LoadLibrary

The LoadLibrary function maps the specified executable module into the address space of the calling process.

For additional load options, use the LoadLibraryEx function.

HMODULE LoadLibrary(
  LPCTSTR lpFileName   // file name of module
);

Parameters

lpFileName

[in] Pointer to a null-terminated string that names the executable module (either a .dll or .exe file). The name specified is the file name of the module and is not related to the name stored in the library module itself, as specified by the LIBRARY keyword in the module-definition (.def) file.

If the string specifies a path but the file does not exist in the specified directory, the function fails. When specifying a path, be sure to use backslashes (\), not forward slashes (/).

If the string does not specify a path, the function uses a standard search strategy to find the file. See the Remarks for more information.

Return Values

If the function succeeds, the return value is a handle to the module.

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

Windows 95: If you are using LoadLibrary to load a module that contains a resource whose numeric identifier is greater than 0x7FFF, LoadLibrary fails. If you are attempting to load a 16-bit DLL directly from 32-bit code, LoadLibrary fails. If you are attempting to load a DLL whose subsystem version is greater than 4.0, LoadLibrary fails. If your DllMain function tries to call the Unicode version of a Win32 function, LoadLibrary fails.

Remarks

LoadLibrary can be used to map a DLL module and return a handle that can be used in GetProcAddress to get the address of a DLL function. LoadLibrary can also be used to map other executable modules. For example, the function can specify an .exe file to get a handle that can be used in FindResource or LoadResource. However, do not use LoadLibrary to run an .exe file, use the CreateProcess function.

If the module is a DLL not already mapped for the calling process, the system calls the DLL's DllMain function with the DLL_PROCESS_ATTACH value. If the DLL's entry-point function does not return TRUE, LoadLibrary fails and returns NULL. (The system immediately calls your entry-point function with DLL_PROCESS_DETACH and unloads the DLL.)

It is not safe to call LoadLibrary from DllMain. For more information, see the Remarks section in DllMain.

Module handles are not global or inheritable. A call to LoadLibrary by one process does not produce a handle that another process can use — for example, in calling GetProcAddress. The other process must make its own call to LoadLibrary for the module before calling GetProcAddress.

If no file name extension is specified in the lpFileName parameter, the default library extension .dll is appended. However, the file name string can include a trailing point character (.) to indicate that the module name has no extension. When no path is specified, the function searches for loaded modules whose base name matches the base name of the module to be loaded. If the name matches, the load succeeds. Otherwise, the function searches for the file in the following sequence:

1. The directory from which the application loaded.
2. The current directory.
3. Windows 95/98: The Windows system directory. Use the GetSystemDirectory function to get the path of this directory.

   Windows NT/ 2000: The 32-bit Windows system directory. Use the GetSystemDirectory function to get the path of this directory. The name of this directory is SYSTEM32.

4. Windows NT/ 2000: The 16-bit Windows system directory. There is no function that obtains the path of this directory, but it is searched. The name of this directory is SYSTEM.
5. The Windows directory. Use the GetWindowsDirectory function to get the path of this directory.
6. The directories that are listed in the PATH environment variable.

The first directory searched is the one directory containing the image file used to create the calling process (for more information, see the CreateProcess function). Doing this allows private dynamic-link library (DLL) files associated with a process to be found without adding the process's installed directory to the PATH environment variable.

Windows 2000: If a path is specified and there is a redirection file for the application, the function searches for the module in the application's directory. If the module exists in the application's directory, the LoadLibrary function ignores the specified path and loads the module from the application's directory. If the module does not exist in the application's directory, LoadLibrary loads the module from the specified directory.

The Visual C++ compiler supports a syntax that enables you to declare thread-local variables: _declspec(thread). If you use this syntax in a DLL, you will not be able to load the DLL explicitly using LoadLibrary or LoadLibraryEx. If your DLL will be loaded explicitly, you must use the thread local storage functions instead of _declspec(thread).

Requirements

  Windows NT/2000: Requires Windows NT 3.1 or later.
  Windows 95/98: Requires Windows 95 or later.
  Header: Declared in Winbase.h; include Windows.h.
  Library: Use Kernel32.lib.
  Unicode: Implemented as Unicode and ANSI versions on Windows NT/2000.

See Also

Dynamic-Link Libraries Overview, Dynamic-Link Library Functions, DllMain, FindResource, FreeLibrary, GetProcAddress, GetSystemDirectory, GetWindowsDirectory, LoadLibraryEx, LoadResource