error. exceptions and recover the system from
exception.
Errors occur at run-time and are unknown by the Exceptions may or may not be caught by
compiler. the compiler.
Programmers include an explicit test to check for An exception could occur nearly
error,for example whether a file read/write operation anywhere, and it is practical to test for
has failed. an exception.
Topic 55: Treating Errors as Exceptions
Programmer can use ReportError function to report the error and let windows treat it and
terminate the process.But it have its own limitations.
• A fatal error terminates the entire process when only a single thread should terminate.
• The programmer may require to continue program execution rather than terminate the process.
• Synchronization resources, such as events or semaphores, will not be released in most of the
circumstances.
Topic 56: Termination Handlers

Termination handler provides same functionality as an exception handler,but it is executed when
a thread leaves a block as a result normal program flow as well as when an exception occurs. A
termination handler cannot diagnose an exception.
A termination handler consists of the following elements.
 A guarded body of code

 A block of termination code to be executed when the flow of control leaves the guarded
body
Termination handlers are declared in language-specific syntax. Using the Microsoft C/C++
Optimizing Compiler, they are implemented using __try and __finally.
The guarded body of code can be a block of code, a set of nested blocks, or an entire procedure
or function.
The termination block is executed when the flow of control leaves the guarded body, regardless
of whether the guarded body terminated normally or abnormally.
Topic 57: Better Programs with Termination Handlers
Termination and exception handlers allow you to make your program more robust by both
simplifying recovery from errors and exceptions and helping to ensure that resources and file
locks are freed at critical junctures.
Consider the below given code where we are checking for invalid handle and
ReportingException.
If (hin == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
ReportException(argv[iFile],1);
If(!GetFileSizeEx(hIn, &fsize) || fsize.HighPart > 0)
ReportException(_T(“FIle is Too Large”,1));
Topic 58: Filter Functions
The filter function identifies the exception type and based on the type of the exception, the
handler can treat each exception differently. In the following program, the exception handling
and termination of a program are illustrated using a filter function.
The program generates an exception based on the type of the exception entered by the user. The
floating point exceptions are enabled with the help of controlfp function and old status is saved
in the fpOld. The try block mentions the different cases of exception generation with the help of
a switch statement.
In the except clause, there is a filter function calling another function

GetExceptionInformation(). eCategory is a reference variable whose value determines the type of
exception being thrown. For the outer try, there is a finally clause used for any abnormal
termination of the program. The old value of the floating point mask is also restored at this stage.
Now we will see how the values in the ecategory reference variable are placed.
User generated exceptions are identified based on the masking operation generating zero as a
result.
Topic 59: Console Control Handles
Console control handlers are quite similar to the mechanism of exception handlers. Normal
exceptions respond to several asynchronous events like division by zero, invalid page fault etc.,
but they do not respond to console related events like Ctrl+C. Console control handlers can
detect and handle the events that are console related. The API SetConsoleCtrlHandler() is used to
add console handlers.
BOOL SetConsoleCtrlHandler( PHANDLER_ROUTINE HandlerRoutine, BOOL Add);
The API takes the address of the HandlerRoutine and Add Boolean as parameters. There can be a
number of handler routines if the Add parameter is set as TRUE. If the HandlerRoutine
parameter is set as NULL and Add is TRUE, then the Ctrl-C signal will be ignored.
BOOL HandlerRoutine (DWORD dwCtrlType);

The return type of HanlderRoutine should be Boolean taking only one parameter of type
DWORD. The HandlerRoutine() function takes a DWORD as a parameter and returns a Boolean
value.
dwCtrlType identifies the signal and its values can be:
1. CTRL_C_EVENT: Indicates that a Ctrl-C sequence was entered through

keyboards.
2. CTRL_CLOSE_EVENT: Indicates that the console window is being closed.
3. CTRL_BREAK_EVENT: Indicates Ctrl-Break sequence.
4. CTRL_LOGOFF_EVENT: Indicates the user is trying to logoff.
5. CTRL_SHUTDOWN_EVENT: Indicates the user is trying to shut down.
The handler routine will be invoked if a console exception is detected. Handler routine runs in an
independent thread within the process. Raising an exception within the handler routine will not
interfere with the working of the original routine that created the handler routine. Signals apply
to the whole process, while exception applies to a single thread.
Usually signal handlers are used to perform cleanup tasks whenever a shutdown, close or logoff
events are detected. Signal Handler would return a TRUE value in case it takes care of the task
or it may return FALSE. In case of FALSE, the next handler in the chain is invoked. Signal
handler chain is invoked in the reverse order of which they are set up in and the system signal
handler is the last one in this chain.
Topic 60: Console Control Handler Example
We have a simple program that set up a console control handler and starts beeping in a
loop. The control handler is invoked whenever a console event occurs. The handler
handles the event likewise and clears an exitFlag to end the loop of the main function.
/* Chapter 4. CNTRLC.C */
/* Catch Cntrl-C signals. */
static BOOL WINAPI Handler(DWORD cntrlEvent);
static BOOL exitFlag = FALSE;
int _tmain(int argc, LPTSTR argv[])
/* Beep periodically until signaled to stop. */

{
/* Add an event handler. */
if (!SetConsoleCtrlHandler(Handler, TRUE))
ReportError(_T("Error setting event handler"), 1, TRUE);
while (!exitFlag) { /* This flag is detected right after a beep, before a handler exits */
Sleep(4750); /* Beep every 5 seconds; allowing 250 ms of beep time. */
Beep(1000 /* Frequency */, 250 /* Duration */);
}
}
_tprintf(_T("Stopping the main program as requested.\n"));
return 0;
}
BOOL WINAPI Handler(DWORD cntrlEvent)
{
switch (cntrlEvent) {
/* The signal timing will determine if you see the second handler message */
case CTRL_C_EVENT:
_tprintf(_T("Ctrl-C received by handler. Leaving in 5 seconds or
less.\n"));
exitFlag = TRUE;
Sleep(4000); /* Decrease this time to get a different effect */
_tprintf(_T("Leaving handler in 1 second or less.\n"));
return TRUE; /* TRUE indicates that the signal was handled. */
case CTRL_CLOSE_EVENT:
_tprintf(_T("Close event received by handler. Leaving the handler in 5
seconds or less.\n"));
exitFlag = TRUE;
_tprintf(_T("Leaving handler in 1 second or less.\n"));
return TRUE; /* Try returning FALSE. Any difference? */
default:
_tprintf(_T("Event: %d received by handler. Leaving in 5 seconds or
less.\n"), cntrlEvent);
exitFlag = TRUE;
_tprintf(_T("Leaving handler in 1 seconds or less.\n"));
return TRUE; /* TRUE indicates that the signal was handled. */
}
}
The program can be terminated by the user either by closing the console or with a Ctrl-C. The
handler will register with windows using the SetConsoleCtrlHandler(Handler, TRUE) function.
The handler will be activated upon the occurrence of any console event. If the registration of any
handler fails due to any reason, then an error message will be printed.
Topic 61: Vectored Exceptions Handling

Exception handling functions can be directly associated with an exception just like console
handlers. In case a vectored exception is set up, then windows first looks for Vectored Exception
Handlers (VEH) and then unwinds the stack.
No __try and __catch keywords are required with VEH and they are like console control
handlers. Windows provides a set of APIs for VEH management as follows.
PVOID WINAPI AddVectoredExceptionHandler(ULONG FirstHandler,

