Generic Access Rights

Securable objects use an access mask format in which the four high-order bits specify generic access rights. Each type of securable object maps these bits to a set of its standard and object-specific access rights. For example, a Windows file object maps the GENERIC_READ bit to the READ_CONTROL and SYNCHRONIZE standard access rights and to the FILE_READ_DATA, FILE_READ_EA, and FILE_READ_ATTRIBUTES object-specific access rights. Other types of objects map the GENERIC_READ bit to whatever set of access rights is appropriate for that type of object.

You can use generic access rights to specify the type of access you need when you're opening a handle to an object. This is typically simpler than specifying all the corresponding standard and specific rights.

The following table shows the constants defined for the generic access rights.

Constant	Generic meaning
GENERIC_ALL 0x10000000	All possible access rights
GENERIC_EXECUTE 0x20000000	Execute access
GENERIC_WRITE 0x40000000	Write access
GENERIC_READ 0x80000000	Read access

Applications that define private securable objects can also use the generic access rights.