FindFirstChangeNotification

The FindFirstChangeNotification function creates a change notification handle and sets up initial change notification filter conditions. A wait on a notification handle succeeds when a change matching the filter conditions occurs in the specified directory or subtree.

HANDLE FindFirstChangeNotification(
  LPCTSTR lpPathName,    // pointer to name of directory to watch
  BOOL bWatchSubtree,    // flag for monitoring directory or 
                         // directory tree
  DWORD dwNotifyFilter   // filter conditions to watch for
);
 

Parameters

lpPathName

Pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies the path of the directory to watch.

bWatchSubtree

Specifies whether the function will monitor the directory or the directory tree. If this parameter is TRUE, the function monitors the directory tree rooted at the specified directory; if it is FALSE, it monitors only the specified directory.

dwNotifyFilter

Specifies the filter conditions that satisfy a change notification wait. This parameter can be one or more of the following values:

Value	Meaning
FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_FILE_NAME
	Any filename change in the watched directory or subtree causes a change notification wait operation to return. Changes include renaming, creating, or deleting a filename.
FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_DIR_NAME
	Any directory-name change in the watched directory or subtree causes a change notification wait operation to return. Changes include creating or deleting a directory.
FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_ATTRIBUTES
	Any attribute change in the watched directory or subtree causes a change notification wait operation to return.
FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_SIZE
	Any file-size change in the watched directory or subtree causes a change notification wait operation to return. The operating system detects a change in file size only when the file is written to the disk. For operating systems that use extensive caching, detection occurs only when the cache is sufficiently flushed.
FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_LAST_WRITE
	Any change to the last write-time of files in the watched directory or subtree causes a change notification wait operation to return. The operating system detects a change to the last write-time only when the file is written to the disk. For operating systems that use extensive caching, detection occurs only when the cache is sufficiently flushed.
FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_SECURITY
	Any security-descriptor change in the watched directory or subtree causes a change notification wait operation to return.

Return Values

If the function succeeds, the return value is a handle to a find change notification object.

If the function fails, the return value is INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

The wait functions can monitor the specified directory or subtree by using the handle returned by the FindFirstChangeNotification function. A wait is satisfied when one of the filter conditions occurs in the monitored directory or subtree.

After the wait has been satisfied, the application can respond to this condition and continue monitoring the directory by calling the FindNextChangeNotification function and the appropriate wait function. When the handle is no longer needed, it can be closed by using the FindCloseChangeNotification function.

QuickInfo

  Windows NT: Requires version 3.1 or later.
  Windows: Requires Windows 95 or later.
  Windows CE: Unsupported.
  Header: Declared in winbase.h.
  Import Library: Use kernel32.lib.
  Unicode: Implemented as Unicode and ANSI versions on Windows NT.

See Also

File I/O Overview, File Functions, FindCloseChangeNotification, FindNextChangeNotification