PVECTORED_EXCEPTION_HANDLER VectoredHandler);
The given API has two parameters; FirstHandler is the parameter used to specify the order in
which the handler executes. Non-zero value indicates that it will be the first one to execute and
zero specifies it to be the last. If there are more than one handlers setup with zero value, then
they will be invoked in the order they are added using AddVectoredExceptionHandler(). Return
value is NULL in case of failure, otherwise it returns the Handle to the Vectored Exception
Handler.
A call to RemoveVectoredExceptionHandler() is used to remove the vectored exception from a

chain. Following is the structure of a vectored exception handler to be set up by the
AddVectoredExceptionHandler().
LONG WINAPI VectorHandler(PEXCEPTION_POINTERS ExceptionInfo);
PEXCEPTION_POINTER is a pointer to EXCEPTION_POINTER structure that was previously

retrieved by GetExceptionInformation().
Pitfalls of Vectored Exceptions
The exception handler function should be fast and must return as quickly as possible, therefore it
should not have a lot of code. The VEH should neither perform any blocking operation like the
Sleep() function nor use any synchronization objects. Typically a VEH would access exception
information structure, do some minimal processing, and set a few flags.
VEH uses the same return values as SHE.
EXCEPTION_CONTINUE_EXECUTION : No more handlers invoke, exception stack does not

unwind, and the execution continues from the point where the exception occurred.
EXCEPTION_CONTINUE_SEARCH : The next VEH handler is probed, if there are no

additional VEH handlers, then SEH stack is unwound.
Topic 62: Memory Management
Dynamic Memory
Need of dynamic memory arises whenever dynamic data structures like search tables, trees,
linked lists etc. are used. Windows provides a set of APIs for handling dynamic memory
allocation.
Windows also provides memory mapped files which allows direct movement of data to and from
user space and files without the use of file APIs. Memory Mapped files can help conveniently
handle dynamic data structure and make file handling faster because they are treated just like
memory. It also provides a mechanism for memory sharing among processes.
Windows Memory Management
Windows essentially uses two API platforms i.e. Win32 and Win64.
The Win32 API uses pointers of size 32 bits, hence the virtual space is 2^32. All data types have
been optimized for 32 bit boundaries. Win64 uses a virtual space of 2^64 (16 Exabytes).
A good strategy is to design an application in such a way that it could run in both modes without
any change in code.
Win32 makes at least half of the virtual space (8GB) accessible to a process and the rest of the
space is reserved by the system for shared data, code, and drivers etc. Overall Windows provides
a large memory space available to user programs and hence requires optimal management.
Topic 63: Windows Memory Management Overview
Dynamic Memory
Need of dynamic memory arises whenever dynamic data structures like search tables, trees,
linked lists etc. are used. Windows provides a set of APIs for handling dynamic memory
allocation.
Windows also provides memory mapped files which allows direct movement of data to and from
user space and files without the use of file APIs. Memory Mapped files can help conveniently
handle dynamic data structure and make file handling faster because they are treated just like
memory. It also provides a mechanism for memory sharing among processes.
Windows Memory Management
Windows essentially uses two API platforms i.e. Win32 and Win64.
The Win32 API uses pointers of size 32 bits, hence the virtual space is 2^32. All data types have
been optimized for 32 bit boundaries. Win64 uses a virtual space of 2^64 (16 Exabytes).
A good strategy is to design an application in such a way that it could run in both modes without
any change in code.
Win32 makes at least half of the virtual space (8GB) accessible to a process and the rest of the
space is reserved by the system for shared data, code, and drivers etc. Overall Windows provides
a large memory space available to user programs and hence requires optimal management.
Further information about the parameters of Windows Memory Management can be probed
using the following API.
VOID GetSystemInfo(LPSYSTEM_INFO lpSysInfo)
The API returns a pointer to SYSTEM_INFO structure. The structure contains various
information regarding the system like page size, granularity, and application’s physical memory
address space.
Topic 64: Introduction to Heaps
A programmer allocates memory dynamically from a heap. Windows maintains a pool of heaps
and a process can have many heaps. Traditionally, one heap is considered enough. But several
heaps may be required to make a program more efficient.
In case a single heap is sufficient, then a runtime library function for heap allocation like
malloc(), free(), calloc(), realloc() might be enough.
Heap is a windows object and hence is accessed by a handle. Whenever you require allocating
memory from heap, you need a heap handle. Every process in windows has a default heap which
can be accessed through the following API.
HANDLE GetProcessHeap(VOID)
The API returns a handle to the process heap. NULL is returned in case of failure and not
INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE.
However, due to a number of reasons it would be desirable to have more than one heap.
Sometimes it is convenient to have distinct heaps for different data structures.
Separate Heaps
Following are the benefits of separate heaps:
1. If a distinct heap is assigned to each thread, then each thread will only be able to use the
memory allocated to each thread.
2. Separation of memory space among threads reduces memory contention.
3. Fragmentation is reduced when one fixed size data structure is allocated from a single heap.
4. Allocating a single heap among each thread simplifies synchronization.
5. If a single heap contains complex data structures, then they can be easily de-allocated with
a single API call by de-allocating the entire heap. We will not need complex de-allocation
algorithms in such cases.
6. Small heaps for a single data structure reduces the chances of page faults as per the
principle of locality.
Topic 65: Creating Heaps
We can create a new heap using HeapCreate() API and its size can be set to zero. The API
adjusts the heap size to the nearest multiple of page size. Memory is committed to the heap
initially, rather than on demand. In case the memory requirements increase than the initial, more
pages will automatically be allocated to the heap up to maximum size allowed.
If the required memory is not known, then deferring memory commitment is a good practice as
heap is a limited resource. Following is the syntax of the API used to create new heaps.
HANDLE HeapCreate(DWORD flOptions, SIZE_T dwInitialSize, SIZE_T dwMaximumSize);
dwMaximumSize if non-zero, determines the maximum limit of the heap memory set by the
user. Heap is not grow-able beyond this point. In case it’s zero, then the heap is grow-able to the
extent of the virtual memory space available for the heap.
dwInitialSize is the initial size of the heap set by the programmer. SIZE_T is used to enable
portability. Based on the win32 or win64 platforms, SIZE_T will be 32 or 64 bit wide.
flOptions is usually a combination of the following three flags predefined in Windows:
1. HEAP_GENERATE_EXCEPTIONS: This flag will raise exceptions in case there is any

failure while allocating memory to heap. Exceptions are not generated by CreateHeap(), rather
they may occur at the time of allocation.
2. HEAP_NO_SERIALIZE: This option provides a slight performance improvement when

serialization of data is not required.
3. HEAP_CREATE_ENABLE_EXECUTE: It is an advanced option that allows you to

execute code from heap. Usually an exception will occur if data from heap is interpreted as code
due to the data execution prevention (DEP) restriction by Windows.
CloseHandle() is not appropriate to dispose of a heap handle rather HeapDestroy() is used as

