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1674ad2b 1=head1 NAME
2
3Win32 - Interfaces to some Win32 API Functions
4
5=head1 DESCRIPTION
6
7Perl on Win32 contains several functions to access Win32 APIs. Some
8are included in Perl itself (on Win32) and some are only available
9after explicitly requesting the Win32 module with:
10
11 use Win32;
12
13The builtin functions are marked as [CORE] and the other ones
14as [EXT] in the following alphabetical listing. The C<Win32> module
15is not part of the Perl source distribution; it is distributed in
16the libwin32 bundle of Win32::* modules on CPAN. The module is
17already preinstalled in binary distributions like ActivePerl.
18
19=head2 Alphabetical Listing of Win32 Functions
20
21=over
22
23=item Win32::AbortSystemShutdown(MACHINE)
24
25[EXT] Aborts a system shutdown (started by the
26InitiateSystemShutdown function) on the specified MACHINE.
27
28=item Win32::BuildNumber()
29
30[CORE] Returns the ActivePerl build number. This function is
31only available in the ActivePerl binary distribution.
32
33=item Win32::CopyFile(FROM, TO, OVERWRITE)
34
625a29bd 35[CORE] The Win32::CopyFile() function copies an existing file to a new
36file. All file information like creation time and file attributes will
37be copied to the new file. However it will B<not> copy the security
38information. If the destination file already exists it will only be
39overwritten when the OVERWRITE parameter is true. But even this will
40not overwrite a read-only file; you have to unlink() it first
41yourself.
1674ad2b 42
43=item Win32::DomainName()
44
45[CORE] Returns the name of the Microsoft Network domain that the
d12db45c 46owner of the current perl process is logged into. This information
47is not available to 32 bit programs on Win 9X. Therefore this function
48will return C<undef> on these systems.
1674ad2b 49
50=item Win32::ExpandEnvironmentStrings(STRING)
51
52[EXT] Takes STRING and replaces all referenced environment variable
53names with their defined values. References to environment variables
54take the form C<%VariableName%>. Case is ignored when looking up the
55VariableName in the environment. If the variable is not found then the
56original C<%VariableName%> text is retained. Has the same effect
57as the following:
58
59 $string =~ s/%([^%]*)%/$ENV{$1} || "%$1%"/eg
60
61=item Win32::FormatMessage(ERRORCODE)
62
63[CORE] Converts the supplied Win32 error number (e.g. returned by
64Win32::GetLastError()) to a descriptive string. Analogous to the
65perror() standard-C library function. Note that C<$^E> used
66in a string context has much the same effect.
67
68 C:\> perl -e "$^E = 26; print $^E;"
69 The specified disk or diskette cannot be accessed
70
71=item Win32::FsType()
72
73[CORE] Returns the name of the filesystem of the currently active
74drive (like 'FAT' or 'NTFS'). In list context it returns three values:
75(FSTYPE, FLAGS, MAXCOMPLEN). FSTYPE is the filesystem type as
76before. FLAGS is a combination of values of the following table:
77
78 0x00000001 supports case-sensitive filenames
79 0x00000002 preserves the case of filenames
80 0x00000004 supports Unicode in filenames
81 0x00000008 preserves and enforces ACLs
82 0x00000010 supports file-based compression
83 0x00000020 supports disk quotas
84 0x00000040 supports sparse files
85 0x00000080 supports reparse points
86 0x00000100 supports remote storage
87 0x00008000 is a compressed volume (e.g. DoubleSpace)
88 0x00010000 supports object identifiers
89 0x00020000 supports the Encrypted File System (EFS)
90
91MAXCOMPLEN is the maximum length of a filename component (the part
92between two backslashes) on this file system.
93
94=item Win32::FreeLibrary(HANDLE)
95
96[EXT] Unloads a previously loaded dynamic-link library. The HANDLE is
4a4eefd0 97no longer valid after this call. See L<LoadLibrary|Win32::LoadLibrary(LIBNAME)>
98for information on dynamically loading a library.
1674ad2b 99
100=item Win32::GetArchName()
101
102[EXT] Use of this function is deprecated. It is equivalent with
103$ENV{PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE}. This might not work on Win9X.
104
105=item Win32::GetChipName()
106
107[EXT] Returns the processor type: 386, 486 or 586 for Intel processors,
10821064 for the Alpha chip.
109
110=item Win32::GetCwd()
111
112[CORE] Returns the current active drive and directory. This function
113does not return a UNC path, since the functionality required for such
114a feature is not available under Windows 95.
115
116=item Win32::GetFullPathName(FILENAME)
117
118[CORE] GetFullPathName combines the FILENAME with the current drive
119and directory name and returns a fully qualified (aka, absolute)
120path name. In list context it returns two elements: (PATH, FILE) where
121PATH is the complete pathname component (including trailing backslash)
122and FILE is just the filename part. Note that no attempt is made to
123convert 8.3 components in the supplied FILENAME to longnames or
124vice-versa. Compare with Win32::GetShortPathName and
125Win32::GetLongPathName.
126
87275199 127This function has been added for Perl 5.6.
1674ad2b 128
129=item Win32::GetLastError()
130
131[CORE] Returns the last error value generated by a call to a Win32 API
132function. Note that C<$^E> used in a numeric context amounts to the
133same value.
134
135=item Win32::GetLongPathName(PATHNAME)
136
4375e838 137[CORE] Returns a representation of PATHNAME composed of longname
da2094fd 138components (if any). The result may not necessarily be longer
1674ad2b 139than PATHNAME. No attempt is made to convert PATHNAME to the
140absolute path. Compare with Win32::GetShortPathName and
141Win32::GetFullPathName.
