Windows Data Types (Windows CE 5.0)

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The data types supported by Microsoft® Windows® CE are used to define function return values, function and message parameters, and structure members. They define the size and meaning of these elements.

The following table contains the following types: character, integer, Boolean, pointer, and handle. The character, integer, and Boolean types are common to most C compilers. Most of the pointer-type names begin with a prefix of P or LP. Handles refer to a resource that has been loaded into memory.

Data Type Description
ATOM Atom. For more information, see Using Atoms.
BOOL Boolean variable (should be TRUE or FALSE).
BOOLEAN Boolean variable (should be TRUE or FALSE).
BYTE Byte (8 bits).
CALLBACK Calling convention for callback functions.
CHAR 8-bit Windows (ANSI) character.
COLORREF Red, green, blue (RGB) color value (32 bits). For more information, see COLORREF.
CONST Variable whose value is to remain constant during execution.
CRITICAL_SECTION Critical-section object. For more information, see Critical Section Objects.
DWORD 32-bit unsigned integer.
DWORD_PTR Unsigned long type for pointer precision. Use when casting a pointer to a long type to perform pointer arithmetic.
DWORD32 32-bit unsigned integer.
DWORD64 64-bit unsigned integer.
FLOAT Floating-point variable.
HACCEL Handle to an accelerator table.
HANDLE Handle to an object.
HBITMAP Handle to a bitmap.
HBRUSH Handle to a brush.
HCONV Not supported.
HCONVLIST Not supported.
HCURSOR Handle to a cursor.
HDC Handle to a device context (DC).
HDDEDATA Not supported.
HDESK Not supported.
HDROP Handle to an internal drop structure.
HDWP Handle to a deferred window position structure.
HENHMETAFILE Not supported.
HFILE Handle to a file opened by OpenFile, not CreateFile.
HFONT Handle to a font.
HGDIOBJ Handle to a GDI object.
HGLOBAL Handle to a global memory block.
HHOOK Handle to a hook.
HICON Handle to an icon.
HIMAGELIST Handle to an image list.
HIMC Handle to input context.
HINSTANCE Handle to an instance.
HKEY Handle to a registry key.
HKL Input locale identifier.
HLOCAL Handle to a local memory block.
HMENU Handle to a menu.
HMETAFILE Not supported.
HMODULE Handle to a module. The value is the base address of the module.
HMONITOR Handle to a display monitor.
HPALETTE Handle to a palette.
HPEN Handle to a pen.
HRGN Handle to a region.
HRSRC Handle to a resource.
HSZ Handle to a DDE string.
HWINSTA Handle to a window station.
HWND Handle to a window.
INT 32-bit signed integer.
INT_PTR Signed integral type for pointer precision. Use when casting a pointer to an integer to perform pointer arithmetic.
INT32 32-bit signed integer.
INT64 64-bit signed integer.
LANGID Language identifier. For more information, see Locale Identifiers.
LCID Locale identifier. For more information, see Locale Identifiers.
LCTYPE Locale information type. For more information, see LCTYPE Constants.
LONG 32-bit signed integer.
LONG_PTR Signed long type for pointer precision. Use when casting a pointer to a long to perform pointer arithmetic.
LONG32 32-bit signed integer.
LONG64 64-bit signed integer.
LONGLONG 64-bit signed integer.
LPARAM Message parameter.
LPBOOL Pointer to a BOOL.
LPBYTE Pointer to a BYTE.
LPCOLORREF Pointer to a COLORREF value.
LPCRITICAL_SECTION Pointer to a CRITICAL_SECTION.
LPCSTR Pointer to a constant null-terminated string of 8-bit Windows (ANSI) characters.
LPCTSTR An LPCWSTR because Windows CE only uses Unicode.
LPCVOID Pointer to a constant of any type.
LPCWSTR Pointer to a constant null-terminated string of 16-bit Unicode characters.
LPDWORD Pointer to a DWORD.
LPHANDLE Pointer to a HANDLE.
LPINT Pointer to an INT.
LPLONG Pointer to a LONG.
LPSTR Pointer to a null-terminated string of 8-bit Windows (ANSI) characters.
LPTSTR An LPWSTR because Windows CE only uses Unicode.
LPVOID Pointer to any type.
LPWORD Pointer to a WORD.
LPWSTR Pointer to a null-terminated string of 16-bit Unicode characters.
LRESULT Signed result of message processing.
LUID Locally unique identifier.
PBOOL Pointer to a BOOL.
PBOOLEAN Pointer to a BOOL.
PBYTE Pointer to a BYTE.
PCHAR Pointer to a CHAR.
PCRITICAL_SECTION Pointer to a CRITICAL_SECTION.
PCSTR Pointer to a constant null-terminated string of 8-bit Windows (ANSI) characters.
PCTSTR A PCWSTR because Windows CE only uses Unicode.
PCWCH Pointer to a constant WCHAR.
PCWSTR Pointer to a constant null-terminated string of 16-bit Unicode characters.
PCWSTR Pointer to a constant null-terminated string of 16-bit Unicode characters.
PDWORD Pointer to a DWORD.
PDWORD Pointer to a DWORD.
PFLOAT Pointer to a FLOAT.
PHANDLE Pointer to a HANDLE.
PHKEY Pointer to an HKEY.
PINT Pointer to an INT.
PLCID Pointer to an LCID.
PLONG Pointer to a LONG.
PLUID Pointer to a LUID.
POINTER_32 32-bit pointer.
POINTER_64 64-bit pointer. This is a sign-extended 32-bit pointer.
PSHORT Pointer to a SHORT.
PSTR Pointer to a null-terminated string of 8-bit Windows (ANSI) characters.
PTBYTE Pointer to a TBYTE.
PTCHAR Pointer to a TCHAR.
PTSTR A PWSTR because Windows CE only uses Unicode.
PUCHAR Pointer to a UCHAR.
PUINT Pointer to a UINT.
PULONG Pointer to a ULONG.
PUSHORT Pointer to a USHORT.
PVOID Pointer to any type.
PWCHAR Pointer to a WCHAR.
PWORD Pointer to a WORD.
PWSTR Pointer to a null-terminated string of 16-bit Unicode characters.
REGSAM Not supported.
SC_HANDLE Handle to a service control manager database.
SC_LOCK Handle to a service control manager database lock.
SERVICE_STATUS_HANDLE Handle to a service status value.
SHORT Short integer (16 bits).
SIZE_T The maximum number of bytes to which a pointer can point. Use for a count that must span the full range of a pointer.
SSIZE_T Signed SIZE_T.
TBYTE A WCHAR because Windows CE only uses Unicode.
TCHAR A WCHAR because Windows CE only uses Unicode.
UCHAR Unsigned CHAR.
UINT Unsigned INT.
UINT_PTR Unsigned INT_PTR.
UINT32 Unsigned INT32.
UINT64 Unsigned INT64.
ULONG Unsigned LONG.
ULONG_PTR Unsigned LONG_PTR.
ULONG32 Unsigned LONG32.
ULONG64 Unsigned LONG64.
ULONGLONG 64-bit unsigned integer.
UNSIGNED Unsigned attribute.
USHORT Unsigned SHORT.
VOID Any type.
WCHAR 16-bit Unicode character.
WINAPI Calling convention for system functions.
WORD 16-bit unsigned integer.
WPARAM Message parameter.

See Also

Windows Reference

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