RegisterClassA function (winuser.h)

Registers a window class for subsequent use in calls to the CreateWindow or CreateWindowEx function.

Note  The RegisterClass function has been superseded by the RegisterClassEx function. You can still use RegisterClass, however, if you do not need to set the class small icon.
 

Syntax

ATOM RegisterClassA(
  [in] const WNDCLASSA *lpWndClass
);

Parameters

[in] lpWndClass

Type: const WNDCLASS*

A pointer to a WNDCLASS structure. You must fill the structure with the appropriate class attributes before passing it to the function.

Return value

Type: ATOM

If the function succeeds, the return value is a class atom that uniquely identifies the class being registered. This atom can only be used by the CreateWindow, CreateWindowEx, GetClassInfo, GetClassInfoEx, FindWindow, FindWindowEx, and UnregisterClass functions and the IActiveIMMap::FilterClientWindows method.

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

Remarks

If you register the window class by using RegisterClassA, the application tells the system that the windows of the created class expect messages with text or character parameters to use the ANSI character set; if you register it by using RegisterClassW, the application requests that the system pass text parameters of messages as Unicode. The IsWindowUnicode function enables applications to query the nature of each window. For more information on ANSI and Unicode functions, see Conventions for Function Prototypes.

All window classes that an application registers are unregistered when it terminates.

No window classes registered by a DLL are unregistered when the DLL is unloaded. A DLL must explicitly unregister its classes when it is unloaded.

Examples

For an example, see Associating a Window Procedure with a Window Class.

Note

The winuser.h header defines RegisterClass as an alias that 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 is 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-windowclass-l1-1-0 (introduced in Windows 8)

See also

Conceptual

CreateWindow

CreateWindowEx

FindWindow

FindWindowEx

GetClassInfo

GetClassInfoEx

GetClassName

Reference

RegisterClassEx

UnregisterClass

WNDCLASS

Window Classes

WindowProc