GetClipboardFormatNameW function (winuser.h)

Article
02/22/2024

Retrieves from the clipboard the name of the specified registered format. The function copies the name to the specified buffer.

Syntax

int GetClipboardFormatNameW(
  [in]  UINT   format,
  [out] LPWSTR lpszFormatName,
  [in]  int    cchMaxCount
);

Parameters

[in] format

Type: UINT

The type of format to be retrieved. This parameter must not specify any of the predefined clipboard formats.

[out] lpszFormatName

Type: LPTSTR

The buffer that is to receive the format name.

[in] cchMaxCount

Type: int

The maximum length, in characters, of the string to be copied to the buffer. If the name exceeds this limit, it is truncated.

Return value

Type: int

If the function succeeds, the return value is the length, in characters, of the string copied to the buffer.

If the function fails, the return value is zero, indicating that the requested format does not exist or is predefined. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

Security Considerations

Using this function incorrectly might compromise the security of your program. For example, miscalculating the proper size of the lpszFormatName buffer, especially when the application is used in both ANSI and Unicode versions, can cause a buffer overflow. Also, note that the string is truncated if it is longer than the cchMaxCount parameter, which can lead to loss of information.

Examples

For an example, see Example of a Clipboard Viewer.

Note

The winuser.h header defines GetClipboardFormatName as an alias which automatically selects the ANSI or Unicode version of this function based on the definition of the UNICODE preprocessor constant. Mixing usage of the encoding-neutral alias with code that not encoding-neutral can lead to mismatches that result in compilation or runtime errors. For more information, see Conventions for Function Prototypes.

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	winuser.h (include Windows.h)
Library	User32.lib
DLL	User32.dll
API set	ext-ms-win-ntuser-misc-l1-1-0 (introduced in Windows 8)