DisconnectNamedPipe function (namedpipeapi.h)

Disconnects the server end of a named pipe instance from a client process.

Syntax

BOOL DisconnectNamedPipe(
  [in] HANDLE hNamedPipe
);

Parameters

[in] hNamedPipe

A handle to an instance of a named pipe. This handle must be created by the CreateNamedPipe function.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.

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

Remarks

If the client end of the named pipe is open, the DisconnectNamedPipe function forces that end of the named pipe closed. The client receives an error the next time it attempts to access the pipe. A client that is forced off a pipe by DisconnectNamedPipe must still use the CloseHandle function to close its end of the pipe.

The pipe exists as long as a server or client process has an open handle to the pipe.

When the server process disconnects a pipe instance, any unread data in the pipe is discarded. Before disconnecting, the server can make sure data is not lost by calling the FlushFileBuffers function, which does not return until the client process has read all the data.

The server process must call DisconnectNamedPipe to disconnect a pipe handle from its previous client before the handle can be connected to another client by using the ConnectNamedPipe function.

Windows 10, version 1709:  Pipes are only supported within an app-container; ie, from one UWP process to another UWP process that's part of the same app. Also, named pipes must use the syntax \\.\pipe\LOCAL\ for the pipe name.

Examples

For an example, see Multithreaded Pipe Server.

Requirements

Requirement Value
Minimum supported client Windows 2000 Professional [desktop apps | UWP apps]
Minimum supported server Windows 2000 Server [desktop apps | UWP apps]
Target Platform Windows
Header namedpipeapi.h
Library Kernel32.lib
DLL Kernel32.dll

See also

CloseHandle

ConnectNamedPipe

CreateNamedPipe

FlushFileBuffers

Pipe Functions

Pipes Overview