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FILE_VALID_DATA_LENGTH_INFORMATION structure (ntddk.h)

  • Article

The FILE_VALID_DATA_LENGTH_INFORMATION structure is used as an argument to ZwSetInformationFile.

Syntax

typedef struct _FILE_VALID_DATA_LENGTH_INFORMATION {
  LARGE_INTEGER ValidDataLength;
} FILE_VALID_DATA_LENGTH_INFORMATION, *PFILE_VALID_DATA_LENGTH_INFORMATION;

Members

ValidDataLength

Specifies the new valid data length for the file. This parameter must be a positive value that is greater than the current valid data length, but less than or equal to the current file size.

Remarks

The FILE_VALID_DATA_LENGTH_INFORMATION structure is used to set a new valid data length for a file on an NTFS volume. A file's valid data length is the length, in bytes, of the data that has been written to the file. This valid data extends from the beginning of the file to the last byte in the file that has not been zeroed or left uninitialized.

Setting this information requires FILE_WRITE_DATA access to the file. In addition, nonadministrators and remote users must have SeManageVolumePrivilege (SE_MANAGE_VOLUME_PRIVILEGE) for the volume on which the file resides.

File system filter drivers can find it useful to set a valid data length in the following scenarios:

  • When writing raw clusters directly to disk through a hardware channel. This allows the filter driver to inform the file system that this range contains valid data that can be returned to the user.
  • When creating large files where performance is an issue. This avoids the time it takes to fill the file with zeros when the file is created or extended.
  • When remotely extending a file and writing to disk on a served-metadata cluster file system.
The size of the FileInformation buffer passed to ZwSetInformationFile must be at least sizeof(FILE_VALID_DATA_LENGTH_INFORMATION).

This structure must be aligned on a LONGLONG (8-byte) boundary.

Requirements

Requirement Value
Minimum supported client Available on Microsoft Windows XP and later versions of the Windows operating system.
Header ntddk.h (include Ntddk.h)

See also

ZwSetInformationFile