ActivePatch Functions - CreatePatchFile

lpszPatchFile

[in] A pointer to a null-terminated string which specifies the name of the patch file that is to be created. If a file with the same name exists, the file will be overwritten.

dwPatchLevel

[in] A value between 1 and 9 which determines the speed and amount of memory allocated to create the patch. As a general rule, the higher the patch level, the smaller the resulting patch file will be, at the expense of speed and the amount of memory required. A value of 0 specifies a default patch level which is appropriate for most files.

The following constants are defined:

Value	Description
PATCH_LEVEL_DEFAULT	A default compression level should be selected which is appropriate for most files. It is recommended that this value be used.
PATCH_LEVEL_MINIMUM	Maximize the speed of the patch creation process; this results in faster patch generation using less memory at the expense of creating larger patch files.
PATCH_LEVEL_MAXIMUM	Maximize the compression ratio of the patch file; this results in smaller patch files at the expense of slower patch file generation and increased memory utilization.

dwPatchOptions

[in] Specifies a default set of options which are used during the patch apply process.

One or more of the following values may be used:

Value	Description
PATCH_OPTION_FIND_FILE	If the reference file cannot be found on the target system, attempt to locate it using the standard Windows pathing rules. The current directory, system directory and the directories in the PATH environment variable are searched in that order.
PATCH_OPTION_BACKUP_FILE	Create a backup of the file on the target system before applying the patch. If this flag is not specified, the file is modified in-place without any backup file being created.
PATCH_OPTION_COMPARE_FILETIME	Compare the time that the target file was last modified against that of the reference file. If the target file has a later modification time than the reference file at the time the patch was created, the patch application will fail with the error AP_ERROR_NEWER_FILETIME. In effect this ensures that the updated file must always have a later modification time than the reference file.
PATCH_OPTION_COMPARE_VERSION	Compare the version of the target file against that of the reference file. If the target file has a later version than the reference file at the time the patch was created, the patch application will fail with the error AP_ERROR_NEWER_VERSION. In effect this ensures that the updated file must always be a later version than the reference file.
PATCH_OPTION_IGNORE_FILETIME	Ignore any differences between the file modification times of the file on the target system and those of the reference file at the time that the patch was created.
PATCH_OPTION_IGNORE_VERSION	Ignore any differences between the version of the file on the target system and the version of the reference file at the time that the patch was created.
PATCH_OPTION_IGNORE_ATTRIBUTES	Ignore the updated file attributes when the patch is applied on the target system and use default attributes instead.
PATCH_OPTION_IGNORE_READONLY	Ignore the read-only file attribute when applying the patch. If the updated file has this attribute set, it will be cleared.
PATCH_OPTION_IGNORE_SIGNATURE	Ignore any digital signature that may be present. If the updated file has been digitally signed using AuthentiCode, the signature will be authenticated at the time that the patch is applied. If this flag is specified, no attempt is made to authenticate the signature. This flag has no effect on files that are not digitally signed.

dwPatchExpires

Specifies the number of days that the patch may be applied. Once the expiration date is reached, the patch may no longer be applied. A value of zero specifies that the patch will never expire.

dwReserved

[in] Reserved; must be zero.

lpszPassword

[in] A pointer to a null-terminated string which specifies a password that is used to secure the patch. A patch created with a password cannot be applied unless the same password is provided to the ApplyPatchFile function.

Note that the password is case sensitive. If no password is required, this parameter may be NULL or point to an empty string.

lpszOldFile

[in] A pointer to a null-terminated string which specifies the name of the reference file.

lpszNewFile

[in] A pointer to a null-terminated string which specifies the name of the updated file. This file will be compared against the reference file, and any changes are recorded in the patch file.

lpfnCallback

[in] Specifies the address of a callback function of type LPPATCHSTATUSPROC that is called each time another portion of the patch file has been created. This parameter can be NULL.

For more information on the progress callback function, see PatchStatusProc.

lParam

[in] A 32-bit user-defined parameter that is passed through the callback function. If no callback function has been specified, this parameter should be zero.