STDOUTPUTHANDLE

STDOUTPUTHANDLE, typically referred to in Windows documentation as STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE, is a Windows API constant used to obtain the process’s standard output handle. It is defined as a DWORD value equal to -11 and is supplied to the GetStdHandle function to request the corresponding device handle for standard output.

The primary use is GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE), which returns a HANDLE to the standard output device. In a console application, this handle usually represents the console screen buffer. If the process’s standard output has been redirected to another destination, such as a file or a pipe, the returned handle refers to that destination instead. The HANDLE can then be used with low-level I/O functions such as WriteFile, or with other Windows APIs that operate on file handles.

If the process is not attached to a console, GetStdHandle may return NULL, and the caller should check for success. In such cases, GetLastError can indicate the reason, typically ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE. The constant is a low-level alternative to the standard C library stdout; while the CRT may coordinate with the Windows console, STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE is part of the Win32 API and is used for direct handle-based I/O.

Related constants include STD_INPUT_HANDLE and STD_ERROR_HANDLE, which request the standard input and standard error handles, respectively. STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE is commonly used in console and system-level programming to perform direct, unbuffered or file-descriptor-style output operations.