BUG: CRITICAL_SECTION is Defined Incorrectly in API Text Viewer

ID: Q197569

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Visual Basic Learning, Professional, and Enterprise Editions for Windows, version 6.0
Microsoft Visual Basic Control Creation, Learning, Professional, and Enterprise Editions for Windows, version 5.0
Microsoft Visual Basic Standard, Professional, and Enterprise Editions, 32-bit only, for Windows, version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

The API Text Viewer definition for CRITICAL_SECTION is incorrect and will cause an access violation or corrupt the memory directly following any variables of this type.

CAUSE

The API Text Viewer defines CRITICAL_SECTION as follows:


   Type CRITICAL_SECTION
      dummy As Long
   End Type

If you use this definition, you may receive access violations or you may notice that the variables declared directly after a critical section are overwritten or corrupted when you call any of the critical section APIs.

RESOLUTION

The following is a proper definition for CRITICAL_SECTION:


   Type CRITICAL_SECTION
      Reserved1 As Long
      Reserved2 As Long
      Reserved3 As Long
      Reserved4 As Long
      Reserved5 As Long
      Reserved6 As Long
   End Type

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

You should never access the members of the CRITICAL_SECTION structure directly. An object of this type is designed to be manipulated through the following Win32 APIs:


   InitializeCriticalSection()
   EnterCriticalSection()
   LeaveCriticalSection()
   DeleteCriticalSection()

For more information, refer to the MSDN documentation for critical sections.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbKernBase kbThread kbVBp400bug kbVBp500bug kbVBp600bug kbGrpVB
Version : WINDOWS:4.0,5.0,6.0
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug