IPersistFile::IsDirty method (objidl.h)

Article
02/22/2024

Determines whether an object has changed since it was last saved to its current file.

Syntax

HRESULT IsDirty();

Return value

This method returns S_OK to indicate that the object has changed. Otherwise, it returns S_FALSE.

Remarks

Use this method to determine whether an object should be saved before closing it. The dirty flag for an object is conditionally cleared in the IPersistFile::Save method.

Notes to Callers

OLE does not call IsDirty. Applications would not call it unless they are also saving an object to a file.

You should treat any error return codes as an indication that the object has changed. Unless this method explicitly returns S_FALSE, assume that the object must be saved.

Notes to Implementers

An object with no contained objects simply checks its dirty flag to return the appropriate result.

A container with one or more contained objects must maintain an internal dirty flag that is set when any of its contained objects has changed since it was last saved. To do this, the container should maintain an advise sink by implementing the IAdviseSink interface. Then, the container can register each link or embedding for data change notifications with a call to IDataObject::DAdvise. Then, the container can set its internal dirty flag when it receives an IAdviseSink::OnDataChange notification. If the container does not register for data change notifications, the IPersistFile::IsDirty implementation would call IPersistStorage::IsDirty for each of its contained objects to determine whether they have changed.

The container can clear its dirty flag whenever it is saved, as long as the file to which the object is saved is the current working file after the save. Therefore, the dirty flag would be cleared after a successful Save or Save As operation, but not after a Save A Copy As . . . operation.

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	objidl.h