GetPrivateProfileSection

GetPrivateProfileSection is a function in the Windows API used to retrieve all key names and their corresponding string values from a specified section within an initialization file (.ini). Initialization files are text files that store configuration settings for applications. The function takes the name of the section to read from, a buffer to store the retrieved data, the maximum size of the buffer, and the path to the initialization file as arguments. The retrieved data is formatted as a null-terminated string where each key-value pair is separated by a null character, and the section name itself is also terminated by a null character. A final null character terminates the entire buffer. The function returns the number of characters copied to the buffer, excluding the terminating null character. If the section is not found or the buffer is too small, the function returns a value less than the buffer size. This function is part of the Win32 API and is often used for reading legacy configuration data.