Retrieving the Last-Error Code

When many system functions fail, they set the last-error code. If your application needs more details about an error, it can retrieve the last-error code using the GetLastError function and display a description of the error using the FormatMessage function.

The following example includes an error-handling function that prints the error message and terminates the process. The lpszFunction parameter is the name of the function that set the last-error code.

#include <windows.h>
#include <strsafe.h>

void ErrorExit(LPCTSTR lpszFunction) 
{ 
    // Retrieve the system error message for the last-error code

    LPVOID lpMsgBuf;
    LPVOID lpDisplayBuf;
    DWORD dw = GetLastError(); 

    FormatMessage(
        FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER | 
        FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM |
        FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS,
        NULL,
        dw,
        MAKELANGID(LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT),
        (LPTSTR) &lpMsgBuf,
        0, NULL );

    // Display the error message and exit the process

    lpDisplayBuf = (LPVOID)LocalAlloc(LMEM_ZEROINIT, 
        (lstrlen((LPCTSTR)lpMsgBuf) + lstrlen((LPCTSTR)lpszFunction) + 40) * sizeof(TCHAR)); 
    StringCchPrintf((LPTSTR)lpDisplayBuf, 
        LocalSize(lpDisplayBuf) / sizeof(TCHAR),
        TEXT("%s failed with error %d: %s"), 
        lpszFunction, dw, lpMsgBuf); 
    MessageBox(NULL, (LPCTSTR)lpDisplayBuf, TEXT("Error"), MB_OK); 

    LocalFree(lpMsgBuf);
    LocalFree(lpDisplayBuf);
    ExitProcess(dw); 
}

void main()
{
    // Generate an error

    if(!GetProcessId(NULL))
        ErrorExit(TEXT("GetProcessId"));
}