Function name: GetProfileString

Defined in : Kernel32

Requirements : Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows NT Workstation, Windows Me, Windows 98, or Windows 95.

Declaration:

Private Declare Function GetProfileString Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetProfileStringA" (ByVal lpAppName As String, ByVal lpKeyName As String, ByVal lpDefault As String, ByVal lpReturnedString As String, ByVal nSize As Long) As Long

Parameters:

lpAppName [in] The name of the section containing the key. If this parameter is NULL, the function copies all section names in the file to the supplied buffer. lpKeyName [in] The name of the key whose associated string is to be retrieved. If this parameter is NULL, the function copies all keys in the given section to the supplied buffer. Each string is followed by a null character, and the final string is followed by a second null character. lpDefault [in] A default string. If the lpKeyName key cannot be found in the initialization file, GetProfileString copies the default string to the lpReturnedString buffer. If this parameter is NULL, the default is an empty string, "". Avoid specifying a default string with trailing blank characters. The function inserts a null character in the lpReturnedString buffer to strip any trailing blanks. Windows Me/98/95: Although lpDefault is declared as a constant parameter, the system strips any trailing blanks by inserting a null character into the lpDefault string before copying it to the lpReturnedString buffer. lpReturnedString [out] A pointer to a buffer that receives the character string. nSize [in] The size of the buffer pointed to by the lpReturnedString parameter, in characters.

Returns:

The return value is the number of characters copied to the buffer, not including the null-terminating character. If neither lpAppName nor lpKeyName is NULL and the supplied destination buffer is too small to hold the requested string, the string is truncated and followed by a null character, and the return value is equal to nSize minus one. If either lpAppName or lpKeyName is NULL and the supplied destination buffer is too small to hold all the strings, the last string is truncated and followed by two null characters. In this case, the return value is equal to nSize minus two.

Related functions:

Examples:

INI Related Functions