Retrieves data from an array of buffers and writes the data to a file.

The function starts writing data to the file at a position that is specified by an OVERLAPPED structure. The WriteFileGather function operates asynchronously.

Syntax

BOOL WINAPI WriteFileGather(
  __in        HANDLE hFile,
  __in        FILE_SEGMENT_ELEMENT aSegmentArray[],
  __in        DWORD nNumberOfBytesToWrite,
  __reserved  LPDWORD lpReserved,
  __inout     LPOVERLAPPED lpOverlapped
);

Parameters

hFile [in]

A handle to the file. The file handle must be created with the GENERIC_WRITE access right, and the FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED and FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING flags. For more information, see File Security and Access Rights.

aSegmentArray [in]

A pointer to an array of FILE_SEGMENT_ELEMENT buffers that contain the data. For a description of this union, see Remarks.

Each element contains one page of data.

Note  To determine the size of a system page, use the GetSystemInfo function.

The array must contain enough elements to store nNumberOfBytesToWrite bytes of data, and one element for the terminating NULL. For example, if there are 40 KB to be read and the page size is 4 KB, the array must have 11 elements that includes 10 elements for the data and one element for the NULL.

Each buffer must be at least the size of a system memory page and must be aligned on a system memory page size boundary. The system writes one system memory page of data from each buffer.

The function gathers the data from the buffers in a sequential order. For example, it writes data to the file from the first buffer, then the second buffer, and so on until there is no more data.

Due to the asynchronous operation of this function, precautions must be taken to ensure that this parameter always references valid memory for the lifetime of the asynchronous writes. For instance, a common programming error is to use local stack storage and then allow execution to run out of scope.

nNumberOfBytesToWrite [in]

The total number of bytes to be written. Each element of aSegmentArray contains a one-page chunk of this total. Because the file must be opened with FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING, the number of bytes must be a multiple of the sector size of the file system where the file is located.

If nNumberOfBytesToWrite is zero (0), the function performs a null write operation. The behavior of a null write operation depends on the underlying file system. If nNumberOfBytesToWrite is not zero (0) and the offset and length of the write place data beyond the current end of the file, the WriteFileGather function extends the file.

lpReserved

This parameter is reserved for future use and must be NULL.

lpOverlapped [in, out]

A pointer to an OVERLAPPED data structure.

The WriteFileGather function requires a valid OVERLAPPED structure. The lpOverlapped parameter cannot be NULL.

The WriteFileGather function starts writing data to the file at a position that is specified by the Offset and OffsetHigh members of the OVERLAPPED structure.

The WriteFileGather function may return before the write operation is complete. In that scenario, the WriteFileGather function returns the value zero (0), and the GetLastError function returns the value ERROR_IO_PENDING. This asynchronous operation of the WriteFileGather function lets the calling process continue while the write operation completes. You can call the GetOverlappedResult, HasOverlappedIoCompleted, or GetQueuedCompletionStatus function to obtain information about the completion of the write operation. For more information, see Synchronous and Asynchronous I/O.

Return Value

If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.

If the function fails, the return value is zero (0). To get extended error information, call the GetLastError function.

If the function returns before the write operation is complete, the function returns zero (0), and the GetLastError function returns ERROR_IO_PENDING.

Remarks

This function is not supported for 32-bit applications by WOW64 on the Intel Itanium Processor Family.

The FILE_SEGMENT_ELEMENT union is defined as follows:

typedef union _FILE_SEGMENT_ELEMENT {
    PVOID64   Buffer;
    ULONGLONG Alignment;
}FILE_SEGMENT_ELEMENT, *PFILE_SEGMENT_ELEMENT;

Assigning a pointer to the Buffer member will sign-extend the value if the code is compiled as 32-bits; this can break large-address aware applications running on systems configured with /3GB. There, use the PtrToPtr64 macro when assigning pointers to Buffer.

If part of the file specified by hFile is locked by another process, and the write operation overlaps the locked portion, the WriteFileGather function fails.

Transacted Operations

If there is a transaction bound to the file handle, then the operation is transacted.

Requirements

See Also

CreateFile

File Management Functions

GetOverlappedResult

GetQueuedCompletionStatus

HasOverlappedIoCompleted

OVERLAPPED

ReadFile

ReadFileEx

ReadFileScatter

Synchronous and Asynchronous I/O

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Build date: 10/22/2009