OpenWaitableTimerW function (synchapi.h)
Opens an existing named waitable timer object.
Syntax
HANDLE OpenWaitableTimerW(
[in] DWORD dwDesiredAccess,
[in] BOOL bInheritHandle,
[in] LPCWSTR lpTimerName
);
Parameters
[in] dwDesiredAccess
The access to the timer object. The function fails if the security descriptor of the specified object does not permit the requested access for the calling process. For a list of access rights, see Synchronization Object Security and Access Rights.
[in] bInheritHandle
If this value is TRUE, processes created by this process will inherit the handle. Otherwise, the processes do not inherit this handle.
[in] lpTimerName
The name of the timer object. The name is limited to MAX_PATH characters. Name comparison is case sensitive.
This function can open objects in a private namespace. For more information, see Object Namespaces.
Terminal Services: The name can have a "Global" or "Local" prefix to explicitly open an object in the global or session namespace. The remainder of the name can contain any character except the backslash character (\). For more information, see Kernel Object Namespaces.
Note Fast user switching is implemented using Terminal Services sessions. The first user to log on uses session 0, the next user to log on uses session 1, and so on. Kernel object names must follow the guidelines outlined for Terminal Services so that applications can support multiple users.
Return value
If the function succeeds, the return value is a handle to the timer object.
If the function fails, the return value is NULL. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.
Remarks
The OpenWaitableTimer function enables multiple processes to open handles to the same timer object. The function succeeds only if some process has already created the timer using the CreateWaitableTimer function. The calling process can use the returned handle in any function that requires the handle to a timer object, such as the wait functions, subject to the limitations of the access specified in the dwDesiredAccess parameter.
The returned handle can be duplicated by using the DuplicateHandle function. Use the CloseHandle function to close the handle. The system closes the handle automatically when the process terminates. The timer object is destroyed when its last handle has been closed.
To compile an application that uses this function, define _WIN32_WINNT as 0x0400 or later. For more information, see Using the Windows Headers.
Requirements
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| Minimum supported client | Windows XP [desktop apps | UWP apps] |
| Minimum supported server | Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps | UWP apps] |
| Target Platform | Windows |
| Header | synchapi.h (include Windows.h) |
| Library | Kernel32.lib |
| DLL | Kernel32.dll |