CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++winapintfs
c00000fd
c00000fd

Reputation: 22293

GetFileAttributes inconsistency -- why?

Why does the following:

GetFileAttributes(L"D:");

return 0x00002010, but the following on the exact same machine:

GetFileAttributes(L"\\\\?\\D:");

returns INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES and error code ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 867

Answers (1)

David Heffernan
David Heffernan

Reputation: 613262

The three examples you give in the question and comments all refer to different things.

  • \\?\D: refers to a volume, for which file attributes do not exist.
  • \\?\D:\ is the root directory of the drive which does have attributes.
  • D: is a little harder to define. I believe that the system uses GetFullPathName, or equivalent, to expand this path. So, if the process current directory is on D, then that directory is used. Or, if a special per-drive working directory environment variable is defined for this drive, that directory is used. Otherwise D:\, the root directory is used.

You want to be using D:\ or \\?\D:\ here.

Upvotes: 7

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