VB.Net Signature

<DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Shared Function GetPrivateProfileSection( ByVal lpAppName As String, _
    ByVal lpszReturnBuffer As IntPtr, ByVal nSize As System.Int32, ByVal lpFileName As String) As System.Int32
    End Function

C# Signature:

[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
static extern uint GetPrivateProfileSection(string lpAppName, IntPtr lpszReturnBuffer,
   uint nSize, string lpFileName);

Sample Code:

    Dim profiles As New Collections.Specialized.StringCollection
    Dim ptr As IntPtr = Marshal.StringToHGlobalAnsi(New String(vbNullChar, 1024))
    Dim len As Int32 = GetPrivateProfileSection("AppName", ptr, 1024, IniPath)
    Dim buff As String = Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi(ptr, len)
    Marshal.FreeHGlobal(ptr)
    Dim sb As New StringBuilder
     '
    '    I can't believe people write shit code like this.
    '
    For ii As Integer = 0 To len - 1
        Dim c As Char = buff.Chars(ii)
        If c = vbNullChar Then
            profiles.Add(sb.ToString)
            sb.Length = 0
        Else
            sb.Append(c)
        End If
    Next
static extern uint GetPrivateProfileSection(string lpAppName,
   IntPtr lpReturnedString, uint nSize, string lpFileName);

Alternative C# Signature:

[DllImport("kernel32.dll",CharSet=CharSet.Auto)]
static extern uint GetPrivateProfileSection(string lpAppName, IntPtr lpszReturnBuffer,
   uint nSize, string lpFileName);

Alternative Sample Code:

//similar to above, but use of CharSet in DllImport allows use of Marshal.PtrToStringAuto

public string[] Section()

{

    uint MAX_BUFFER = 32767;
    IntPtr pReturnedString = Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem((int)MAX_BUFFER);
    uint bytesReturned = GetPrivateProfileSection("AppName", pReturnedString, MAX_BUFFER, m_iniFile);
    if (bytesReturned == 0)
    {
        Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(pReturnedString);
        return null;
    }
    string local = Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi(pReturnedString, (int)bytesReturned).ToString();
    Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(pReturnedString);
    //use of Substring below removes terminating null for split
    return local.Substring(0, local.Length - 1).Split('\0');

}

Alternative Managed API:

Do you know one? Please contribute it!

static extern uint GetPrivateProfileSection(string lpAppName,
   IntPtr lpReturnedString, uint nSize, string lpFileName);

Using this alternative allows use of Marshal.PtrToStringAuto rather than repeated use of Marshal.ReadByte in the C# sample code below. See entry for GetPrivateProfileSectionNames

VB.NET Signature:

<DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError:=True)> _
Private Shared Function GetPrivateProfileSection(ByVal lpAppName As String, _
                          ByVal lpReturnedString As IntPtr, _
                          ByVal nSize As Integer, _
                          ByVal lpFileName As String) As Short
End Function

User-Defined Types:

None.

Notes:

GetPrivateProfileSection returns a null separated list of name value pairs.

Tips & Tricks:

I used the following wrapper around this function to convert lpReturnedString into a string[]

C# Sample Code

public static bool GetPrivateProfileSection(string appName, string fileName, out string[] section)
{
    section = null;

    if (!System.IO.File.Exists(fileName))
        return false;

    uint MAX_BUFFER = 32767;

    IntPtr pReturnedString = Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem((int)MAX_BUFFER * sizeof(char));

    uint bytesReturned = GetPrivateProfileSection(appName, pReturnedString, MAX_BUFFER, fileName);

    if ((bytesReturned == MAX_BUFFER - 2) ||(bytesReturned == 0))
    {
        Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(pReturnedString);
        return false;
    }

    //bytesReturned -1 to remove trailing \0

    // NOTE: Calling Marshal.PtrToStringAuto(pReturnedString) will
    //       result in only the first pair being returned
    string returnedString = Marshal.PtrToStringAuto(pReturnedString, bytesReturned - 1);

    section = returnedString.Split('\0');

    Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(pReturnedString);
    return true;
}

VB.NET Sample Code

Private Const MaxIniBuffer As Integer = &H7FFF

Public Shared Function ReadSection(ByVal filename As String, ByVal section As String) As System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection

    Dim pBuffer As IntPtr
    Dim bytesRead As Byte
    Dim sectionData As New System.Text.StringBuilder(MaxIniBuffer)

    Dim values As New System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection
    Dim pos As Integer ' seperator position
    Dim name, value As String

    If (Not System.IO.File.Exists(filename)) Then
    Return Nothing
    End If

    ' get a pointer to the unmanaged memory
    pBuffer = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(MaxIniBuffer * Marshal.SizeOf(Char))

    bytesRead = GetPrivateProfileSection(section, pBuffer, MaxIniBuffer, filename)

    If (bytesRead > 0) Then

    For i As Integer = 0 To bytesRead - 1
        sectionData.Append(Convert.ToChar(Marshal.ReadByte(pBuffer, i)))
    Next

    sectionData.Remove(sectionData.Length - 1, 1)

    For Each line As String In sectionData.ToString().Split(Convert.ToChar(0))

        ' locate the seperator
        pos = line.IndexOf("=")

        If (pos > -1) Then

        ' get values
        name = line.Substring(0, pos)
        value = line.Substring(pos + 1)

        ' add to collection
        values.Add(name, value)

        End If

    Next
    Else
    values = Nothing
    End If

    ' release the unmanaged memory
    Marshal.FreeHGlobal(pBuffer)

    ' return collection or Nothing if we weren't able to get anything
    Return values

End Function

Questions? nramsbottom@hotmail.com

Alternative Managed API:

Do you know one? Please contribute it!

Please edit this page!

Do you have...

• helpful tips or sample code to share for using this API in managed code?
• corrections to the existing content?
• variations of the signature you want to share?
• additional languages you want to include?

Select "Edit This Page" on the right hand toolbar and edit it! Or add new pages containing supporting types needed for this API (structures, delegates, and more).