| Platform SDK: Registry |
A registry value can store data in various formats. When you store data under a registry value, for instance by calling the RegSetValueEx function, you can specify one of the following values to indicate the type of data being stored. When you retrieve a registry value, functions such as RegQueryValueEx use these values to indicate the type of data retrieved.
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| REG_BINARY | Binary data in any form. |
| REG_DWORD | A 32-bit number. |
| REG_DWORD_LITTLE_ENDIAN | A 32-bit number in little-endian format. This is equivalent to REG_DWORD.
In little-endian format, a multi-byte value is stored in memory from the lowest byte (the "little end") to the highest byte. For example, the value 0x12345678 is stored as (0x78 0x56 0x34 0x12) in little-endian format. Windows NT/Windows 2000, Windows 95, and Windows 98 are designed to run on little-endian computer architectures. A user may connect to computers that have big-endian architectures, such as some UNIX systems. |
| REG_DWORD_BIG_ENDIAN | A 32-bit number in big-endian format.
In big-endian format, a multi-byte value is stored in memory from the highest byte (the "big end") to the lowest byte. For example, the value 0x12345678 is stored as (0x12 0x34 0x56 0x78) in big-endian format. |
| REG_EXPAND_SZ | A null-terminated string that contains unexpanded references to environment variables (for example, "%PATH%"). It will be a Unicode or ANSI string depending on whether you use the Unicode or ANSI functions. To expand the environment variable references, use the ExpandEnvironmentStrings function. |
| REG_LINK | A Unicode symbolic link. Used internally; applications should not use this type. |
| REG_MULTI_SZ | An array of null-terminated strings, terminated by two null characters. |
| REG_NONE | No defined value type. |
| REG_QWORD | A 64-bit number. |
| REG_QWORD_LITTLE_ENDIAN | A 64-bit number in little-endian format. This is equivalent to REG_QWORD. |
| REG_RESOURCE_LIST | A device-driver resource list. |
| REG_SZ | A null-terminated string. It will be a Unicode or ANSI string, depending on whether you use the Unicode or ANSI functions. |