MSDN Windows API Reference

Core System Functions

Access and manage fundamental operating system resources.

• Process and Thread Management
• Memory Management
• File I/O Operations
• Registry Access

Interprocess Communication (IPC)

Facilitate communication and data sharing between different processes.

• Named Pipes
• Shared Memory
• Message Queuing

System Information and Configuration

Retrieve and modify system-wide settings and information.

• Computer Name Functions
• Environment Variables
• System Time and Date Functions

Common Structures and Constants

Key data structures and constant definitions used across the API.

• HANDLE
• LPVOID
• DWORD
• SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES

CreateProcess

Creates a new process and its primary thread in the virtual address space of the calling 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
);
                    

CreateFile

Creates or opens a file or I/O device (such as a serial port).

HANDLE CreateFile(
  LPCTSTR               lpFileName,
  DWORD                 dwDesiredAccess,
  DWORD                 dwShareMode,
  LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpSecurityAttributes,
  DWORD                 dwCreationDisposition,
  DWORD                 dwFlagsAndAttributes,
  HANDLE                hTemplateFile
);