C# Signature:
[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
static extern uint GetPrivateProfileString(
string lpAppName,
string lpKeyName,
string lpDefault,
StringBuilder lpReturnedString,
uint nSize,
string lpFileName);
and/or
[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
static extern uint GetPrivateProfileString(
string lpAppName,
string lpKeyName,
string lpDefault,
[In, Out] char[] lpReturnedString,
uint nSize,
string lpFileName);
VB.NET Signature:
<DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError:=True)> _
Private Shared Function GetPrivateProfileString(ByVal lpAppName As String, _
ByVal lpKeyName As String, _
ByVal lpDefault As String, _
ByVal lpReturnedString As StringBuilder, _
ByVal nSize As Integer, _
ByVal lpFileName As String) As Integer
End Function
User-Defined Types:
None.
Notes:
To avoid casting of the StringBuilder.Capacity to uint you can also declare the nSize parameter as int.
If you need to get all the section names by passing a null lpAppName or all the key names by passing a null lpKeyName, then you'll need to use a technique like is shown for GetPrivateProfileSection to handle the double null-terminated result. .NET's marshaler will truncate the StringBuilder at the first null it finds, so to get back the full double null-terminated result string, you have to manage your own memory buffer.
An alternative to the technique above is to use a char[] in place of a StringBuilder when you need to obtain all key names or all section names. The char[] will not truncate at the first null it finds.
Tips & Tricks:
If passing a char[] for the purposes of getting a null-tokenized list of section or key names, you can afterward pass this char[] to the constructor of a new String, and use the String's Split('\0') to easily obtain a list of your section or key names.
Sample Code:
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Text;
namespace GPPS
{
class Class1
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(500);
uint res = GetPrivateProfileString("AppName", "KeyName", "", sb, (uint)sb.Capacity, @"c:\test.ini");
Console.WriteLine(sb.ToString());
}
[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
static extern uint GetPrivateProfileString(
string lpAppName, string lpKeyName, string lpDefault, StringBuilder lpReturnedString, int nSize, string lpFileName);
}
}
VB.NET Sample
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Text
Module1
Private Declare Auto Function GetPrivateProfileString Lib "kernel32" (ByVal lpAppName As String, _
ByVal lpKeyName As String, _
ByVal lpDefault As String, _
ByVal lpReturnedString As StringBuilder, _
ByVal nSize As Integer, _
ByVal lpFileName As String) As Integer
Sub Main()
Dim res As Integer
Dim sb As StringBuilder
sb = New StringBuilder(500)
res = GetPrivateProfileString("AppName", "KeyName", "", sb, sb.Capacity, "c:\test.ini")
Console.WriteLine("GetPrivateProfileStirng returned : " + res.ToString())
Console.WriteLine("KeyName is : " + sb.ToString())
End Sub
End Module
Alternative Managed API:
Do you know one? Please contribute it!
