Windows API Core Functions

This section provides documentation for the core functions in the Windows API, which are fundamental to building Windows applications. These functions cover a wide range of operating system services, including process and thread management, memory management, file system operations, and inter-process communication.

• CreateProcess BOOL CreateProcess(LPCSTR lpApplicationName, LPSTR lpCommandLine, LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpProcessAttributes, LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpThreadAttributes, BOOL bInheritHandles, DWORD dwCreationFlags, LPVOID lpEnvironment, LPCSTR lpCurrentDirectory, LPSTARTUPINFO lpStartupInfo, LPPROCESS_INFORMATION lpProcessInformation);

  Creates a new process and its primary thread. The new process runs in the security context of the calling process.

• ExitProcess VOID ExitProcess(UINT uExitCode);

  Terminates the calling process and all of its threads.

• GetCurrentProcessId DWORD GetCurrentProcessId(void);

  Retrieves the process identifier of the calling process.

• CreateThread HANDLE CreateThread(LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpThreadAttributes, SIZE_T dwStackSize, LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE lpStartAddress, LPVOID lpParameter, DWORD dwCreationFlags, LPDWORD lpThreadId);

  Creates a thread to execute within the virtual address space of the calling process.

• ExitThread VOID ExitThread(DWORD dwExitCode);

  Terminates the calling thread.

• VirtualAlloc LPVOID VirtualAlloc(LPVOID lpAddress, SIZE_T dwSize, DWORD flAllocationType, DWORD flProtect);

  Reserves, commits, or changes the state of a region of pages in the virtual address space of the calling process.

• VirtualFree BOOL VirtualFree(LPVOID lpAddress, SIZE_T dwSize, DWORD dwFreeType);

  Releases, frees, and optionally uncommits a region of pages within the virtual address space of the calling process.

• HeapAlloc LPVOID HeapAlloc(HANDLE hHeap, DWORD dwFlags, SIZE_T dwBytes);

  Allocates a block of memory from the specified heap. The allocated memory is uninitialized.

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

  Creates or opens a file or I/O device.

• ReadFile BOOL ReadFile(HANDLE hFile, LPVOID lpBuffer, DWORD nNumberOfBytesToRead, LPDWORD lpNumberOfBytesRead, LPOVERLAPPED lpOverlapped);

  Reads data from a file or overlapping I/O device.

• WriteFile BOOL WriteFile(HANDLE hFile, LPCVOID lpBuffer, DWORD nNumberOfBytesToWrite, LPDWORD lpNumberOfBytesWritten, LPOVERLAPPED lpOverlapped);

  Writes data to a file or I/O device.

• CloseHandle BOOL CloseHandle(HANDLE hObject);

  Closes an open object handle.

• CreatePipe BOOL CreatePipe(PHANDLE hReadPipe, PHANDLE hWritePipe, LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpPipeAttributes, DWORD nSize);

  Creates an unnamed pipe, a unidirectional data-streaming facility between two threads.

• CreateMutex HANDLE CreateMutex(LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpMutexAttributes, BOOL bInitialOwner, LPCSTR lpName);

  Creates or opens a named or unnamed mutex object.

Explore the detailed documentation for each function to understand its parameters, return values, and usage examples.

Note: This documentation is for historical reference. For the latest Windows API information, please refer to the official Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) resources.