142
87275199 143This function has been added for Perl 5.6.
1674ad2b 144
145=item Win32::GetNextAvailDrive()
146
147[CORE] Returns a string in the form of "<d>:" where <d> is the first
148available drive letter.
149
150=item Win32::GetOSVersion()
151
152[CORE] Returns the array (STRING, MAJOR, MINOR, BUILD, ID), where
153the elements are, respectively: An arbitrary descriptive string, the
154major version number of the operating system, the minor version
155number, the build number, and a digit indicating the actual operating
156system. For ID, the values are 0 for Win32s, 1 for Windows 9X and 2
157for Windows NT. In scalar context it returns just the ID.
158
159=item Win32::GetShortPathName(PATHNAME)
160
da2094fd 161[CORE] Returns a representation of PATHNAME composed only of
1674ad2b 162short (8.3) path components. The result may not necessarily be
163shorter than PATHNAME. Compare with Win32::GetFullPathName and
164Win32::GetLongPathName.
165
166=item Win32::GetProcAddress(INSTANCE, PROCNAME)
167
168[EXT] Returns the address of a function inside a loaded library. The
169information about what you can do with this address has been lost in
170the mist of time. Use the Win32::API module instead of this deprecated
171function.
172
173=item Win32::GetTickCount()
174
175[CORE] Returns the number of milliseconds elapsed since the last
176system boot. Resolution is limited to system timer ticks (about 10ms
177on WinNT and 55ms on Win9X).
178
179=item Win32::InitiateSystemShutdown(MACHINE, MESSAGE, TIMEOUT, FORCECLOSE, REBOOT)
180
181[EXT] Shutsdown the specified MACHINE, notifying users with the
182supplied MESSAGE, within the specified TIMEOUT interval. Forces
183closing of all documents without prompting the user if FORCECLOSE is
184true, and reboots the machine if REBOOT is true. This function works
185only on WinNT.
186
187=item Win32::IsWinNT()
188
189[CORE] Returns non zero if the Win32 subsystem is Windows NT.
190
191=item Win32::IsWin95()
192
193[CORE] Returns non zero if the Win32 subsystem is Windows 95.
194
195=item Win32::LoadLibrary(LIBNAME)
196
197[EXT] Loads a dynamic link library into memory and returns its module
198handle. This handle can be used with Win32::GetProcAddress and
199Win32::FreeLibrary. This function is deprecated. Use the Win32::API
200module instead.
201
202=item Win32::LoginName()
203
204[CORE] Returns the username of the owner of the current perl process.
205
206=item Win32::LookupAccountName(SYSTEM, ACCOUNT, DOMAIN, SID, SIDTYPE)
207
208[EXT] Looks up ACCOUNT on SYSTEM and returns the domain name the SID and
209the SID type.
210
211=item Win32::LookupAccountSID(SYSTEM, SID, ACCOUNT, DOMAIN, SIDTYPE)
212
625a29bd 213[EXT] Looks up SID on SYSTEM and returns the account name, domain name,
1674ad2b 214and the SID type.
215
216=item Win32::MsgBox(MESSAGE [, FLAGS [, TITLE]])
217
218[EXT] Create a dialogbox containing MESSAGE. FLAGS specifies the
219required icon and buttons according to the following table:
220
221 0 = OK
222 1 = OK and Cancel
223 2 = Abort, Retry, and Ignore
224 3 = Yes, No and Cancel
225 4 = Yes and No
226 5 = Retry and Cancel
227
228 MB_ICONSTOP "X" in a red circle
229 MB_ICONQUESTION question mark in a bubble
230 MB_ICONEXCLAMATION exclamation mark in a yellow triangle
231 MB_ICONINFORMATION "i" in a bubble
232
233TITLE specifies an optional window title. The default is "Perl".
234
235The function returns the menu id of the selected push button:
236
237 0 Error
238
239 1 OK
240 2 Cancel
241 3 Abort
242 4 Retry
243 5 Ignore
244 6 Yes
245 7 No
246
247=item Win32::NodeName()
248
249[CORE] Returns the Microsoft Network node-name of the current machine.
250
251=item Win32::RegisterServer(LIBRARYNAME)
252
253[EXT] Loads the DLL LIBRARYNAME and calls the function DllRegisterServer.
254
255=item Win32::SetCwd(NEWDIRECTORY)
256
257[CORE] Sets the current active drive and directory. This function does not
258work with UNC paths, since the functionality required to required for
259such a feature is not available under Windows 95.
260
261=item Win32::SetLastError(ERROR)
262
263[CORE] Sets the value of the last error encountered to ERROR. This is
264that value that will be returned by the Win32::GetLastError()
87275199 265function. This functions has been added for Perl 5.6.
1674ad2b 266
267=item Win32::Sleep(TIME)
268
269[CORE] Pauses for TIME milliseconds. The timeslices are made available
270to other processes and threads.
271
272=item Win32::Spawn(COMMAND, ARGS, PID)
273
274[CORE] Spawns a new process using the supplied COMMAND, passing in
275arguments in the string ARGS. The pid of the new process is stored in
276PID. This function is deprecated. Please use the Win32::Process module
277instead.
278
279=item Win32::UnregisterServer(LIBRARYNAME)
280
281[EXT] Loads the DLL LIBRARYNAME and calls the function
282DllUnregisterServer.
283
284=back
285
286=cut