HeapWalk

The HeapWalk function enumerates the memory blocks in a specified heap created or manipulated by Win32 heap memory allocators such as HeapAlloc, HeapReAlloc, and HeapFree.

BOOL HeapWalk(
  HANDLE hHeap,                 // heap to enumerate
  LPPROCESS_HEAP_ENTRY lpEntry  // state information
);

Parameters

hHeap

[in] Handle to the heap whose memory blocks you wish to enumerate.

lpEntry

[in/out] Pointer to a PROCESS_HEAP_ENTRY structure that maintains state information for a particular heap enumeration.

If the HeapWalk function succeeds, returning the value TRUE, this structure's members contain information about the next memory block in the heap.

To initiate a heap enumeration, set the lpData field of the PROCESS_HEAP_ENTRY structure to NULL. To continue a particular heap enumeration, call the HeapWalk function repeatedly, with no changes to hHeap, lpEntry, or any of the members of the PROCESS_HEAP_ENTRY structure.

Return Values

If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.

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

If the heap enumeration terminates successfully by reaching the end of the heap, the function returns FALSE, and GetLastError returns the error code ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS.

Remarks

To initiate a heap enumeration, call HeapWalk with the lpData field of the PROCESS_HEAP_ENTRY structure pointed to by lpEntry set to NULL.

To continue a heap enumeration, call HeapWalk with the same hHeap and lpEntry values, and with the PROCESS_HEAP_ENTRY structure unchanged from the preceding call to HeapWalk. Repeat this process until you have no need for further enumeration, or until the function returns FALSE and GetLastError returns ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS, indicating that all of the heap's memory blocks have been enumerated.

No special call of HeapWalk is needed to terminate the heap enumeration, since no enumeration state data is maintained outside the contents of the PROCESS_HEAP_ENTRY structure.

HeapWalk can fail in a multithreaded application if the heap is not locked during the heap enumeration. Use the HeapLock and HeapUnlock functions to control heap locking during heap enumeration.

Walking a heap may degrade performance, especially on symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) computers. The side effects may last until the process ends.

Note  To guard against an access violation, use structured exception handling to protect any code that writes to or reads from a heap. For more information on structured exception handling with memory accesses, see Reading and Writing and Structured Exception Handling.

Requirements

  Windows NT/2000: Requires Windows NT 3.5 or later.
  Windows 95/98: Unsupported.
  Header: Declared in Winbase.h; include Windows.h.
  Library: Use Kernel32.lib.

See Also

Memory Management Overview, Memory Management Functions, HeapAlloc, HeapReAlloc, HeapFree, HeapLock, HeapUnlock, HeapValidate, PROCESS_HEAP_ENTRY