3 Win32 - Interfaces to some Win32 API Functions
7 Perl on Win32 contains several functions to access Win32 APIs. Some
8 are included in Perl itself (on Win32) and some are only available
9 after explicitly requesting the Win32 module with:
13 The builtin functions are marked as [CORE] and the other ones
14 as [EXT] in the following alphabetical listing. The C<Win32> module
15 is not part of the Perl source distribution; it is distributed in
16 the libwin32 bundle of Win32::* modules on CPAN. The module is
17 already preinstalled in binary distributions like ActivePerl.
19 =head2 Alphabetical Listing of Win32 Functions
23 =item Win32::AbortSystemShutdown(MACHINE)
25 [EXT] Aborts a system shutdown (started by the
26 InitiateSystemShutdown function) on the specified MACHINE.
28 =item Win32::BuildNumber()
30 [CORE] Returns the ActivePerl build number. This function is
31 only available in the ActivePerl binary distribution.
33 =item Win32::CopyFile(FROM, TO, OVERWRITE)
35 [CORE] The Win32::CopyFile() function copies an existing file to a new
36 file. All file information like creation time and file attributes will
37 be copied to the new file. However it will B<not> copy the security
38 information. If the destination file already exists it will only be
39 overwritten when the OVERWRITE parameter is true. But even this will
40 not overwrite a read-only file; you have to unlink() it first
43 =item Win32::DomainName()
45 [CORE] Returns the name of the Microsoft Network domain that the
46 owner of the current perl process is logged into. This function does
47 B<not> work on Windows 9x.
49 =item Win32::ExpandEnvironmentStrings(STRING)
51 [EXT] Takes STRING and replaces all referenced environment variable
52 names with their defined values. References to environment variables
53 take the form C<%VariableName%>. Case is ignored when looking up the
54 VariableName in the environment. If the variable is not found then the
55 original C<%VariableName%> text is retained. Has the same effect
58 $string =~ s/%([^%]*)%/$ENV{$1} || "%$1%"/eg
60 =item Win32::FormatMessage(ERRORCODE)
62 [CORE] Converts the supplied Win32 error number (e.g. returned by
63 Win32::GetLastError()) to a descriptive string. Analogous to the
64 perror() standard-C library function. Note that C<$^E> used
65 in a string context has much the same effect.
67 C:\> perl -e "$^E = 26; print $^E;"
68 The specified disk or diskette cannot be accessed
72 [CORE] Returns the name of the filesystem of the currently active
73 drive (like 'FAT' or 'NTFS'). In list context it returns three values:
74 (FSTYPE, FLAGS, MAXCOMPLEN). FSTYPE is the filesystem type as
75 before. FLAGS is a combination of values of the following table:
77 0x00000001 supports case-sensitive filenames
78 0x00000002 preserves the case of filenames
79 0x00000004 supports Unicode in filenames
80 0x00000008 preserves and enforces ACLs
81 0x00000010 supports file-based compression
82 0x00000020 supports disk quotas
83 0x00000040 supports sparse files
84 0x00000080 supports reparse points
85 0x00000100 supports remote storage
86 0x00008000 is a compressed volume (e.g. DoubleSpace)
87 0x00010000 supports object identifiers
88 0x00020000 supports the Encrypted File System (EFS)
90 MAXCOMPLEN is the maximum length of a filename component (the part
91 between two backslashes) on this file system.
93 =item Win32::FreeLibrary(HANDLE)
95 [EXT] Unloads a previously loaded dynamic-link library. The HANDLE is
96 no longer valid after this call. See L<LoadLibrary|Win32::LoadLibrary(LIBNAME)>
97 for information on dynamically loading a library.
99 =item Win32::GetArchName()
101 [EXT] Use of this function is deprecated. It is equivalent with
102 $ENV{PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE}. This might not work on Win9X.
104 =item Win32::GetChipName()
106 [EXT] Returns the processor type: 386, 486 or 586 for Intel processors,
107 21064 for the Alpha chip.
109 =item Win32::GetCwd()
111 [CORE] Returns the current active drive and directory. This function
112 does not return a UNC path, since the functionality required for such
113 a feature is not available under Windows 95.
115 =item Win32::GetFolderPath(FOLDER [, CREATE])
117 [EXT] Returns the full pathname of one of the Windows special folders.
