CreateFile Method

Creates or opens a file or directory by passing the request directly to the filesystem.

Syntax

public long createFile(String fileName, int desiredAccess, int creationDisposition, int flagsAndAttributes);

Remarks

This method should be used instead of the Windows API's CreateFile function to create or open the file or directory specified by FileName when some other process has it open exclusively, or when the application doesn't have sufficient security rights/permissions to access it in a "standard" way.

If the file or directory is created or opened successfully, this method returns a file handle for it; otherwise, it returns INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE. The returned handle, if valid, must be closed using the Windows API's CloseHandle function when the application is finished with it.

The returned handle can be used with the Windows API's ReadFile and WriteFile functions.

The FileName, DesiredAccess, CreationDisposition, and FlagsAndAttributes parameters correspond to the lpFileName, dwDesiredAccess, dwCreationDisposition, and dwFlagsAndAttributes parameters of the Windows API's CreateFile function (respectively). Please refer to Microsoft's documentation for more information on how to set these parameters appropriately.