follows.
BOOL HeapDestroy(
HANDLE hHeap
);
hHeap is the handle to a previously created heap. Do not use the handle obtained from
GetProcessHeap() because it may raise an exception. This is an easy way to get rid of all the
contents of the heap including complex data structures.
Topic 66: Managing Heap Memory
Once a heap is created, it does not allocate memory that is directly available to the program.
Rather, it only creates a logical structure of heap that will be used to allocate new memory
blocks. Memory blocks are allocated using heap memory allocation APIs like HeapAlloc() and
HeapReAlloc().
LPVOID HeapAlloc(HANDLE hHeap, DWORD dwFlags, SIZE_T dwBytes);
hHeap is the handle of the heap from which memory is to be allocated. dwFlags are quite similar
to the flags used in HeapCreate().
HEAP_GENERATE_EXCEPTIONS: This flag will raise exceptions in case there is any failure
while allocating memory to heap. Exceptions are not generated by CreateHeap(), rather they may
occur at the time of allocation.
HEAP_NO_SERIALIZE: This option provides a slight performance improvement when

serialization of data is not required.
The first flag HEAP_GENERATE_EXCEPTION is ignored if it is already set in HeapCreate().
HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY: Specifies that the allocated memory will be initialized to zero.
dwBytes is the size of the memory block to be allocated. For non-grow-able heap, its 0x7FFF8
approximately equivalent to 0.5 MB.
The return value of the function is LPVOID. This is the address of the allocated memory block.
Use this pointer in a formal way and there is no need to make any reference to the Heap handle.
In case HEAP_GENERATE_EXCEPTION flag is set, an exception is generated if failure

occurs. The exception is either STATUS_NO_MEMORY or STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION.
If the exception flag is not set, then NULL is returned by HeapAlloc() and the GetLastError()
does not work on HeapAlloc().
BOOL HeapFree(HANDLE hHeap, DWORD dwFlags,
_Frees_ptr_opt_ LPVOID lpMem);
hHeap is the heap handle from which memory is to be allocated. dwFlags should be 0 or set to
HEAP_NO_SERIALIZE. lpMem should be the pointer previously returned by HeapAlloc() or
HeapReAlloc().
Return value of FALSE will indicate a failure. GetLastError() can be used to get the error.
LPVOID HeapReAlloc(HANDLE hHeap, DWORD dwFlags,
_Frees_ptr_opt_ LPVOID lpMem, SIZE_T dwBytes);
hHeap is the heap handle from which memory is to be allocated. dwFlags:

HEAP_GENERATE_EXCEPTION and HEAP_NO_SERIALIZE are quite similar to the flags
used in HeapAlloc().
HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY: only the newly allocated memory is set to zero (in case dwBytes is
greater than the previous allocation).
HEAP_REALLOC_IN_PLACE_ONLY: It indicates the newly allocated block should lie

contiguously to the previously allocated block.
lpMem: specifies the pointer to the block previously allocated to the same heap hHeap.
dwBytes: It refers to the block size to be allocated that can be lesser or greater than the previous
allocation. But the same restriction as HeapAlloc applies i.e. the block size cannot be greater
than 0x7FFF8.
Topic 67: Heap Size and Serialization
Some programs may require to determine the size of allocated blocks in the Heap. The size of the
allocated block is determined using the API HeapSize() as follows.
SIZE_T HeapSize(
HANDLE hHeap,
DWORD dwFlags,
LPCVOID lpMem
);
The function returns the size of the block or zero in case of failure. The only valid dwFlag is
HEAP_NO_SERIALIZE.
Serialization
Serialization is required when dealing with concurrent threads using some common resource.
Serialization is not required if threads are autonomous and there is no possibility of concurrent
threads disrupting each other.
The flag HEAP_NO_SERIALIZE provides an estimated performance advantage of 16%. Using

this flag can improve performance if there are no conflicts. This flag can be conveniently used if:
a. The program is single threaded.
b. Each thread has its own heap that is insulated from other threads.
c. The program has its own mutual exclusion mechanism.
Heap Exceptions
Heap exceptions are enabled using the flag HEAP_GENERATE_EXCEPTION. This allows the
program to close open “handles” before a program terminates. There can be two scenarios with
this option:
a. STATUS_NO_MEMORY: It means there is no more memory to be allocated

because the heap has reached its limits.
b. STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION: It indicates that the heap has been corrupted.

Either the heap has been accessed as code, or has been accessed beyond its bounds.
There are some other functions that can be used while working with heaps. For example,
HeapSetInformation() can be used to enable low fragmentation mode. It can also be used to
allow termination of a thread upon heap’s corruption.
HeapCompact() allows finding the largest allocated block in the heap.
HeapValidate() allows detecting heap corruption.
HeapWalk() enumerates the allocated blocks on heap.
HeapLock() and HeapUnLock() allow serializing access to the heap.
Topic 68: Using Heaps

Using Memory Management APIs
Till now we have used the Memory Management APIs for allocating, reallocating and
deallocating heaps. We can also get the size of a heap through an API.
A typical methodology of dealing with heaps should be to get a heap handle either using
HeapCreate() or GetProcessHeap(). Use the handle obtained from the above to allocate memory
blocks from the heap using HeapAlloc(). If some block needs to be deallocated, use HeapFree().
Before the program is terminated or when the heap is not required, use HeapDestroy() to dispose
of the heap.
It is convenient not to mix up windows heap API and Run Time Library functions. Anything
allocated with C library functions should also be deallocated with C library functions.
Topic 69: Working with Heaps
A Sorting File example using heaps
The example is formulated using two heaps. The first one will be a node heap, while the other is
a record heap. Node heap will be used to build a tree, while the data heap will be used to store
keys.
Following are the three heaps as shown in the figure:
1. ProcHeap
2. RecHeap
3. NodeHeap
ProcHeap contains the root address, but RecHeap stores the records. NodeHeap on the other
hand stores the nodes when they are created. Sorting will be performed in the NodeHeap that
gives a reference to be searched in the RecHeap. The data structure will be maintained in the
NodeHeap. At the end, all the heaps will be destroyed except ProcHeap because it is created
using GetProcessHeap().
Topic 70: Binary Search Using Heaps
The example is formulated using two heaps. One is a node heap and the other is a data heap.
Node heap is used to build a tree, while data heap is used to store keys. Recursive functions are
used for allocating nodes and scanning nodes as tree is a recursive structure. Data in file is read
in a record and the key is used to lexically build a tree. The tree only contains the key entries.
The file is ultimately sorted by an In-order traversal of the tree.
/* Chapter 5, sortBT command. Binary Tree version. */

/* sort files
Sort one or more files.
This limited implementation sorts on the first field only.
The key field length is assumed to be fixed length (8-characters).
The data fields are varying length character strings. */
/* This program illustrates:
1. Multiple independent heaps; one for the sort tree nodes,
the other for the records.
2. Using HeapDestroy to free an entire data structure in a single operation.
3. Structured exception handling to catch memory allocation errors. */
/* Technique:
1. Scan the input file, placing each key (which is fixed size)
into the binary search tree and each record onto the data heap.
2. Traverse the search tree and output the records in order.
3. Destroy the heap and repeat for the next file. */
#define KEY_SIZE 8
/* Structure definition for a tree node. */
typedef struct _TREENODE {
struct _TREENODE *Left, *Right;
TCHAR key[KEY_SIZE];
LPTSTR pData;
} TREENODE, *LPTNODE, **LPPTNODE;
#define NODE_SIZE sizeof (TREENODE)
#define NODE_HEAP_ISIZE 0x8000
#define DATA_HEAP_ISIZE 0x8000
#define MAX_DATA_LEN 0x1000
#define TKEY_SIZE KEY_SIZE * sizeof (TCHAR)
#define STATUS_FILE_ERROR 0xE0000001 // Customer exception
LPTNODE FillTree (HANDLE, HANDLE, HANDLE);
BOOL Scan (LPTNODE);
int KeyCompare (LPCTSTR, LPCTSTR), iFile; /* for access in exception handler */
BOOL InsertTree (LPPTNODE, LPTNODE);
int _tmain (int argc, LPTSTR argv[])
{
HANDLE hIn = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE, hNode = NULL, hData =

