These functions connect to and communicate with a specific smart card. I/O operations to the card use a buffer for sending or receiving data, plus a structure that contains protocol control information. The protocol control information structure always begins with an SCARD_IO_REQUEST structure.
| To… | Call… |
|---|---|
| Connect to a card. | SCardConnect |
| Reestablish a connection. | SCardReconnect |
| Terminate a connection. | SCardDisconnect |
| Start a transaction, blocking other applications from accessing a card. | SCardBeginTransaction |
| End a transaction, allowing other applications to access a card. | SCardEndTransaction |
| Provide the current status of the reader. | SCardStatus |
| Requests service and receives data back from a card using T=0, T=1, and raw protocols. | SCardTransmit |