DOCERR: CreateFile() and Mailslots

MORE INFORMATION

The following code always returns INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE for a handle value from CreateFile() while opening the client end of the mailslot if the mailslot server is not up and running to read mailslot messages:

    CreateFile("\\\\.\\mailslot\\testslot",
               GENERIC_WRITE,
               FILE_SHARE_READ,
               NULL,
               OPEN_EXISTING,
               FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,
               NULL);
				

GetLastError() in this case returns Error 2: "The system cannot find the specified file."

This is an expected behavior. Windows NT implementation of local mailslots does not allow you to open the mailslot if the receiver has not created the server end with CreateMailslot() API.