WriteProfileSection

The WriteProfileSection function replaces the contents of the specified section in the Win.ini file with specified keys and values.

Note  This function is provided only for compatibility with 16-bit versions of Windows. Win32-based applications should store initialization information in the registry.

BOOL WriteProfileSection(
  LPCTSTR lpAppName, // section name
  LPCTSTR lpString   // data buffer
);

Parameters

lpAppName

[in] Pointer to a null-terminated string containing the name of the section. This section name is typically the name of the calling application.

lpString

[in] Pointer to a buffer containing the new key names and associated values that are to be written to the named section.

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.

Remarks

Windows 95: If there is no section in Win.ini that matches the specified section name, WriteProfileSection creates the section at the end of the file and initializes the new section with the key name and value pairs specified in the lpString parameter.

Keys and values in the lpString buffer consist of one or more null-terminated strings, followed by a final null character. Each string has the following form:

key=string 

The WriteProfileSection function is not case-sensitive; the strings can be a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters.

WriteProfileSection deletes the existing keys and values for the named section and inserts the key names and values in the buffer pointed to by lpString. The function does not attempt to correlate old and new key names; if the new names appear in a different order from the old names, any comments associated with preexisting keys and values in the initialization file will probably be associated with incorrect keys and values.

This operation is atomic; no other operations that read from or write to the initialization file are allowed while the information is being written.

Windows NT/2000: The system maps most .ini file references to the registry, using the mapping defined under the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\
        Windows NT\CurrentVersion\IniFileMapping

When the operation has been mapped, the WriteProfileSection function writes information to the registry, not to the initialization file; the change in the storage location has no effect on the function's behavior.

The Win32 profile functions (Get/WriteProfile*, Get/WritePrivateProfile*) use the following steps to locate initialization information:

1. Look in the registry for the name of the initialization file, say MyFile.ini, under IniFileMapping:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\
           Windows NT\CurrentVersion\IniFileMapping\myfile.ini

2. Look for the section name specified by lpAppName. This will be a named value under myfile.ini, or a subkey of myfile.ini, or will not exist.
3. If the section name specified by lpAppName is a named value under myfile.ini, then that value specifies where in the registry you will find the keys for the section.
4. If the section name specified by lpAppName is a subkey of myfile.ini, then named values under that subkey specify where in the registry you will find the keys for the section. If the key you are looking for does not exist as a named value, then there will be an unnamed value (shown as <No Name>) that specifies the default location in the registry where you will find the key.
5. If the section name specified by lpAppName does not exist as a named value or as a subkey under myfile.ini, then there will be an unnamed value (shown as <No Name>) under myfile.ini that specifies the default location in the registry where you will find the keys for the section.
6. If there is no subkey for MyFile.ini, or if there is no entry for the section name, then look for the actual MyFile.ini on the disk and read its contents.

When looking at values in the registry that specify other registry locations, there are several prefixes that change the behavior of the .ini file mapping:

• ! - this character forces all writes to go both to the registry and to the .ini file on disk.
• # - this character causes the registry value to be set to the value in the Windows 3.1 .ini file when a new user logs in for the first time after setup.
• @ - this character prevents any reads from going to the .ini file on disk if the requested data is not found in the registry.
• USR: - this prefix stands for HKEY_CURRENT_USER, and the text after the prefix is relative to that key.
• SYS: - this prefix stands for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE, and the text after the prefix is relative to that key.

Requirements

  Windows NT/2000: Requires Windows NT 3.1 or later.
  Windows 95/98: Requires Windows 95 or later.
  Header: Declared in Winbase.h; include Windows.h.
  Library: Use Kernel32.lib.
  Unicode: Implemented as Unicode and ANSI versions on Windows NT/2000.

See Also

Registry Overview, Registry Functions, GetProfileSection, WritePrivateProfileSection