| Platform SDK: Files and I/O |
The ReadFile function reads data from a file, starting at the position indicated by the file pointer. After the read operation has been completed, the file pointer is adjusted by the number of bytes actually read, unless the file handle is created with the overlapped attribute. If the file handle is created for overlapped input and output (I/O), the application must adjust the position of the file pointer after the read operation.
This function is designed for both synchronous and asynchronous operation. The ReadFileEx function is designed solely for asynchronous operation. It lets an application perform other processing during a file read operation.
BOOL ReadFile( HANDLE hFile, // handle to file LPVOID lpBuffer, // data buffer DWORD nNumberOfBytesToRead, // number of bytes to read LPDWORD lpNumberOfBytesRead, // number of bytes read LPOVERLAPPED lpOverlapped // overlapped buffer );
Windows NT/2000: For asynchronous read operations, hFile can be any handle opened with the FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED flag by the CreateFile function, or a socket handle returned by the socket or accept function.
Windows 95/98: For asynchronous read operations, hFile can be a communications resource opened with the FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED flag by CreateFile, or a socket handle returned by socket or accept. You cannot perform asynchronous read operations on mailslots, named pipes, or disk files.
Windows NT/2000: If lpOverlapped is NULL, lpNumberOfBytesRead cannot be NULL. If lpOverlapped is not NULL, lpNumberOfBytesRead can be NULL. If this is an overlapped read operation, you can get the number of bytes read by calling GetOverlappedResult. If hFile is associated with an I/O completion port, you can get the number of bytes read by calling GetQueuedCompletionStatus.
Windows 95/98: This parameter cannot be NULL.
If hFile was opened with FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED, the lpOverlapped parameter must not be NULL. It must point to a valid OVERLAPPED structure. If hFile was created with FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED and lpOverlapped is NULL, the function can incorrectly report that the read operation is complete.
If hFile was opened with FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED and lpOverlapped is not NULL, the read operation starts at the offset specified in the OVERLAPPED structure and ReadFile may return before the read operation has been completed. In this case, ReadFile returns FALSE and the GetLastError function returns ERROR_IO_PENDING. This allows the calling process to continue while the read operation finishes. The event specified in the OVERLAPPED structure is set to the signaled state upon completion of the read operation.
If hFile was not opened with FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED and lpOverlapped is NULL, the read operation starts at the current file position and ReadFile does not return until the operation has been completed.
Windows NT/2000: If hFile is not opened with FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED and lpOverlapped is not NULL, the read operation starts at the offset specified in the OVERLAPPED structure. ReadFile does not return until the read operation has been completed.
Windows 95/98: For operations on files, disks, pipes, or mailslots, this parameter must be NULL; a pointer to an OVERLAPPED structure causes the call to fail. However, Windows 95/98 supports overlapped I/O on serial and parallel ports.
The ReadFile function returns when one of the following is true: a write operation completes on the write end of the pipe, the number of bytes requested has been read, or an error occurs.
If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.
If the return value is nonzero and the number of bytes read is zero, the file pointer was beyond the current end of the file at the time of the read operation. However, if the file was opened with FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED and lpOverlapped is not NULL, the return value is FALSE and GetLastError returns ERROR_HANDLE_EOF when the file pointer goes beyond the current end of file.
If the function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.
If part of the file is locked by another process and the read operation overlaps the locked portion, this function fails.
An application must meet certain requirements when working with files opened with FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING:
Accessing the input buffer while a read operation is using the buffer may lead to corruption of the data read into that buffer. Applications must not read from, write to, reallocate, or free the input buffer that a read operation is using until the read operation completes.
Characters can be read from the console input buffer by using ReadFile with a handle to console input. The console mode determines the exact behavior of the ReadFile function.
If a named pipe is being read in message mode and the next message is longer than the nNumberOfBytesToRead parameter specifies, ReadFile returns FALSE and GetLastError returns ERROR_MORE_DATA. The remainder of the message may be read by a subsequent call to the ReadFile or PeekNamedPipe function.