118 The folder will be created if it doesn't exist and the optional CREATE
119 argument is true. The following FOLDER constants are defined by the
120 Win32 module, but only exported on demand:
125 CSIDL_COMMON_ADMINTOOLS
127 CSIDL_COMMON_DESKTOPDIRECTORY
128 CSIDL_COMMON_DOCUMENTS
129 CSIDL_COMMON_FAVORITES
131 CSIDL_COMMON_PICTURES
132 CSIDL_COMMON_PROGRAMS
133 CSIDL_COMMON_STARTMENU
135 CSIDL_COMMON_TEMPLATES
139 CSIDL_DESKTOPDIRECTORY
154 CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES_COMMON
157 CSIDL_RESOURCES_LOCALIZED
165 Note that not all folders are defined on all versions of Windows.
167 Please refer to the MSDN documentation of the CSIDL constants,
168 currently available at:
170 http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/shell/reference/enums/csidl.asp
172 =item Win32::GetFullPathName(FILENAME)
174 [CORE] GetFullPathName combines the FILENAME with the current drive
175 and directory name and returns a fully qualified (aka, absolute)
176 path name. In list context it returns two elements: (PATH, FILE) where
177 PATH is the complete pathname component (including trailing backslash)
178 and FILE is just the filename part. Note that no attempt is made to
179 convert 8.3 components in the supplied FILENAME to longnames or
180 vice-versa. Compare with Win32::GetShortPathName and
181 Win32::GetLongPathName.
183 This function has been added for Perl 5.6.
185 =item Win32::GetLastError()
187 [CORE] Returns the last error value generated by a call to a Win32 API
188 function. Note that C<$^E> used in a numeric context amounts to the
191 =item Win32::GetLongPathName(PATHNAME)
193 [CORE] Returns a representation of PATHNAME composed of longname
194 components (if any). The result may not necessarily be longer
195 than PATHNAME. No attempt is made to convert PATHNAME to the
196 absolute path. Compare with Win32::GetShortPathName and
197 Win32::GetFullPathName.
199 This function has been added for Perl 5.6.
201 =item Win32::GetNextAvailDrive()
203 [CORE] Returns a string in the form of "<d>:" where <d> is the first
204 available drive letter.
206 =item Win32::GetOSVersion()
208 [CORE] Returns the array (STRING, MAJOR, MINOR, BUILD, ID), where the
209 elements are, respectively: An arbitrary descriptive string, the major
210 version number of the operating system, the minor version number, the
211 build number, and a digit indicating the actual operating system.
212 For the ID, the values are 0 for Win32s, 1 for Windows 9X and 2 for
213 Windows NT/2000/XP. In scalar context it returns just the ID.
215 Currently known values for ID MAJOR and MINOR are as follows:
222 Windows NT 3.51 2 3 51
226 Windows .NET Server 2 5 1
228 Unfortunately as of June 2002 there is no way to distinguish between
229 .NET servers and XP servers without using additional modules.
231 =item Win32::GetOSName()
233 [EXT] In scalar context returns the name of the Win32 operating system
234 being used. In list context returns a two element list of the OS name
235 and whatever edition information is known about the particular build
236 (for Win9x boxes) and whatever service packs have been installed.
237 The latter is roughly equivalent to the first item returned by
238 GetOSVersion() in list context.
240 Currently the possible values for the OS name are
242 Win32s Win95 Win98 WinMe Win2000 WinXP/.Net WinNT3.51 WinNT4
244 This routine is just a simple interface into GetOSVersion(). More
245 specific or demanding situations should use that instead. Another
246 option would be to use POSIX::uname(), however the latter appears to
247 report only the OS family name and not the specific OS. In scalar
248 context it returns just the ID.
250 =item Win32::GetShortPathName(PATHNAME)
252 [CORE] Returns a representation of PATHNAME composed only of
253 short (8.3) path components. The result may not necessarily be
254 shorter than PATHNAME. Compare with Win32::GetFullPathName and
255 Win32::GetLongPathName.
257 =item Win32::GetProcAddress(INSTANCE, PROCNAME)
259 [EXT] Returns the address of a function inside a loaded library. The
260 information about what you can do with this address has been lost in
261 the mist of time. Use the Win32::API module instead of this deprecated
264 =item Win32::GetTickCount()
266 [CORE] Returns the number of milliseconds elapsed since the last
267 system boot. Resolution is limited to system timer ticks (about 10ms
268 on WinNT and 55ms on Win9X).
