L_ReadFileTag2

Summary

Gets the specified tagged data from a file which supports TIFF tags. Use this function to read any TIFF tag, not just the tags you define.

Syntax

L_LTFIL_API L_INT L_ReadFileTag2(pFile, uTag, pType, pCount, pData, pLoadOptions, pFileInfo)

Parameters

L_TCHAR * pFile

Character string containing the input file name.

L_UINT16 uTag

Tag to identify the data. Use the same tag that you specified in the L_SetTag function. Examples of registered tags are:

L_UINT16* pType

Address of the variable to be updated with the tagged data type. The following values are possible:

L_UINT* pCount

Address of the variable to be updated with the count of data items. The count is based on the tagged data type. For example, if the count is 2 and the data type is TAG_DOUBLE, the required buffer size is 16.

L_VOID* pData

Pointer to the buffer to be updated with the data. Pass NULL to use this function's return value to determine the required buffer size.

pLOADFILEOPTION pLoadOptions

Pointer to optional extended load options. Pass NULL to use the default load options.

pFILEINFO pFileInfo

Pointer to optional FILEINFO structure which can be used to speed up the process. Pass NULL if you do not have this information.

Returns

Comments

It is often convenient to call this function twice, as follows:

1. Call the function the first time, specifying NULL in the pData parameter. Use the return value to determine the required size of the buffer.
2. Allocate the buffer.
3. Call the function the second time, passing a pointer to your buffer in the pData parameter.

Initially, only TIFF files supported TIFF tags. But the Exif specification provided a mechanism for adding TIFF tags to JPEG files using the APP1 JPEG marker. Additionally, other formats are based on the TIFF spec (CALS, TIFX, KDC) or support Exif metadata (HEIF/HEIC, PNG), so they support TIFF tags. In other words, TIFF tags are supported in file formats other than TIFF. You can use the L_TagsSupported function to determine whether a certain file format supports tags.

For general information about TIFF tags, refer to Implementing TIFF Comments and Tags.

This function will read the data for a tag whose data size is greater than 4 bytes. In certain situations, you might want to read the data offset instead of the data itself. This is useful in order to read tags contained in a MakerNote tag. Use L_ReadFileTags to read the tag's data offset.

This function is very similar to L_ReadFileTag. The only difference is that it allows you to pass a FILEINFO structure to speed up the process. If you pass NULL, then calling this function is equivalent to calling L_ReadFileTag, so you might as well call that function instead.

Required DLLs and Libraries

• LTFIL
• For a listing of the exact DLLs and Libraries needed, based on the toolkit version, refer to Files To Be Included With Your Application.

Platforms

Win32, x64, Linux.

See Also

Functions

• L_ReadFileTag
• L_ReadFileTags
• L_ReadFileTagMemory
• L_SetTag
• L_GetTag
• L_DeleteTag
• L_TagsSupported

Topics

• Implementing TIFF Comments and Tags

Example

This example uses L_ReadFileTag2 to read a tag for the position of a company logo on an image.
It reads the tag from the TIFF file that is created in the example for L_SetTag.

L_INT ReadFileTag2Example(L_VOID) 
{ 
   L_INT nRet; 
   L_TCHAR msgbuf[80];              /* buffer for the message string */ 
   L_UINT16 FillOrder = 0x010A;     /* Fill Order tag                */ 
   L_UINT16 TagType;                /* tagged data type              */ 
   L_UINT32 TagCount;               /* count of data items           */ 
   L_VOID * pTagData;               /* pointer to the buffer containing the data */ 
   HGLOBAL hBuf;                    /* handle to the buffer          */ 
   L_INT32 BufferSize;              /* required size of the buffer   */ 
 
                                    /* Get the File Information one time, to speed up calls to L_ReadFileTag2 */ 
   FILEINFO FileInfo = { 0 }; 
   FileInfo.uStructSize = sizeof(FILEINFO); 
   L_FileInfo(MAKE_IMAGE_PATH(TEXT("OCR1.TIF")), &FileInfo, sizeof(FILEINFO), 0, NULL); 
 
   /* Get the required buffer size */ 
   BufferSize = L_ReadFileTag2(MAKE_IMAGE_PATH(TEXT("OCR1.TIF")), FillOrder, &TagType, &TagCount, NULL, NULL, &FileInfo); 
 
   /* Allocate and lock the buffer */ 
   if ((TagType == TAG_SHORT) && (BufferSize > 0)) 
   { 
      hBuf = GlobalAlloc(GMEM_MOVEABLE, BufferSize); 
      pTagData = GlobalLock(hBuf); 
   } 
   else 
   { 
      return BufferSize; 
   } 
 
   /* Get the tagged data */ 
   nRet = L_ReadFileTag2(MAKE_IMAGE_PATH(TEXT("OCR1.TIF")), FillOrder, &TagType, &TagCount, pTagData, NULL, &FileInfo); 
   if (nRet <= 0) 
      return nRet; 
 
   /* Display a message showing the data */ 
   if ((TagType == TAG_SHORT) && (TagCount == 1)) 
   { 
      wsprintf(msgbuf, TEXT("FillOrder = 0x%02X"), (short)*(L_INT*)pTagData); 
      MessageBox(NULL, msgbuf, TEXT("Fill Order"), MB_OK); 
   } 
 
   /* Free memory that we no longer need */ 
   GlobalUnlock(hBuf); 
   GlobalFree(hBuf); 
 
   return SUCCESS; 
}