When reading from a communications device, the behavior of ReadFile is governed by the current communication time-outs as set and retrieved using the SetCommTimeouts and GetCommTimeouts functions. Unpredictable results can occur if you fail to set the time-out values. For more information about communication time-outs, see COMMTIMEOUTS.
If ReadFile attempts to read from a mailslot whose buffer is too small, the function returns FALSE and GetLastError returns ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER.
If the anonymous write pipe handle has been closed and ReadFile attempts to read using the corresponding anonymous read pipe handle, the function returns FALSE and GetLastError returns ERROR_BROKEN_PIPE.
The ReadFile function may fail and return ERROR_INVALID_USER_BUFFER or ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_MEMORY whenever there are too many outstanding asynchronous I/O requests.
The ReadFile code to check for the end-of-file condition (eof) differs for synchronous and asynchronous read operations.
When a synchronous read operation reaches the end of a file, ReadFile returns TRUE and sets *lpNumberOfBytesRead to zero. The following sample code tests for end-of-file for a synchronous read operation:
// Attempt a synchronous read operation.
bResult = ReadFile(hFile, &inBuffer, nBytesToRead, &nBytesRead, NULL) ;
// Check for end of file.
if (bResult && nBytesRead == 0, )
{
// we're at the end of the file
}
An asynchronous read operation can encounter the end of a file during the initiating call to ReadFile, or during subsequent asynchronous operation.
If EOF is detected at ReadFile time for an asynchronous read operation, ReadFile returns FALSE and GetLastError returns ERROR_HANDLE_EOF.
If EOF is detected during subsequent asynchronous operation, the call to GetOverlappedResult to obtain the results of that operation returns FALSE and GetLastError returns ERROR_HANDLE_EOF.
To cancel all pending asynchronous I/O operations, use the CancelIo function. This function only cancels operations issued by the calling thread for the specified file handle. I/O operations that are canceled complete with the error ERROR_OPERATION_ABORTED.
If you are attempting to read from a floppy drive that does not have a floppy disk, the system displays a message box prompting the user to retry the operation. To prevent the system from displaying this message box, call the SetErrorMode function with SEM_NOOPENFILEERRORBOX.
The following sample code illustrates testing for end-of-file for an asynchronous read operation:
// set up overlapped structure fields
gOverLapped.Offset = 0;
gOverLapped.OffsetHigh = 0;
gOverLapped.hEvent = hEvent;
// attempt an asynchronous read operation
bResult = ReadFile(hFile, &inBuffer, nBytesToRead, &nBytesRead,
&gOverlapped) ;
// if there was a problem, or the async. operation's still pending ...
if (!bResult)
{
// deal with the error code
switch (dwError = GetLastError())
{
case ERROR_HANDLE_EOF:
{
// we're reached the end of the file
// during the call to ReadFile
// code to handle that
}
case ERROR_IO_PENDING:
{
// asynchronous i/o is still in progress
// do something else for a while
GoDoSomethingElse() ;
// check on the results of the asynchronous read
bResult = GetOverlappedResult(hFile, &gOverlapped,
&nBytesRead, FALSE) ;
// if there was a problem ...
if (!bResult)
{
// deal with the error code
switch (dwError = GetLastError())
{
case ERROR_HANDLE_EOF:
{
// we're reached the end of the file
//during asynchronous operation
}
// deal with other error cases
}
}
} // end case
// deal with other error cases
} // end switch
} // end if
MAPI: For more information, see Syntax and Limitations for Win32 Functions Useful in MAPI Development.
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.
File I/O Overview, File I/O Functions, CancelIo, CreateFile, GetCommTimeouts, GetOverlappedResult, GetQueuedCompletionStatus, OVERLAPPED, PeekNamedPipe, ReadFileEx, SetCommTimeouts, SetErrorMode, WriteFile