NULL;
LPTNODE pRoot;
BOOL noPrint;
CHAR errorMessage[256];
int iFirstFile = Options (argc, argv, _T ("n"), &noPrint, NULL);
if (argc <= iFirstFile)
ReportError (_T ("Usage: sortBT [options] files"), 1, FALSE);
/* Process all files on the command line. */
for (iFile = iFirstFile; iFile < argc; iFile++) __try {
/* Open the input file. */
hIn = CreateFile (argv[iFile], GENERIC_READ, 0, NULL,
OPEN_EXISTING, 0, NULL);
if (hIn == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
RaiseException (STATUS_FILE_ERROR, 0, 0, NULL);
__try {
/* Allocate the two growable heaps. */
hNode = HeapCreate (
HEAP_GENERATE_EXCEPTIONS | HEAP_NO_SERIALIZE, NODE_HEAP_ISIZE, 0);
hData = HeapCreate (
HEAP_GENERATE_EXCEPTIONS | HEAP_NO_SERIALIZE, DATA_HEAP_ISIZE, 0);
/* Process the input file, creating the tree. */
pRoot = FillTree (hIn, hNode, hData);
/* Display the tree in key order. */
if (!noPrint) {
_tprintf (_T ("Sorted file: %s\n"), argv[iFile]);
Scan (pRoot);
}
} __finally { /* Heaps and file handle are always closed */
/* Destroy the two heaps and data structures. */
if (hNode != NULL) HeapDestroy (hNode);
if (hData != NULL) HeapDestroy (hData);
hNode = NULL; hData = NULL;
if (hIn != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) CloseHandle (hIn);
hIn = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
}
} /* End of main file processing loop and try block. */
/* Handle the exceptions that we can expect - Namely, file open error or out of
memory. */
__except ( (GetExceptionCode() == STATUS_FILE_ERROR ||
GetExceptionCode() == STATUS_NO_MEMORY)
? EXCEPTION_EXECUTE_HANDLER :
EXCEPTION_CONTINUE_SEARCH)
{
_stprintf (errorMessage, _T("\n%s %s"), _T("sortBT error on file:"),

argv[iFile]);
ReportError (errorMessage, 0, TRUE);
}
return 0;
}
LPTNODE FillTree (HANDLE hIn, HANDLE hNode, HANDLE hData)
/* Scan the input file, creating a binary search tree in the
hNode heap with data pointers to the hData heap. */
/* Use the calling program's exception handler. */
{
LPTNODE pRoot = NULL, pNode;
DWORD nRead, i;
BOOL atCR;
TCHAR dataHold[MAX_DATA_LEN];
LPTSTR pString;
while (TRUE) {
pNode = HeapAlloc (hNode, HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY, NODE_SIZE);
pNode->pData = NULL;
(pNode->Left) = pNode->Right = NULL;
/* Read the key. Return if done. */
if (!ReadFile (hIn, pNode->key, TKEY_SIZE,
&nRead, NULL) || nRead != TKEY_SIZE)
/* Assume end of file on error. All records
must be just the right size */
return pRoot; /* Read the data until the end of line. */
atCR = FALSE; /* Last character was not a CR. */
for (i = 0; i < MAX_DATA_LEN; i++) {
ReadFile (hIn, &dataHold[i], TSIZE, &nRead, NULL);
if (atCR && dataHold[i] == LF) break;
atCR = (dataHold[i] == CR);
}
dataHold[i - 1] = _T('\0');
/* dataHold contains the data without the key.
Combine the key and the Data. */
pString = HeapAlloc (hData, HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY,
(SIZE_T)(KEY_SIZE + _tcslen (dataHold) + 1) *
TSIZE);
memcpy (pString, pNode->key, TKEY_SIZE);
pString[KEY_SIZE] = _T('\0');
_tcscat (pString, dataHold);
pNode->pData = pString;
/* Insert the new node into the search tree. */
InsertTree (&pRoot, pNode);
} /* End of while (TRUE) loop */
return NULL; /* Failure */

}
BOOL InsertTree (LPPTNODE ppRoot, LPTNODE pNode)
/* Insert the new node, pNode, into the binary search tree, pRoot. */
{
if (*ppRoot == NULL) {
*ppRoot = pNode;
return TRUE;
}
if (KeyCompare (pNode->key, (*ppRoot)->key) < 0)
InsertTree (&((*ppRoot)->Left), pNode);
Else
InsertTree (&((*ppRoot)->Right), pNode);
return TRUE;
}
int KeyCompare (LPCTSTR pKey1, LPCTSTR pKey2)
/* Compare two records of generic characters.
The key position and length are global variables. */
{
return _tcsncmp (pKey1, pKey2, KEY_SIZE);
}
static BOOL Scan (LPTNODE pNode)
/* Scan and print the contents of a binary tree. */
{
if (pNode == NULL)
return TRUE;
Scan (pNode->Left);
_tprintf (_T ("%s\n"), pNode->pData);
Scan (pNode->Right);
return TRUE;
}
Topic 71: Memory-Mapped Files
Memory Mapping
Dynamic memory is allocated from the paging file. The paging file is controlled by the
Operating System’s (OS) virtual memory management system. Also the OS controls the
mapping of virtual address onto physical memory. Memory mapped files help to directly map
virtual memory space onto a normal file.
Advantages of Memory Mapped IO
There is no need to invoke direct file Input Output (IO) operations. Any data structure placed in
file will be available for later use as well. It is convenient and efficient to use in-memory
algorithms for sorting, searching etc. Large files could be processed as if they are placed in
memory. File processing is faster than ReadFile() and WriteFile(). There is no need to manage
buffers for repetitive operation on a file. This is more optimally done by OS. Multiple processes
can share memory space by mapping their virtual memory space onto a file. For file operations,
page file space is not needed.
Other considerations
Windows also use memory mapping while implementing Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs) and
loading & executing executable (EXE) files. It is strongly recommended to use SHE exception
handling while dealing with memory mapped file to look for EXCEPTION_IN_PAGE_ERROR
exceptions.
Topic 72: File Mapping Objects
File Mapping Objects
In order to perform memory mapped file IO operations, file mapping objects need to be created.
This object uses the file handle of an open file. The open file or part of the file is mapped onto
the address space of the process. File mapping objects are assigned names so that they are also
available to other processes. Moreover, these mapping objects also require protection and
security attributes and a size. The API used for this purpose is CreateFileMapping().
HANDLE CreateFileMapping( HANDLE hFile,
LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpFileMappingAttributes,
DWORD flProtect,
DWORD dwMaximumSizeHigh,
DWORD dwMaximumSizeLow, LPCTSTR lpName );
hFile is the open handle to file compatible with protection flag dwProtect
INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE refers to the paging file
LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES allow the mapping object to be secured
dwProtect specifies the mapping file access with following attributes
PAGE_READONLY - It means that page can only be read within the mapped region. It can
neither be written nor executed. hFile must have GENERIC_READ access.
PAGE_READWRITE - Provides full access to object if the hFile has GENERIC_READ and
GENERIC_WRITE access.
PAGE_WRITECOPY - Means that when a mapped region changes, a private copy is written to
the paging file and not to the original file.
dwMaximumSizeHigh and dwMaximumSizeLow specify the size of the mapping object. If set to
0, then the current file size is used. Carefully specify this size in the following cases:
· If the file size is expected to grow, then use the expected file size.
· Do not map a region beyond this limit. Once the size is assigned the mapping region
cannot grow.
· An attempt to create a mapping on a zero length file will fail.
· The mapping size needs to be specified in the form of two 32-bit values rather than one
64-bit value.
· lpMapName is the name of the map that can also be used by other processes. Set this to
NULL if you do not mean to share the map.
Topic 73: Open Existing File Mapping Objects
Open Existing File Mapping Objects
Previously, we discussed that a file mapping can be assigned a shared name by using
CreateFileMapping(). This shared name can be used to open existing file maps using
OpenFileMapping(). A file map created by a certain process can be subsequently used by other
processes by referring to the object by name. The operation may fail if the name does not exist.
HANDLE OpenFileMapping( DWORD dwDesiredAccess,
BOOL bInheritHandle,
LPCSTR lpMapName );
dwDesiredAccess is checked against the accessed assigned by CreateFileMapping();
lpMapName is the name of the mapping assigned by CreateFileMapping().
Topic 74: Mapping Objects to Process Address Space
Mapping into Process Space

