INFO: Restriction on Named-Pipe Names

• Microsoft Win32 Application Programming Interface (API), used with:
  • Microsoft Windows NT versions 3.1, 3.5, 3.51

SUMMARY

Named pipes are implemented in Windows NT using the same approach used for file systems. Within Windows NT, named pipes are represented as file objects.

During the design phase, one idea for the implementation was to allow sub directories of named pipes. For example, a developer could create a named pipe sub directory called \MYPIPES. It would then be possible to create and use pipes called \MYPIPES\PIPE1 and \MYPIPES\PIPE2, but it would not be possible to use \MYPIPES as a pipe.

In the end, this idea was not implemented, so sub directories are not supported. This does have some effect on the named-pipe names that are allowed. If a pipe named \MYPIPES is created, it is not possible to subsequently create a pipe named \MYPIPES\PIPE1, because \MYPIPES is already a pipe name and cannot be used as a sub directory. It is possible to create a pipe named \MYPIPES\PIPE1, but only if there is no pipe named \MYPIPES. The error received is

ERROR_INVALID_NAME (123)

Additional query words: 3.10 3.50

Keywords : kbIPC kbKernBase kbNTOS310 kbNTOS350 kbNTOS351 kbDSupport kbGrpKernBase
Version : winnt:3.1,3.5,3.51
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbinfo