Perl on Win32 contains several functions to access Win32
APIs. Some are included in Perl itself (on Win32) and some
are only available after explicitly requesting the Win32
module with:
use Win32;
The builtin functions are marked as [CORE] and the other
ones as [EXT] in the following alphabetical listing. The
`Win32' module is not part of the Perl source distribution;
it is distributed in the libwin32 bundle of Win32::* modules
on CPAN. The module is already preinstalled in binary
distributions like ActivePerl.
AlphabeticalListingofWin32Functions
Win32::AbortSystemShutdown(MACHINE)
[EXT] Aborts a system shutdown (started by the
InitiateSystemShutdown function) on the specified
MACHINE.
Win32::BuildNumber()
[CORE] Returns the ActivePerl build number. This
function is only available in the ActivePerl binary
distribution.
Win32::CopyFile(FROM, TO, OVERWRITE)
[CORE] The Win32::CopyFile() function copies an existing
file to a new file. All file information like creation
time and file attributes will be copied to the new file.
However it will not copy the security information. If
the destination file already exists it will only be
overwritten when the OVERWRITE parameter is true. But
even this will not overwrite a read-only file; you have
to unlink() it first yourself.
Win32::DomainName()
[CORE] Returns the name of the Microsoft Network domain
that the owner of the current perl process is logged
into.
Win32::ExpandEnvironmentStrings(STRING)
[EXT] Takes STRING and replaces all referenced
environment variable names with their defined values.
References to environment variables take the form
`%VariableName%'. Case is ignored when looking up the
VariableName in the environment. If the variable is not
found then the original `%VariableName%' text is
retained. Has the same effect as the following:
$string =~ s/%([^%]*)%/$ENV{$1} || "%$1%"/eg
Win32::FormatMessage(ERRORCODE)
[CORE] Converts the supplied Win32 error number (e.g.
returned by Win32::GetLastError()) to a descriptive
string. Analogous to the perror() standard-C library
function. Note that `$^E' used in a string context has
much the same effect.
C:\> perl -e "$^E = 26; print $^E;"
The specified disk or diskette cannot be accessed
Win32::FsType()
[CORE] Returns the name of the filesystem of the
currently active drive (like 'FAT' or 'NTFS'). In list
context it returns three values: (FSTYPE, FLAGS,
MAXCOMPLEN). FSTYPE is the filesystem type as before.
FLAGS is a combination of values of the following table:
0x00000001 supports case-sensitive filenames
0x00000002 preserves the case of filenames
0x00000004 supports Unicode in filenames
0x00000008 preserves and enforces ACLs
0x00000010 supports file-based compression
0x00000020 supports disk quotas
0x00000040 supports sparse files
0x00000080 supports reparse points
0x00000100 supports remote storage
0x00008000 is a compressed volume (e.g. DoubleSpace)
0x00010000 supports object identifiers
0x00020000 supports the Encrypted File System (EFS)
MAXCOMPLEN is the maximum length of a filename component
(the part between two backslashes) on this file system.
Win32::FreeLibrary(HANDLE)
[EXT] Unloads a previously loaded dynamic-link library.
The HANDLE is no longer valid after this call. See
LoadLibrary for information on dynamically loading a
library.
Win32::GetArchName()
[EXT] Use of this function is deprecated. It is
equivalent with $ENV{PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE}. This might
not work on Win9X.
Win32::GetChipName()
[EXT] Returns the processor type: 386, 486 or 586 for
Intel processors, 21064 for the Alpha chip.
Win32::GetCwd()
[CORE] Returns the current active drive and directory.
This function does not return a UNC path, since the
functionality required for such a feature is not
available under Windows 95.
Win32::GetFullPathName(FILENAME)
[CORE] GetFullPathName combines the FILENAME with the
current drive and directory name and returns a fully
qualified (aka, absolute) path name. In list context it
returns two elements: (PATH, FILE) where PATH is the
complete pathname component (including trailing
backslash) and FILE is just the filename part. Note
that no attempt is made to convert 8.3 components in the
supplied FILENAME to longnames or vice-versa. Compare
with Win32::GetShortPathName and Win32::GetLongPathName.
This function has been added for Perl 5.6.
Win32::GetLastError()
[CORE] Returns the last error value generated by a call
to a Win32 API function. Note that `$^E' used in a
numeric context amounts to the same value.
Win32::GetLongPathName(PATHNAME)
[CORE] Returns a representaion of PATHNAME composed of
longname components (if any). The result may not
necessarily be longer than PATHNAME. No attempt is made
to convert PATHNAME to the absolute path. Compare with
Win32::GetShortPathName and Win32::GetFullPathName.
This function has been added for Perl 5.6.
Win32::GetNextAvailDrive()
[CORE] Returns a string in the form of "<d>:" where <d>
is the first available drive letter.
Win32::GetOSVersion()
[CORE] Returns the array (STRING, MAJOR, MINOR, BUILD,
ID), where the elements are, respectively: An arbitrary
descriptive string, the major version number of the
operating system, the minor version number, the build
number, and a digit indicating the actual operating
system. For ID, the values are 0 for Win32s, 1 for
Windows 9X and 2 for Windows NT. In scalar context it
returns just the ID.
Win32::GetShortPathName(PATHNAME)
[CORE] Returns a representation of PATHNAME composed
only of short (8.3) path components. The result may not
necessarily be shorter than PATHNAME. Compare with
Win32::GetFullPathName and Win32::GetLongPathName.
Win32::GetProcAddress(INSTANCE, PROCNAME)
[EXT] Returns the address of a function inside a loaded
library. The information about what you can do with this
address has been lost in the mist of time. Use the
Win32::API module instead of this deprecated function.
Win32::GetTickCount()
[CORE] Returns the number of milliseconds elapsed since
the last system boot. Resolution is limited to system
timer ticks (about 10ms on WinNT and 55ms on Win9X).
FORCECLOSE, REBOOT)
Win32::InitiateSystemShutdown(MACHINE, MESSAGE, TIMEOUT,
[EXT] Shutsdown the specified MACHINE, notifying users
with the supplied MESSAGE, within the specified TIMEOUT
interval. Forces closing of all documents without
prompting the user if FORCECLOSE is true, and reboots
the machine if REBOOT is true. This function works only
on WinNT.
Win32::IsWinNT()
[CORE] Returns non zero if the Win32 subsystem is
Windows NT.
Win32::IsWin95()
[CORE] Returns non zero if the Win32 subsystem is
Windows 95.
Win32::LoadLibrary(LIBNAME)
[EXT] Loads a dynamic link library into memory and
returns its module handle. This handle can be used with
Win32::GetProcAddress and Win32::FreeLibrary. This
function is deprecated. Use the Win32::API module
instead.
Win32::LoginName()
[CORE] Returns the username of the owner of the current
perl process.
Win32::LookupAccountName(SYSTEM, ACCOUNT, DOMAIN, SID, SIDTYPE)
[EXT] Looks up ACCOUNT on SYSTEM and returns the domain
name the SID and the SID type.
Win32::LookupAccountSID(SYSTEM, SID, ACCOUNT, DOMAIN, SIDTYPE)
[EXT] Looks up SID on SYSTEM and returns the account
name, domain name, and the SID type.
Win32::MsgBox(MESSAGE [, FLAGS [, TITLE]])
[EXT] Create a dialogbox containing MESSAGE. FLAGS
specifies the required icon and buttons according to the
following table:
0 = OK
1 = OK and Cancel
2 = Abort, Retry, and Ignore
3 = Yes, No and Cancel
4 = Yes and No
5 = Retry and Cancel
MB_ICONSTOP "X" in a red circle
MB_ICONQUESTION question mark in a bubble
MB_ICONEXCLAMATION exclamation mark in a yellow triangle
MB_ICONINFORMATION "i" in a bubble
TITLE specifies an optional window title. The default is
"Perl".
The function returns the menu id of the selected push
button:
0 Error
1 OK
2 Cancel
3 Abort
4 Retry
5 Ignore
6 Yes
7 No
Win32::NodeName()
[CORE] Returns the Microsoft Network node-name of the
current machine.
Win32::RegisterServer(LIBRARYNAME)
[EXT] Loads the DLL LIBRARYNAME and calls the function
DllRegisterServer.
Win32::SetCwd(NEWDIRECTORY)
[CORE] Sets the current active drive and directory. This
function does not work with UNC paths, since the
functionality required to required for such a feature is
not available under Windows 95.
Win32::SetLastError(ERROR)
[CORE] Sets the value of the last error encountered to
ERROR. This is that value that will be returned by the
Win32::GetLastError() function. This functions has been
added for Perl 5.6.
Win32::Sleep(TIME)
[CORE] Pauses for TIME milliseconds. The timeslices are
made available to other processes and threads.
Win32::Spawn(COMMAND, ARGS, PID)
[CORE] Spawns a new process using the supplied COMMAND,
passing in arguments in the string ARGS. The pid of the
new process is stored in PID. This function is
deprecated. Please use the Win32::Process module
instead.
Win32::UnregisterServer(LIBRARYNAME)
[EXT] Loads the DLL LIBRARYNAME and calls the function
DllUnregisterServer.