Previously, file mapping was created or a handle to already created mapping handle was
obtained. The next step is to assign a process address space to file mapping. In case of heaps,
first heap was created and then HeapAlloc() was used to allocate space within heap. Similarly
once the file mapping is created, MapViewOfFile() is used to define file view block.
LPVOID MapViewOfFile( HANDLE hFileMappingObject,
DWORD dwDesiredAccess,
DWORD dwFileOffsetHigh,
DWORD dwFileOffsetLow,
SIZE_T dwNumberOfBytesToMap );
hFileMappingObject is file mapping object previously obtained by CreateFileMapping().
dwDesiredAccess should be compatible with access rights of file mapping object. The three flag
commonly used are:
FILE_MAP_WRITE
FILE_MAP_READ
FILE_MAP_ALL_ACCESS
dwFileOffsetHigh and dwFileOffsetLow give the starting address of the file from where the
mapping starts. To start the mapping from the start of a file, set both as zero. This value should
be specified in multiples of 64K.
dwNumberOfBytesToMap shows the number of bytes of file to map. Set as zero to map the
whole file.
If the function is successful it returns the base address of the mapped region. If the function fails,
the return value is NULL.
Closing Mapping Handle
As it is necessary to release Heap blocks with HeapFree(), it is also necessary to unmap file
views. File views are unmapped using UnmapViewOfFile().
BOOL UnmapViewOfFile( LPCVOID lpBaseAddress );
lpBaseAddress is the pointer to the base address of the mapped view. If the function fails, the
return value is zero.
Flushing File View
The file view can be flushed using the FlushViewOfFile() API. This will force the OS to
writeback the dirty pages of the file on to disk. In case two processes try to access a file at a time
such that one uses file mapping and other uses ReadFile() and WriteFile(). Then both processes
may not receive the same view. Changes made through file maps might still be in memory and
may not be accessible through ReadFile or WriteFile unless they are flushed. To get a uniform
view, it is necessary that all the processes use file maps.
Topic 75: More About File Making
File Mapping Limitations
In Win32, it is not possible to map files bigger than 2-3 GB. Also the entire 3GB might not be
available for merely file space. The above limitation is alleviated in Win64. File mapping cannot
be extended. You need to know the size of a map in advance. Customized functions would be
required to allocate memory within the mapped region.
File Mapping Procedure
The following minimum steps need to be taken while working with mapped files:
· Open File with at least GENERIC_READ access.
· If the file is new then set its length as some non-zero value using SetFilePointerEx()
followed by SetEndOfFile().
· Map the file using CreateFileMapping() or OpenFileMapping ().
· Create one or more map views using MapViewOfFile().
· Access file through memory references.
· Unmap and then again Map file view to change regions.
· Use SEH to catch EXCEPTIO_IN_PAGE_ERROR exceptions.
· In the end, unmap file view with UnmapViewOfFile() and use CloseHandle() to close map
and file handles.
Topic 76: Sequential File Access Using file mapping
Sequential File Access
Accessing a file through file mapping presents visible advantages. Although the setting up of
fileviews might be programmatically complex, the advantages are far bigger. The processing
time may reduce 3 folds as compared to conventional file operations while dealing with
sequential files. These advantages may only seem to disappear if the size of input and output
files is too large. The example is a simple Ceasar cipher application. It sequentially processes all
the characters with the file. It simply substitutes each character by shifting it a few places in the
ASCII set.
/* Chapter 5.
cci_fMM.c function: Memory Mapped implementation of the
simple Caeser cipher function. */
BOOL cci_f (LPCTSTR fIn, LPCTSTR fOut, DWORD shift)
/* Caesar cipher function.
* fIn: Source file pathname.
* fOut: Destination file pathname.
* shift: Numeric shift value */
{
BOOL complete = FALSE;
HANDLE hIn = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE, hOut =
INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
HANDLE hInMap = NULL, hOutMap = NULL;
LPTSTR pIn = NULL, pInFile = NULL, pOut = NULL, pOutFile = NULL;
__try {
LARGE_INTEGER fileSize;
hIn = CreateFile (fIn, GENERIC_READ, 0, NULL,
OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, NULL);
if (hIn == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
ReportException (_T ("Failure opening input file."), 1);
/* Get the input file size. */
if (!GetFileSizeEx (hIn, &fileSize))
ReportException (_T ("Failure getting file size."), 4);
/* This is a necessar, but NOT sufficient, test for mappability on 32-bit
systems S
* Also see the long comment a few lines below */
if (fileSize.HighPart > 0 && sizeof(SIZE_T) == 4)
ReportException (_T ("This file is too large to map on a Win32
system."), 4);
/* Create a file mapping object on the input file. Use the file size. */
hInMap = CreateFileMapping (hIn, NULL, PAGE_READONLY, 0, 0,
NULL);
if (hInMap == NULL)
ReportException (_T ("Failure Creating input map."), 2);
/* Map the input file */
/* Comment: This may fail for large files, especially on 32-bit systems
* where you have, at most, 3 GB to work with (of course, you have much
less
* in reality, and you need to map two files.
* This program works by mapping the input and output files in their
entirety.
* You could enhance this program by mapping one block at a time for
each file,
* much as blocks are used in the ReadFile/WriteFile implementations.

