Restriction on Named-Pipe Names

 Last reviewed: December 21, 1995
Article ID: Q100291
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Win32 Application Programming Interface (API) included with: 

        - Microsoft Windows NT versions 3.1, 3.5, and 3.51

Named pipes are implemented in Windows NT using the same approach used for file systems. Within Windows NT, named pipes are represented as file objects.

During the design phase, one idea for the implementation was to allow 

sub directories of named pipes. For example, a developer could create a
named pipe sub directory called \MYPIPES. It would then be possible to create and use pipes called \MYPIPES\PIPE1 and \MYPIPES\PIPE2, but it would not be possible to use \MYPIPES as a pipe.

In the end, this idea was not implemented, so sub directories are not supported. This does have some effect on the named-pipe names that are allowed. If a pipe named \MYPIPES is created, it is not possible to subsequently create a pipe named \MYPIPES\PIPE1, because \MYPIPES is already a pipe name and cannot be used as a sub directory. It is possible to create a pipe named \MYPIPES\PIPE1, but only if there is no pipe named \MYPIPES. The error received is ERROR_INVALID_NAME (123).

Additional reference words: 3.10 3.50
KBCategory: kbprg
KBSubcategory: BseIpc

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Last reviewed: December 21, 1995
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