Every driver must handle close requests in a DispatchClose routine, with the possible exception of a driver whose device cannot be disabled or removed from the machine without bringing down the system. A disk driver whose device holds the system page file is an example of such a driver. Note that the driver of such a device also cannot be unloaded dynamically.

When Sent

Receipt of this request indicates that the last handle of the file object that is associated with the target device object has been closed and released. All outstanding I/O requests have been completed or canceled.

Input Parameters

None

Output Parameters

None

Operation

Many device and intermediate drivers merely set STATUS_SUCCESS in the I/O status block of the IRP and complete the close request. However, what a given driver does on receipt of a close request depends on the driver's design. In general, a driver should undo whatever actions it takes on receipt of the IRP_MJ_CREATE request. Device drivers whose device objects are exclusive, such as a serial driver, also can reset the hardware on receipt of a close request.

The IRP_MJ_CLOSE request is not necessarily sent in the context of the process that closed the file object handle. If the driver must release process-specific resources, such as user memory, that the driver previously locked or mapped, it must do so in response to an IRP_MJ_CLEANUP request.

The IRP_MJ_CLOSE request will always be sent at PASSIVE_LEVEL.

See Also

IRP_MJ_CLEANUP