This would
* allow you to deal with very large files on 32-bit systems. I have not
taken
* this step and leave it as an exercise.
*/
pInFile = MapViewOfFile (hInMap, FILE_MAP_READ, 0, 0, 0);
if (pInFile == NULL)
ReportException (_T ("Failure Mapping input file."), 3);
/* Create/Open the output file. */
/* The output file MUST have Read/Write access for the mapping to
succeed. */
hOut = CreateFile (fOut, GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE,
0, NULL, CREATE_ALWAYS, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,
NULL);
if (hOut == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
complete = TRUE; /* Do not delete an existing file. */
ReportException (_T ("Failure Opening output file."), 5);
}
/* Map the output file. CreateFileMapping will expand
the file if it is smaller than the mapping. */
hOutMap = CreateFileMapping (hOut, NULL, PAGE_READWRITE,
fileSize.HighPart, fileSize.LowPart, NULL);
if (hOutMap == NULL)
ReportException (_T ("Failure creating output map."), 7);
pOutFile = MapViewOfFile (hOutMap, FILE_MAP_WRITE, 0, 0,
(SIZE_T)fileSize.QuadPart);
if (pOutFile == NULL)
ReportException (_T ("Failure mapping output file."), 8);
/* Now move the input file to the output file, doing all the work in
memory. */
__try
{
CHAR cShift = (CHAR)shift;
pIn = pInFile;
pOut = pOutFile;
while (pIn < pInFile + fileSize.QuadPart) {
*pOut = (*pIn + cShift);
pIn++; pOut++;
}
complete = TRUE;
}
__except(GetExceptionCode() == EXCEPTION_IN_PAGE_ERROR ?
EXCEPTION_EXECUTE_HANDLER : EXCEPTION_CONTINUE_SEARCH)
{
complete = FALSE;
ReportException(_T("Fatal Error accessing mapped file."), 9);

}
/* Close all views and handles. */
UnmapViewOfFile (pOutFile); UnmapViewOfFile (pInFile);
CloseHandle (hOutMap); CloseHandle (hInMap);
CloseHandle (hIn); CloseHandle (hOut);
return complete;
}
__except (EXCEPTION_EXECUTE_HANDLER) {
if (pOutFile != NULL) UnmapViewOfFile (pOutFile); if (pInFile !=
NULL) UnmapViewOfFile (pInFile);
if (hOutMap != NULL) CloseHandle (hOutMap); if (hInMap != NULL)
CloseHandle (hInMap);
if (hIn != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) CloseHandle (hIn); if (hOut !=
INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) CloseHandle (hOut);
/* Delete the output file if the operation did not complete successfully. */
if (!complete)
DeleteFile (fOut);
return FALSE; }
}
Topic 77: Sorting a Memory-Mapped File
Content:
Another advantage of memory mapping is the ability to use convenient memory based
algorithms to process files. Sorting data in memory, for instance, is much easier than sorting
records in a file.
Program explained in topic 77 sorts a file with fixed-length records. This program, called sortFL,
is similar to Program explaining example of sorting with binary search tree that it assumes an 8-
byte sort key at the start of the record, but this example is restricted to fixed records.
The sorting is performed by the <stdlib.h> C library function qsort. Notice that qsort requires a
programmer-defined record comparison function.
This program structure is straightforward. Simply create the file mapping on a temporary copy of
the input file, create a single view of the file, and invoke qsort. There is no file I/O. Then the
sorted file is sent to standard output using _tprintf, although a null character is appended to the
file map.
Exception and error handling are omitted in the listing but are in the Examples solution on the
recommended book’s Website.
Program: Sorting a File with Memory Mapping

typedef struct _RECORD
{
TCHAR key[KEY_SIZE];
TCHAR data[DATALEN]
} RECORD;
Topic 78: Using Base Pointer
Content:
File maps are convenient, as the preceding examples demonstrate. Suppose, however, that the
program creates a data structure with pointers in a mapped file and expects to access that file in
the future. Pointers will all be relative to the virtual address returned from MapViewOfFile, and
they will be meaningless when mapping the file the next time. The solution is to use based
pointers, which are actually offsets relative to another pointer. The Microsoft C syntax, available
in Visual C++ and some other systems, is:
type _based (base) declarator
Here are two examples.
LPTSTR pInFile = NULL;
DWORD _based (pInFile) *pSize;
TCHAR _based (pInFile) *pIn;
Notice that the syntax forces use of the *, a practice that is contrary to Windows convention but
which the programmer could easily fix with a typedef.
Topic 79: Base Pointer Example

Previously we developed a program that sorted record stored in memory mapped file. Sorting
huge files each time they are accessed is not feasible, so permanent indexes are maintained on
required key.
Using the address returned by MapViewOfFile() for maintaining indexes is meaningless as the
address is liable to change in each call to API. A simple methodology is to maintain an array of
record and then build an index for the records. And subsequently use the index to access records
directly.
Following example program implements this concept in the given way:
The program uses record of varying sizes in a file. It uses the first field of each record as the key
of 8 characters. There are two file mapping. One mapping maps the original file and the other
maps the index file. Each record in index file contains a key and the pointer location into the
original file for the record containing that key. Once index file is created it can be easily used
later. Subsequently, index file records can be sorted for faster searching. The input file remains
unchanged. Pictorial Representation of the example is attached below;
Topic 80: Dynamic Link Library
We have previously seen the example use of memory mapped files in windows. This a
fundamental feature of windows. Windows itself uses this feature while working with Dynamic
Link Libraries (DLLs). DLLs are one of the most important components of windows on which
many high-level technologies depend like COM.
Static Linking
The conventional approach is to gather all the source code and library functions attach them and
encapsulate them into a single executable file. This approach is simple but has few
disadvantages.
 The executable image will be large as it contains all library functions. Hence it will
consume more disk space and will require large physical memory to run.
 If a library function updates the whole program will require recompilation.
 There can be many programs that require a library function. Each program will have
static copy of its own. Hence, resources requirement will increase.
 It will reduced portability as a program compiled with certain environment setting will
run same functions in different environment where some other version might be.
How DLLs Solve this Problem
Using DLLs the library functions are not linked at compile time. They are linked at program load
time (implicit linking) or at run time (explicit linking).
As a result the size of executable package is smaller. DLLs can be easily used to create shared
libraries which can be used by multiple programs concurrently. Only a single copy of shared
DLLs is placed in memory. All the processes sharing the DLL map the DLL space onto their
program space. Each program will have its own copy of DLL global variables.
New versions or updates can be simply supported by just providing a new DLL without the need
of recompiling main code. The library runs in the same processes as the calling the program.
Importance of DLLs
DLLs are used in almost all modern operating systems. DLLs are most important in case of
windows as they are used to implement OS interfaces. The entire Windows API is supported by
a set of DLLs which are invoked to call kernel services. The DLL code can be shared by multiple
processes. DLL function when invoked by a process runs in process space. Therefore, it can use
resources of the calling process such as file handles and thread stack. DLLs should be written in
Thread-safe manner. A DLL exports variables as well as function entry points.
Topic 81: Implicit Linking
Implicit linking is the easier of the two techniques. Functions defined in a DLL are collected and
build as DLL. The build process builds a .LIB file which is a stub for actual code. The stub is
linked to the calling program at build time. It provides a place holder for each function in the
DLL.
The place holder/stub will call the original function in the DLL. This file should be placed in
common user library directory for the project. The build process also constructs the DLL that
contain the original binary image for the functions. This File is usually placed in the same
directory as the application.
Function interfaces defined in DLLs should be exported carefully.

