RegNotifyChangeKeyValue function (winreg.h)
Notifies the caller about changes to the attributes or contents of a specified registry key.
Syntax
LSTATUS RegNotifyChangeKeyValue(
[in] HKEY hKey,
[in] BOOL bWatchSubtree,
[in] DWORD dwNotifyFilter,
[in, optional] HANDLE hEvent,
[in] BOOL fAsynchronous
);
Parameters
[in] hKey
A handle to an open registry key. This handle is returned by the RegCreateKeyEx or RegOpenKeyEx function. It can also be one of the following predefined keys:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG HKEY_CURRENT_USER HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE HKEY_USERS This parameter must be a local handle. If RegNotifyChangeKeyValue is called with a remote handle, it returns ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE.
The key must have been opened with the KEY_NOTIFY access right. For more information, see Registry Key Security and Access Rights.
[in] bWatchSubtree
If this parameter is TRUE, the function reports changes in the specified key and its subkeys. If the parameter is FALSE, the function reports changes only in the specified key.
[in] dwNotifyFilter
A value that indicates the changes that should be reported. This parameter can be one or more of the following values.
[in, optional] hEvent
A handle to an event. If the fAsynchronous parameter is TRUE, the function returns immediately and changes are reported by signaling this event. If fAsynchronous is FALSE, hEvent is ignored.
[in] fAsynchronous
If this parameter is TRUE, the function returns immediately and reports changes by signaling the specified event. If this parameter is FALSE, the function does not return until a change has occurred.
If hEvent does not specify a valid event, the fAsynchronous parameter cannot be TRUE.
Return value
If the function succeeds, the return value is ERROR_SUCCESS.
If the function fails, the return value is a nonzero error code defined in Winerror.h. You can use the FormatMessage function with the FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM flag to get a generic description of the error.
Remarks
This function detects a single change. After the caller receives a notification event, it should call the function again to receive the next notification.
If the specified key is closed, the event is signaled. This means that an application should not depend on the key being open after returning from a wait operation on the event.
The REG_NOTIFY_THREAD_AGNOSTIC flag introduced in Windows 8 enables the use of RegNotifyChangeKeyValue for ThreadPool threads.
If the thread that called RegNotifyChangeKeyValue exits, the event is signaled. To continue to monitor additional changes in the value of the key, call RegNotifyChangeKeyValue again from another thread.
With the exception of RegNotifyChangeKeyValue calls with REG_NOTIFY_THREAD_AGNOSTIC set, this function must be called on persistent threads. If the calling thread is from a thread pool and it is not persistent, the event is signaled every time the thread terminates, not just when there is a registry change. To ensure accurate results, run the thread pool work in a persistent thread by using the SetThreadpoolCallbackPersistent function, or create your own thread using the CreateThread function. (For the original thread pool API, specify WT_EXECUTEINPERSISTENTTHREAD using the QueueUserWorkItem function.)
This function should not be called multiple times with the same value for the hKey but different values for the bWatchSubtree and dwNotifyFilter parameters. The function will succeed but the changes will be ignored. To change the
watch parameters, you must first close the key handle by calling
RegCloseKey, reopen the key handle by calling
RegOpenKeyEx, and then call RegNotifyChangeKeyValue with the new parameters.
Each time a process calls RegNotifyChangeKeyValue with the same set of parameters, it establishes another wait operation, creating a resource leak. Therefore, check that you are not calling RegNotifyChangeKeyValue with the same parameters until the previous wait operation has completed.
To monitor registry operations in more detail, see Registry.
Windows XP/2000: When RegNotifyChangeKeyValue is called for a particular key handle, change notifications occur for as long as the key handle is valid. This causes a second call to RegNotifyChangeKeyValue to return immediately, if any changes occur in the interim between the first and second calls. If the function is being used asynchronously, the passed event handle will be signaled immediately if any changes occur in the interim.
Examples
The following program illustrates how to use RegNotifyChangeKeyValue.
#include <windows.h>
#include <tchar.h>
#include <stdio.h>
//void main(int argc, char *argv[])
void __cdecl _tmain(int argc, TCHAR *argv[])
{
DWORD dwFilter = REG_NOTIFY_CHANGE_NAME |
REG_NOTIFY_CHANGE_ATTRIBUTES |
REG_NOTIFY_CHANGE_LAST_SET |
REG_NOTIFY_CHANGE_SECURITY;
HANDLE hEvent;
HKEY hMainKey;
HKEY hKey;
LONG lErrorCode;
// Display the usage error message.
if (argc != 3)
{
_tprintf(TEXT("Usage: notify [HKLM|HKU|HKCU|HKCR|HCC] [<subkey>]\n"));
return;
}
// Convert parameters to appropriate handles.
if (_tcscmp(TEXT("HKLM"), argv[1]) == 0) hMainKey=HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE;
else if(_tcscmp(TEXT("HKU"), argv[1]) == 0) hMainKey=HKEY_USERS;
else if(_tcscmp(TEXT("HKCU"), argv[1]) == 0) hMainKey=HKEY_CURRENT_USER;
else if(_tcscmp(TEXT("HKCR"), argv[1]) == 0) hMainKey=HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT;
else if(_tcscmp(TEXT("HCC"), argv[1]) == 0) hMainKey=HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG;
else
{
_tprintf(TEXT("Usage: notify [HKLM|HKU|HKCU|HKCR|HCC] [<subkey>]\n"));
return;
}
// Open a key.
lErrorCode = RegOpenKeyEx(hMainKey, argv[2], 0, KEY_NOTIFY, &hKey);
if (lErrorCode != ERROR_SUCCESS)
{
_tprintf(TEXT("Error in RegOpenKeyEx (%d).\n"), lErrorCode);
return;
}
// Create an event.
hEvent = CreateEvent(NULL, TRUE, FALSE, NULL);
if (hEvent == NULL)
{
_tprintf(TEXT("Error in CreateEvent (%d).\n"), GetLastError());
return;
}
// Watch the registry key for a change of value.
lErrorCode = RegNotifyChangeKeyValue(hKey,
TRUE,
dwFilter,
hEvent,
TRUE);
if (lErrorCode != ERROR_SUCCESS)
{
_tprintf(TEXT("Error in RegNotifyChangeKeyValue (%d).\n"), lErrorCode);
return;
}
// Wait for an event to occur.
_tprintf(TEXT("Waiting for a change in the specified key...\n"));
if (WaitForSingleObject(hEvent, INFINITE) == WAIT_FAILED)
{
_tprintf(TEXT("Error in WaitForSingleObject (%d).\n"), GetLastError());
return;
}
else _tprintf(TEXT("\nChange has occurred.\n"));
// Close the key.
lErrorCode = RegCloseKey(hKey);
if (lErrorCode != ERROR_SUCCESS)
{
_tprintf(TEXT("Error in RegCloseKey (%d).\n"), GetLastError());
return;
}
// Close the handle.
if (!CloseHandle(hEvent))
{
_tprintf(TEXT("Error in CloseHandle.\n"));
return;
}
}
Requirements
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| Minimum supported client | Windows 2000 Professional [desktop apps only] |
| Minimum supported server | Windows 2000 Server [desktop apps only] |
| Target Platform | Windows |
| Header | winreg.h (include Windows.h) |
| Library | Advapi32.lib |
| DLL | Advapi32.dll |