OpenDesktop

OpenDesktop

The OpenDesktop function returns a handle to an existing desktop. A desktop is a secure object contained within a window station object. A desktop has a logical display surface and contains windows, menus and hooks.

HDESK OpenDesktop(

LPTSTR lpszDesktop,	// name of the desktop to open
DWORD dwFlags,	// flags to control interaction with other applications
BOOL fInherit,	// specifies whether returned handle is inheritable
DWORD dwDesiredAccess	// specifies access of returned handle
);

Parameters

lpszDesktop

Points to null-terminated string specifying the name of the desktop to be opened. Desktop names are case-insensitive.

dwFlags

A bit flag parameter that controls how the calling application will cooperate with other applications on the desktop. This parameter can specify zero or the following value:

Value	Description
DF_ALLOWOTHERACCOUNTHOOK	Allows processes running in other accounts on the desktop to set hooks in this process.

fInherit

Specifies whether the returned handle is inherited when a new process is created. If this value is TRUE, new processes will inherit the handle.

dwDesiredAccess

Specifies the type of access to the desktop. This parameter can be one or more of the following values:

Value	Description
DESKTOP_CREATEMENU	Required to create a menu on the desktop.
DESKTOP_CREATEWINDOW	Required to create a window on the desktop.
DESKTOP_ENUMERATE	Required for the desktop to be enumerated.
DESKTOP_HOOKCONTROL	Required to establish any of the window hooks.
DESKTOP_JOURNALPLAYBACK	Required to perform journal playback on the desktop.
DESKTOP_JOURNALRECORD	Required to perform journal recording on the desktop.
DESKTOP_READOBJECTS	Required to read objects on the desktop.
DESKTOP_SWITCHDESKTOP	Required to activate the desktop using SwitchDesktop.
DESKTOP_WRITEOBJECTS	Required to write objects on the desktop.

Return Values

If the function succeeds, the return value is the handle to the opened desktop.

If the function fails, the return value is NULL. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

The calling process must have an associated window station, either assigned by the system at process creation time or set by the SetProcessWindowStation function.