Topic 82: Exporting and Importing Interfaces
For a DLL function to be useful for an application exporting it, it must be declared as exportable. This can
be done by using .DEF file or by using __declspec (dllexport) storage modifier.
__declspec (dllexport)DWORD MyFunction (…)
The build process will generate a .LIB file and .DLL file. The .LIB files will a stub for function calls while
DLL file will hold the actual code. Similarly the calling program should use the __declspec (dllimport)
Storage modifier.
Following Macro can be used with the library file code
#if defined (MYLIBRARY_EXPORTS)
#define LIBSPEC _declspec(dllexport)
#elif defined (__cplusplus)
#define LIBSPEC extern “C” __declspec(dllimport)
#else
#define LIBSPEC __declspec (dllimport)
#endif
LIBSPEC SWORD MyFunction (…)
If you are using Visual C++ compiler then this task is automatically performed by the compiler. When
building the calling program you need to specify the .LIB file. When executing the calling program the
.DLL file must be placed in the same directory as the application. Following is the default DLL search safe
order for explicit and implicit linking.
 Directory containing the application

 The system directory. This path can be determined by GetSystemDirectory()
 The windows directory (GetWindowsDirectory())
 The current directory
 Directories specified by the PATH environment variable
Topic 83: Explicit Linking
Explicit linking requires the program to explicitly a specific DLL to be loaded or freed. Once the DLL is
loaded then the program obtains the address of the specific entry point and uses that address as a
pointer in function call.
The function is not declared in the calling program. Rather a pointer to a function is declared. The
functions required are:
HMODULE LoadLibrary( LPCTSTR lpLibFileName );
HMODULE LoadLibraryEx( LPCTSTR lpLibFileName,
HANDLE hFile,
DWORD dwFlags );
HMODULE is NULL in case of failure.
File name need not mention the extension. The file path must be valid. See MSDN for details of dwFlags
Once the DLL is loaded. The programmer needs to obtain an entry point (procedure address) into the
DLL. This is done using:
FARPROC GetProcAddress( HMODULE hModule, LPCSTR lpProcName );
hModule is the module handle obtained for the DLL. lpProcName cannot b UNICODE. It is the name of
the function whose entry point is to be obtained. Its return type is FARPROC. This is the far address of
the function. A C type function pointer declaration can be easily used to invoke the function in DLL and
pass its parameters.
Topic 84: Explicit Linking a file conversion function
Previously, we have studied many file conversion functions. Some used memory mapped IO, some used
file operations. Some performed file conversion some performed file encryption.
Now, we take a look at how we can encapsulate these functions in a DLL and invoke them explicitly.
Following example shows explicit linking of these functions.
HMODULE hDLL;
FARPROC pcci;
TCHAR YNResp[5] = YES;
if (argc < 5)
ReportError (_T("Usage: cciEL shift file1 file2 DllName"), 1, FALSE);
/* Load the cipher function. */

hDLL = LoadLibrary (argv[4]);
if (hDLL == NULL)
ReportError (_T("Failed loading DLL."), 4, TRUE);
/* Get the entry point address. */
pcci = GetProcAddress (hDLL, _T("cci_f"));
if (pcci == NULL)
ReportError (_T ("Failed of find entry point."), 5, TRUE);
cci_f = (BOOL (__cdecl *)(LPCTSTR, LPCTSTR, DWORD)) pcci;
/* Call the function. */
Topic 85: DLL Entry Point
DLL Entry point can be specified optionally when you create a DLL. The code at entry point executes
whenever a process attaches to the DLL. In case of implicit linking the DLL attaches at the time of
process start and detaches when process ends. In case of explicit linking the process attaches when
LoadLibrary()/LoadLibraryEx() is invoked. Also the process detaches when FreeLibrary() is called.
LoadLibraryEx() can also suppress the execution of entry point. Further, entry point is also invoked
whenever a thread attaches to the DLL.
The Entry point in DLL is defined as:
BOOL DllMain(
HINSTANCE hDll,
DWORD Reason,
LPVOID lpReserved)
hDll corresponds to the handle returned by LoadLibrary(). lpReserved if NULL, represent explicit
attachment else it represents implicit attachment. Reason will have on the four values
DLL_PROCESS_ATTACH
DLL_THREAD_ATTACH
DLL_THREAD_DETACH
DLL_PROCESS_DETACH
Based on the value of Reason the programmer can decide whether to initialize or free resources. All the
calls to DllMain are serialized by the system. Serialization is critically important as DllMain() is supposed
to perform initialization operations for each thread. There should be no blocking calls, IO calls or wait
functions as they will indefinitely block other threads. A call to other DLLs from DllMain() cannot be
performed except for few exceptions. LoadLibrary() and LoadLibraryEx() should never be called from
DllMain() as it will create more DLL entry points. DisableThreadLibraryCalls() can be used to disable
thread attach/detach calls for a specified instance.
Topic 86: DLL Version Management
Complications
Many times a DLL is upgraded to provide more features and new symbols. Also, multiple processes
share a single implementation of DLL. This strength of DLL may also lead to some complications.
 If the new DLL has changed interfaces this render problems for older programs that have not
been updated for newer version.
 Application that require newer updated functionality may sometime link with older DLL version.
Version Management
One intuitive resolution to the problem can be by using different directory for each version. But there
are several solutions. Use DLL version number as part of the .DLL and .LIB file names eg. Utils_4_0.DLL
and Utils_4_0.LIB. Applications requiring DLLs can determine the version requirements and
subsequently access files with distinct filename using implicit or explicit linking.
Microsoft has introduced a concept of side by side DLLs or assemblies. This solution requires application
to declare its DLL requirements using XML.
Querying DLL Information
Microsoft DLLs support a callback function that version information and more regarding a DLL. This
callback function can be used dynamically to query the information regarding DLL. The works as follows:
HRESULT CALLBACK DllGetVersion(
DLLVERSION *pdvi
)
Information regarding the DLL is placed in the DLLVERSION structure. It contains a field cbSize which is
the size of the structure,
dwMajorVersion
dwMinorVersion
dwBuilderNumber
dwPlatformID
dwPlatformID can be set of DLLVER_PLATFORM_NT if DLL cannot run on windows 9x or to

DLLVER_PLATFORM_WINDOWS if there are no restrictions. cbSize should be set to sizeof(DLLVERSION)
Topic 87: Windows Processes and Threads
Windows Process Management is all about:
 Multitasking Systems
 Multiprocessor systems
 Thread as a unit of execution
Resources of Processes
From programmer’s perspective each process has resources such as one or more threads distinct virtual
address space. Although, processes can share memory and files but the process itself lie in an individual
virtual memory space.
 One or more code segment including DLLs

