HOWTO: Calculate Available File Handles at Run Time

• The C Run-Time (CRT), included with:
  • Microsoft C for MS-DOS, versions 5.1, 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0ax
  • Microsoft C for OS/2, versions 5.1, 6.0, 6.0a
  • Microsoft C/C++ for MS-DOS, version 7.0
  • Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, 16-bit edition, versions 1.0, 1.5
  • Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions, versions 1.0, 2.0

SUMMARY

The following code sample allows you to determine how many CRT file handles are available at run time for a particular process. The function makes use of the predefined pointers _iob and _lastiob, which are set to point to the first and the last input/output information blocks, respectively. The I/O blocks are examined to determine whether they are in use, and a total number of available file handles is produced. There is no equivalent C library function currently available.

NOTE: This is not necessarily an indication of the maximum number of physical files that can be opened. The system-wide limit is set in MS-DOS by FILES= in the CONFIG.SYS file. In OS/2, this limit is arbitrarily governed by system resources and is modified for each process by DosSetMaxFH().

MORE INFORMATION

Sample Code

   /*
   Compile options needed: /DNO_EXT_KEYS under Windows NT, none otherwise

   NOTE: This code will not compile unless it is compiled as a .C file
         and not a .CPP.
   */ 

   #define FILE struct _iobuf
   #ifndef NO_EXT_KEYS           /* Extensions enabled */ 
       #define _CDECL  cdecl
       #define _NEAR   near
   #else                         /* Extensions not enabled */ 
       #define _CDECL
       #define _NEAR
   #endif                        /* NO_EXT_KEYS */ 

   #define _IOREAD 0x01          /* Open for read bit */ 
   #define _IOWRT  0x02          /* Open for write bit */ 
   #define _IORW   0x80          /* Open for read/write bit */ 

   FILE                          /* File handle table entry */ 
   {
       char *_ptr;
       int   _cnt;
       char *_base;
       char  _flag;
       char  _file;
    }_NEAR _CDECL _iob[], /*Set to first I/O block at run time*/ 
                  *_lastiob;   /* Set to last I/O block */ 

   /*
      All of the above definitions were taken from the STDIO.H header
      file except for _lastiob[], which is not defined. This information
      was extracted to make the example more clear.
   */ 

   /*
    - The following macro will check the availability of a file handle
      by examining the _flag member of the I/O block
   */ 

   #define inuse(s) ((s)->_flag & (_IOREAD|_IOWRT|_IORW))

   /*
    - The following routine loops through the total number of I/O blocks
      and checks the flags to see if it is used or not. The number of
      unused handles is returned, which can be 1 to the maximum number of
      file handles as set by the operating system or the FILES= command
      in the CONFIG.SYS file.
   */ 

   int Number_Of_Handles(void)
   {
      FILE *stream = _iob;
      int count;

      count = 0;
      do
         if (inuse(stream)) count++;
      while(stream++ < _lastiob);

      return(((_lastiob - _iob)+1)-count);
   }

   void main(void)
   {
      int i;

      i = Number_Of_Handles();
   /* i is now set to the number of available file handles */ 
   } 

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbCRT kbVC
Version : MS- DOS:6.0,6.00a,6.00ax,7.0;OS/2:6.0,6.00a;WIN3X:1.0,1.5;WINNT:1.0,2.0;
Platform : MS-DOS NT OS/2 WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto