Conventions Used in Function Descriptions

The documentation of each function contains these sections:

Syntax

The function syntax describes the C-language calling syntax of the function and gives a brief description.

Programming Note
The functions in this book are spelled in mixed-case for readability but are known to the system as uppercase character strings. For example, the function "GPIBeginArea" is actually the external name "GPIBEGINAREA".

If you are using a compiler that generates a mixed-case external name, you should code the functions in uppercase.

Parameters
Each parameter is listed with its C-language data type, parameter type, and a brief description.

• All data types are written in uppercase to match the header files. A data type of "Pxxxxxxx" implicitly defines a pointer to the data type "xxxxxxx".

  The term NULL applied to a parameter indicates the presence of the parameter, with no value.

  Refer to for a complete list of all data types and their descriptions.

• There are three parameter types:

  Input

  Specified by the programmer.
  Output
  Returned by the function.
  Input/Output
  Specified by the programmer and modified by the function.
  
  A brief description is provided with each parameter. Where appropriate, restrictions are also included. In some cases, the parameter points to a structure.
  Returns
  A list of possible return codes or errors (when appropriate) is included in this section. Some functions do not have return codes. Refer to for a list of error codes and their numerical values, and for a list of error codes and their descriptions.

  For some functions, this section includes a statement that the function requires a message queue. This means that, before issuing a call, WinCreateMsgQueue must be issued by the same thread. For other functions, no previous WinCreateMsgQueue is required, and it is only necessary to issue WinInitialize from the same thread.

  Remarks
  This section contains additional information about the function, when required.
  Related Functions
  This list shows the functions (if any) that are related to the function being described.
  Example Code
  An example of how the function can be used is shown in C language.

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