# StgOpenStorage

Opens an existing root storage object in the file system. You can use this function to open compound files, but you cannot use it to open directories, files, or summary catalogs. Nested storage objects can only be opened using their parent's IStorage::OpenStorage method.

WINOLEAPI StgOpenStorage(

const WCHAR * pwcsName, | //Points to the pathname of the file containing storage object
IStorage * pstgPriority, | //Points to a previous opening of a root storage object
DWORD grfMode, | //Specifies the access mode for the object
SNB snbExclude, | //Points to an SNB structure specifying elements to be excluded
DWORD reserved, | //Reserved; must be zero
IStorage ** ppstgOpen | //Indirect IStorage pointer to the storage object on return
); |

Parameters

pwcsName
  [in] Points to the pathname of the storage object to open. This parameter is ignored if the pStgPriority parameter is not NULL.
pstgPriority
  [in] Most often NULL. If not NULL, this parameter is used instead of the pwcsName parameter to specify the pointer to the IStorage interface on the storage object to open. It points to a previous opening of a root storage object, most often one that was opened in priority mode.

  After the StgOpenStorage function returns, the storage object specified in the pStgPriority parameter on function entry is invalid, and can no longer be used. Use the one specified in the ppStgOpen parameter instead.

grfMode
  [in] Specifies the access mode to use to open the storage object.
snbExclude
  [in] If not NULL, this parameter points to a block of elements in this storage that are to be excluded as the storage object is opened. This exclusion occurs independent of whether a snapshot copy happens on the open. May be NULL.
reserved
  [in] Indicates reserved for future use; must be zero.
ppstgOpen
  [out] Points to the location of the IStorage pointer on the opened storage.

Return Values

S_OK
  Indicates the storage object was successfully opened.
STG_E_FILENOTFOUND
  Indicates the specified file does not exist.
STG_E_ACCESSDENIED
  Access denied because the caller has insufficient permission, or another caller has the file open and locked.
STG_E_LOCKVIOLATION
  Access denied because another caller has the file open and locked.
STG_E_FILEALREADYEXISTS
  Indicates the file exists but is not a storage object.
STG_E_TOOMANYOPENFILES
  Indicates the storage object was not opened because there are too many open files.
STG_E_INSUFFICIENTMEMORY
  Indicates the storage object was not opened due to a lack of memory.
STG_E_INVALIDNAME
  Indicates bad name in the pwcsName parameter.
STG_E_INVALIDPOINTER
  Indicates bad pointer in one of the parameters: snbExclude, pwcsName, pstgPriority, or ppStgOpen.
STG_E_INVALIDFLAG
  Indicates bad flag combination in the grfMode parameter.
STG_E_INVALIDFUNCTION
  Indicates STGM_DELETEONRELEASE specified in the grfMode parameter.
STG_E_OLDFORMAT
  Indicates the storage object being opened was created by the Beta 1 storage provider. This format is no longer supported.
STG_E_OLDDLL
  Indicates the DLL being used to open this storage object is a version prior to the one used to create it.
STG_E_PATHNOTFOUND
  Specified pathname does not exist.

Remarks

The StgOpenStorage function opens the specified root storage object according to the access mode in the grfMode parameter, and, if successful, supplies an IStorage pointer to the opened storage object in the ppstgOpen parameter.

Note Opening a storage object in read and/or write mode without denying writer permission to others (the grfMode parameter specifies STGM_SHARE_DENY_WRITE) can be a time-consuming operation since the StgOpenStorage call must make a snapshot of the entire storage object.

Applications will often try to open storage objects with the following access permissions:

    STGM_READ_WRITE | STGM_SHARE_DENY_WRITE
        // transacted vs. direct mode omitted for exposition

If the application succeeds, it will never need to do a snapshot copy. If it fails, the application can revert to using the permissions and make a snapshot copy:

    STGM_READ_WRITE
        // transacted vs. direct mode omitted for exposition

In this case, the application should prompt the user before doing a time-consuming copy. Alternatively, if the document sharing semantics implied by the access modes are appropriate, the application could try to open the storage as follows:

    STGM_READ | STGM_SHARE_DENY_WRITE
        // transacted vs. direct mode omitted for exposition

In this case, if the application succeeds, a snapshot copy will not have been made (because STGM_SHARE_DENY_WRITE was specified, denying others write access).

To reduce the expense of making a snapshot copy, applications can open storage objects in priority mode (grfMode specifies STGM_PRIORITY).

The snbExclude parameter specifies a set of element names in this storage object that are to be emptied as the storage object is opened: streams are set to a length of zero; storage objects have all their elements removed. By excluding certain streams, the expense of making a snapshot copy can be significantly reduced. Almost always, this approach will be used after first opening the storage object in priority mode, then completely reading the now-excluded elements into memory. This earlier priority mode opening of the storage object should be passed through the pstgPriority parameter to remove the exclusion implied by priority mode. The calling application is responsible for rewriting the contents of excluded items before committing. Thus, this technique is most likely only useful to applications whose documents do not require constant access to their storage objects while they are active.

See Also

IStorage, StgCreateDocfile