SetClipboardData function (winuser.h)

Places data on the clipboard in a specified clipboard format. The window must be the current clipboard owner, and the application must have called the OpenClipboard function. (When responding to the WM_RENDERFORMAT message, the clipboard owner must not call OpenClipboard before calling SetClipboardData.)

HANDLE SetClipboardData(
  [in]           UINT   uFormat,
  [in, optional] HANDLE hMem
);

[in] uFormat

Type: UINT

The clipboard format. This parameter can be a registered format or any of the standard clipboard formats. For more information, see Standard Clipboard Formats and Registered Clipboard Formats.

[in, optional] hMem

Type: HANDLE

A handle to the data in the specified format. This parameter can be NULL, indicating that the window provides data in the specified clipboard format (renders the format) upon request; this is known as delayed rendering. If a window delays rendering, it must process the WM_RENDERFORMAT and WM_RENDERALLFORMATS messages.

If SetClipboardData succeeds, the system owns the object identified by the hMem parameter. The application may not write to or free the data once ownership has been transferred to the system, but it can lock and read from the data until the CloseClipboard function is called. (The memory must be unlocked before the Clipboard is closed.) If the hMem parameter identifies a memory object, the object must have been allocated using the function with the GMEM_MOVEABLE flag.

Type: HANDLE

If the function succeeds, the return value is the handle to the data.

If the function fails, the return value is NULL. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Windows 8: Bitmaps to be shared with Windows Store app apps must be in the CF_BITMAP format (device-dependent bitmap).

If an application calls SetClipboardData in response to WM_RENDERFORMAT or WM_RENDERALLFORMATS, the application should not use the handle after SetClipboardData has been called.

If an application calls OpenClipboard with hwnd set to NULL, EmptyClipboard sets the clipboard owner to NULL; this causes SetClipboardData to fail.

The system performs implicit data format conversions between certain clipboard formats when an application calls the GetClipboardData function. For example, if the CF_OEMTEXT format is on the clipboard, a window can retrieve data in the CF_TEXT format. The format on the clipboard is converted to the requested format on demand. For more information, see Synthesized Clipboard Formats.

For an example, see Copying Information to the Clipboard.

Clipboard

CloseClipboard

Conceptual

GetClipboardData

OpenClipboard

Reference

RegisterClipboardFormat

WM_RENDERALLFORMATS

WM_RENDERFORMAT