GetPrivateProfileSection

The GetPrivateProfileSection function retrieves all of the keys and values for the specified section from an initialization file. This function is provided for compatibility with 16-bit applications written for Windows. Win32-based applications should store initialization information in the registry.

Windows 95: The specified profile section must not exceed 32K.

Windows NT: The specified profile section has no size limit.

DWORD GetPrivateProfileSection(
  LPCTSTR lpAppName,        // address of section name
  LPTSTR lpReturnedString,  // address of return buffer
  DWORD nSize,              // size of return buffer
  LPCTSTR lpFileName        // address of initialization filename
);
 

Parameters

lpAppName

Pointer to a null-terminated string containing the section name in the initialization file.

lpReturnedString

Pointer to a buffer that receives the key name and value pairs associated with the named section. The buffer is filled with one or more null-terminated strings; the last string is followed by a second null character.

nSize

Specifies the size, in characters, of the buffer pointed to by the lpReturnedString parameter.

Windows 95: The maximum buffer size is 32,767 characters.

lpFileName

Pointer to a null-terminated string that names the initialization file. If this parameter does not contain a full path to the file, the system searches for the file in the Windows directory.

Return Values

The return value specifies the number of characters copied to the buffer, not including the terminating null character. If the buffer is not large enough to contain all the key name and value pairs associated with the named section, the return value is equal to nSize minus two.

Remarks

The data in the buffer pointed to by the lpReturnedString parameter consists of one or more null-terminated strings, followed by a final null character. Each string has the following format:

key=string

The GetPrivateProfileSection function is not case-sensitive; the string pointed to by the lpAppName parameter can be a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters.

This operation is atomic; no updates to the specified initialization file are allowed while the key name and value pairs for the section are being copied to the buffer pointed to by the lpReturnedString parameter.

Windows NT: Calls to private profile functions may be mapped to the registry instead of to the specified initialization files. This mapping occurs when the initialization file and section are specified in the registry under the following keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\
Windows NT\CurrentVersion\IniFileMapping

This mapping is likely if an application modifies system-component initialization files, such as CONTROL.INI, SYSTEM.INI, and WINFILE.INI. In these cases, the GetPrivateProfileSection function retrieves information from the registry, not from the initialization file; the change in the storage location has no effect on the function's behavior.

The Win32 profile functions (Get/WriteProfile*, Get/WritePrivateProfile*) use the following steps to locate initialization information:

1. Look in the registry for the name of the initialization file, say MYFILE.INI, under IniFileMapping:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\
   Windows NT\CurrentVersion\IniFileMapping\myfile.ini

2. Look for the section name specified by lpAppName. This will be a named value under myfile.ini, or a subkey of myfile.ini, or will not exist.
3. If the section name specified by lpAppName is a named value under myfile.ini, then that value specifies where in the registry you will find the keys for the section.
4. If the section name specified by lpAppName is a subkey of myfile.ini, then named values under that subkey specify where in the registry you will find the keys for the section. If the key you are looking for does not exist as a named value, then there will be an unnamed value (shown as <No Name>) that specifies the default location in the registry where you will find the key.
5. If the section name specified by lpAppName does not exist as a named value or as a subkey under myfile.ini, then there will be an unnamed value (shown as <No Name>) under myfile.ini that specifies the default location in the registry where you will find the keys for the section.
6. If there is no subkey for MYFILE.INI, or if there is no entry for the section name, then look for the actual MYFILE.INI on the disk and read its contents.

When looking at values in the registry that specify other registry locations, there are several prefixes that change the behavior of the .INI file mapping:

• ! - this character forces all writes to go both to the registry and to the .INI file on disk.
• # - this character causes the registry value to be set to the value in the Windows 3.1 .INI file when a new user logs in for the first time after setup.
• @ - this character prevents any reads from going to the .INI file on disk if the requested data is not found in the registry.
• USR: - this prefix stands for HKEY_CURRENT_USER, and the text after the prefix is relative to that key.
• SYS: - this prefix stands for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE, and the text after the prefix is relative to that key.

See Also

Registry Overview, Registry Functions, GetProfileSection, WritePrivateProfileSection