The Old New Thing

What is the deal with the SM_CXCURSOR system metric?

August 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021 08/19/21

Raymond Chen

A metric from an earlier, simpler time.

What’s with all of the references to “dude” in the accessibility header files?

August 18, 2021 Aug 18, 2021 08/18/21

Raymond Chen

A catch phrase from long ago.

Is it expected that custom default pinned taskbar items via LayoutModification.xml keep coming back each time the user logs on?

August 17, 2021 Aug 17, 2021 08/17/21

Raymond Chen

Yes, so you need to plan accordingly.

What are these dire multithreading consequences that the GetFullPathName documentation is trying to warn me about?

August 16, 2021 Aug 16, 2021 08/16/21

Raymond Chen

The current directory is volatile, so plan accordingly.

Resolving the ambiguity when your C++ class inherits from multiple base classes that have the same method

August 13, 2021 Aug 13, 2021 08/13/21

Raymond Chen

Steer the compiler toward the method you want.

How can I find the heap that a memory block originally came from, so I can free it properly?

August 12, 2021 Aug 12, 2021 08/12/21

Raymond Chen

You'll have to keep track of it yourself.

How can I prevent my UWP app from showing up in the Start menu?

August 11, 2021 Aug 11, 2021 08/11/21

Raymond Chen

Deny its app list entry.

Why did the old RAID database use a signed 16-bit integer for its record count? Why not unsigned, or a 32-bit integer?

August 10, 2021 Aug 10, 2021 08/10/21

Raymond Chen

You have to understand decisions in context, and that includes knowing the problem it was trying to solve.

Why am I getting a weird error about promise_type when I try to write a coroutine?

August 9, 2021 Aug 9, 2021 08/9/21

Raymond Chen

Digging into the coroutine infrastructure for the answer.

Using Windows Runtime interop methods from C++/WinRT: Some helper functions

August 6, 2021 Aug 6, 2021 08/6/21

Raymond Chen

Getting the interface, and the capturing from it.