 One or more data segment including global variables
 Environment block containing environment variables (current path)
Resources of Threads
Each thread is a unit within the process. Nevertheless, it has resources of its own. Stack: for procedure
calls, interrupts, exception handling, and auto variables. Thread Local Storage (TLS): An array like
collection of pointers enabling a thread to allocate storage to create its unique data environment. An
argument on stack unique for the created thread. A structure containing the context (internal registers
status) of the thread.
Topic 88: Process Creation
The most fundamental process management function in windows is CreateProcess(). Windows does not
have any structure that keeps account of the parent-child processes. The process that creates a child
process is considered as parent process. CreateProcess() has 10 parameters. It does not returns a
HANDLE. Rather two handles, one for process and one for thread is returned in a parameter struct.
It creates a process with single primary thread. Windows does not have any structure that keeps
account of the parent-child processes. The process that creates a child process is considered as parent
process.
CreateProcess() has 10 parameters. It does not return a HANDLE. Rather two handles, one for process
and one for thread is returned in a parameter struct. One must be very careful while closing both these
handles when they are not needed. Closing the thread handle does not terminate the thread it only
deletes the reference to the thread within the process.
BOOL CreateProcess( LPCTSTR lpApplicationName, LPTSTR lpCommandLine,
LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpProcessAttributes, LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES
lpThreadAttributes, BOOL bInheritHandles, DWORD dwCreationFlags, LPVOID
lpEnvironment, LPCTSTR lpCurrentDirectory, LPSTARTUPINFO lpStartupInfo,
LPPROCESS_INFORMATION lpProcessInformation );
lpApplicationName and lpCommandLine specify the program name and the command line parameters.
lpProcessAttributes and lpThreadAttributes points to the process and thread’s security attribute
structure. bInheritHandles specifies whether the new process inherits copies of the calling process’s
inheritable handles. dwCreationFlags combines several flags
CREATE_SUSPENDED: indicates that the primary thread is a suspended thread and will continue if the
process invokes ResumeThread()
DETACHED_PROCESS and CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE are mutual exclusive, First flag creates a process
without console and second one creates a process with console
CREATE_UNICODE_ENVIRONMENT: should be set if Unicode is being used.
CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP : Indicates that the new process is the root of new process group. All
processes in the same root group receive the control signal if they share the same console.
lpEnvironment : points to an environment block for the new process. If NULL, the process uses the
parent’s environment.
lpCurDir Specifies the drive and directory of new process. If NULL parent working directory is used.
lpStartupInfo : specifies the main window appearance and standard device handles for new programs.
lpProcInfo is the pointer to the structure containing handles and id for process and thread.
Topic 89: Why Processes need IDs and Handles
IDs are unique to processes for their entire lifetime. ID is invalidated when a process is destroyed.
Although, it may be reused by other newly created processes. Alternately, a process can have many
handles with different security attributes.
Some process management functions require handles while others require IDs. Handles are required for
general purpose handle based functions. Just like file handles and handles for other resources the
process handles need to be closed when not required.
The process obtains environment and other information from CreateProcess() call. Once the process has
been created then changing this information may have no effect on the child. For example the parent
process may change its working directory but it will not have effect on child unless the child changes its
own working directory. Processes are entirely independent.
Topic 90: Specifying the Executable Image and the Command Line
Executable Image
Either lpApplicationName or lpCommandLine specifies the executable image. Usually lpCommandLine is

used, in which case lpApplicationName is set to NULL. However if lpApplicationName is specified there
are rules governing it.
lpApplicationName
lpApplicationName should not be NULL. It should specify the full name of the application including the
path. Or use the current path in which case current drive and directory will be used. Include the
extension i.e. .EXE or .BAT in the file name. For long names quotes within the string are not required.
lpCommandLine
lpApplicationName should be NULL. Tokens within string are delimited by spaces. First token is the
program image name. If the name does not contain the path of the image then the following search
sequence is followed.
 Directory of current process image

 The current Directory
 Windows System directory which can be retrieved from GetSystemDirectory()
 Windows Directory which is retrievable from GetWindowsDirectory(). Directories as specified in
Environment variable PATH
Command Line
A process can obtain its command line from the usual argv mechanism. Alternately, in windows it can
call GetCommandLine(). It’s important to know that command line is not a constant string. A program
can change the command line. It’s advisable that the program makes changes on a copy of command
line.
Topic 91: Inheritable Handles
Mostly, a child process requires access to a resource referenced in parent by a handle. If the handle is
inheritable then the child can directly receive a copy of open handles in parent. For example standard
input and output handles are shared in this pattern. This inheriting of handles is accomplished in this
manner. The bInheritHandles flag in the CreateProcess() call determines whether the child process will
inherit copies of parent open handles. Also it is necessary to make individual handles inheritable. Use
the SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES structure to specify this. It has a flag bInheritFlag which should be set to
TRUE. Also the nLength should be set to sizeof(SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES)
The following code illustrates how this is done programmatically.

Topic 92: Passing Inheritable Handles
We have only made the handles inheritable. However, we need to pass the actual values of handles to
the child process. Either this is accomplished through InterProcess Communication (IPC) Or it is passed
on the child process by setting it up in the STARTUPINFO struct. The latter is a preferred policy as it
allows IO redirection and no changes are required in child process. Another approach is to convert the
file handles into text and pass them through the command line to the child process.
The handles if are already inheritable then they will readily accessible to the child. Inherited handles are
distinct copies. Parent and child might be accessing same file with different file pointer. Each process
should close handles.

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Topic 1: Windows Operating System

Core Features of Windows Operating System

Topic 2: Windows Evolution

Topic 3: Windows Market Role

Topic 4: Windows, Standards and Open Systems

Windows Operating system is a proprietary and copyrighted software of Microsoft corporation.

Being a closed system, Windows has the following strengths.

Interoperability of Windows: Windows provide interoperability with non-window components.

Topic 5: Windows Principles

Topic 6: 32-Bit and 64-Bit Source Code Portability

Topic 7: When to use Standard C Library for File Operations

Differences between Windows APIs and Standard Functions

If it is required to run a program on cross-platform, then it is preferred to use the standard

Topic 8: A Simple File Copy Program Using Standard C Library

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {

FILE *inFile, *outFile;

/* Process the input file a record at a time */

Topic 9: A Simple File Copy Program Using Windows APIs

hOut=CreateFile(lpwszFile2, GENERIC_WRITE, 0, NULL, CREATE_ALWAYS,

while((ReadFile(hIn, buffer, BUF_SIZE, &nIn, NULL) && nIn > 0) {

/* cpC. Basic File Copy Program: Windows Implementation

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {

if (!CopyFile(lpwszFile1, lpwszFile2, FALSE)

Lecture 11: Windows File System

Lecture 12: File Naming Conventions

Certain Limitations for File Naming

● File extension takes 2 – 4 bytes

Lecture 13: Creating and Opening Files (Using Windows API)

The CreateFile() API

lpFileName: It is a string pointer that points to a filename to be opened or created.

dwShareMode: This mode specifies how the file is shared?

lpSecurityAttributes: points to a security attributes structure.

dwCreate: signifies whether to create a new file or overwrite an existing one.

dwFlagsAndAttributes: It signifies attributes of the newly created file.

Lecture 14: Reading/Writing a File

The ReadFile() API is used to read data from file to buffer.

BOOL ReadFile(HANDLE hFile, LPVOID lpBuffer, DWORD nNumberOfBytesToRead, LPDWORD

● HANDLE hFile is the file handle

The WriteFile() API is used to write data from buffer to file.

BOOL WriteFile(HANDLE hFile, LPCVOID lpBuffer, DWORD nNumberOfBytesToWrite, LPDWORD

Lecture 15: Closing a File

Lecture 16: Generic Characters

Lecture 17: Generic Functions

● Ignore Unicode Policy

Using Generic Code Policy

● The Unicode macro is used to switch between 8 bit and Unicode

Using Unicode Policy

● Use Unicode only

Unicode and 8-bit Policy

● Handle Unicode and 8-bit

● Write code for both Unicode and 8-bit

Lecture 19: Reporting Errors

Lecture 20: Example for Reporting Errors

<environment.h> and <everything.h>

<environment.h> includes a Unicode macro for the environment of the program.

Example: Reporting Errors

We will discuss an example of reporting errors. Windows have provide certain

To write code we need following customized header files

FILE inFile, outFile;

#if (WIN32_WINNT>=0x500 ) /enable use of NT5(XP,2000,2003) functions /