Directory Handles

Whenever a process creates or opens a directory object, it receives a handle to the object.

To obtain a handle to an existing directory, call the CreateFile function with the FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS flag.

You can pass a directory handle to the following functions.

Function	Description
BackupRead	Back up a file or directory, including the security information.
BackupSeek	Seeks forward in a data stream initially accessed by using the BackupRead or BackupWrite function.
BackupWrite	Restore a file or directory that was backed up using BackupRead.
GetFileInformationByHandle	Retrieves file information for the specified file.
GetFileSize	Retrieves the size of the specified file, in bytes.
GetFileTime	Retrieves the date and time that a file or directory was created, last accessed, and last modified.
GetFileType	Retrieves the file type of the specified file.
ReadDirectoryChangesW	Retrieves information that describes the changes within the specified directory.
SetFileTime	Sets the date and time that the specified file or directory was created, last accessed, or last modified.