270 =item Win32::InitiateSystemShutdown
272 (MACHINE, MESSAGE, TIMEOUT, FORCECLOSE, REBOOT)
274 [EXT] Shutsdown the specified MACHINE, notifying users with the
275 supplied MESSAGE, within the specified TIMEOUT interval. Forces
276 closing of all documents without prompting the user if FORCECLOSE is
277 true, and reboots the machine if REBOOT is true. This function works
280 =item Win32::IsWinNT()
282 [CORE] Returns non zero if the Win32 subsystem is Windows NT.
284 =item Win32::IsWin95()
286 [CORE] Returns non zero if the Win32 subsystem is Windows 95.
288 =item Win32::LoadLibrary(LIBNAME)
290 [EXT] Loads a dynamic link library into memory and returns its module
291 handle. This handle can be used with Win32::GetProcAddress and
292 Win32::FreeLibrary. This function is deprecated. Use the Win32::API
295 =item Win32::LoginName()
297 [CORE] Returns the username of the owner of the current perl process.
299 =item Win32::LookupAccountName(SYSTEM, ACCOUNT, DOMAIN, SID, SIDTYPE)
301 [EXT] Looks up ACCOUNT on SYSTEM and returns the domain name the SID and
304 =item Win32::LookupAccountSID(SYSTEM, SID, ACCOUNT, DOMAIN, SIDTYPE)
306 [EXT] Looks up SID on SYSTEM and returns the account name, domain name,
309 =item Win32::MsgBox(MESSAGE [, FLAGS [, TITLE]])
311 [EXT] Create a dialogbox containing MESSAGE. FLAGS specifies the
312 required icon and buttons according to the following table:
316 2 = Abort, Retry, and Ignore
317 3 = Yes, No and Cancel
321 MB_ICONSTOP "X" in a red circle
322 MB_ICONQUESTION question mark in a bubble
323 MB_ICONEXCLAMATION exclamation mark in a yellow triangle
324 MB_ICONINFORMATION "i" in a bubble
326 TITLE specifies an optional window title. The default is "Perl".
328 The function returns the menu id of the selected push button:
340 =item Win32::NodeName()
342 [CORE] Returns the Microsoft Network node-name of the current machine.
344 =item Win32::RegisterServer(LIBRARYNAME)
346 [EXT] Loads the DLL LIBRARYNAME and calls the function DllRegisterServer.
348 =item Win32::SetChildShowWindow(SHOWWINDOW)
350 [CORE] Sets the I<ShowMode> of child processes started by system().
351 By default system() will create a new console window for child
352 processes if Perl itself is not running from a console. Calling
353 SetChildShowWindow(0) will make these new console windows invisible.
354 Calling SetChildShowWindow() without arguments reverts system() to the
355 default behavior. The return value of SetChildShowWindow() is the
356 previous setting or C<undef>.
358 [EXT] The following symbolic constants for SHOWWINDOW are available
359 (but not exported) from the Win32 module: SW_HIDE, SW_SHOWNORMAL,
360 SW_SHOWMINIMIZED, SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED and SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE.
362 =item Win32::SetCwd(NEWDIRECTORY)
364 [CORE] Sets the current active drive and directory. This function does not
365 work with UNC paths, since the functionality required to required for
366 such a feature is not available under Windows 95.
368 =item Win32::SetLastError(ERROR)
370 [CORE] Sets the value of the last error encountered to ERROR. This is
371 that value that will be returned by the Win32::GetLastError()
372 function. This functions has been added for Perl 5.6.
374 =item Win32::Sleep(TIME)
376 [CORE] Pauses for TIME milliseconds. The timeslices are made available
377 to other processes and threads.
379 =item Win32::Spawn(COMMAND, ARGS, PID)
381 [CORE] Spawns a new process using the supplied COMMAND, passing in
382 arguments in the string ARGS. The pid of the new process is stored in
383 PID. This function is deprecated. Please use the Win32::Process module
386 =item Win32::UnregisterServer(LIBRARYNAME)
388 [EXT] Loads the DLL LIBRARYNAME and calls the function