{ "id": "b373bdaf-8144-4f1d-92fa-41356205e50b", "created_at": "2026-04-06T02:10:37.310456Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T03:20:58.264352Z", "deleted_at": null, "sha1_hash": "a418914194e40d082e85d82b288de466c3b7c850", "title": "About the Clipboard - Win32 apps", "llm_title": "", "authors": "", "file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_size": 51445, "plain_text": "About the Clipboard - Win32 apps\r\nBy jwmsft\r\nArchived: 2026-04-06 02:08:41 UTC\r\nThe clipboard is a set of functions and messages that enable applications to transfer data. Because all applications\r\nhave access to the clipboard, data can be easily transferred between applications or within an application.\r\nThe clipboard is user-driven. A window should transfer data to or from the clipboard only in response to a\r\ncommand from the user. A window must not use the clipboard to transfer data without the user's knowledge.\r\nA memory object on the clipboard can be in any data format, called a clipboard format. Each format is identified\r\nby an unsigned integer value. For standard (predefined) clipboard formats, this value is a constant defined in\r\nWinuser.h; for registered clipboard formats, it is the return value of the RegisterClipboardFormat function.\r\nExcept for registering clipboard formats, individual windows perform most clipboard operations. Typically, a\r\nwindow procedure transfers information to or from the clipboard in response to the WM_COMMAND message.\r\nThis section discusses the following:\r\nClipboard Commands\r\nClipboard Sequence Number\r\nClipboard Viewers\r\nClipboard Viewer Windows\r\nDisplay Formats\r\nOwner Display Format\r\nRelated topics\r\nA user typically carries out clipboard operations by choosing commands from an application's Edit menu.\r\nFollowing is a brief description of the standard clipboard commands.\r\nCommand Description\r\nCut\r\nPlaces a copy of the current selection on the clipboard and deletes the selection from the\r\ndocument. The previous content of the clipboard is destroyed.\r\nCopy\r\nPlaces a copy of the current selection on the clipboard. The document remains unchanged. The\r\nprevious content of the clipboard is destroyed.\r\nPaste\r\nReplaces the current selection with the content of the clipboard. The content of the clipboard is\r\nnot changed.\r\nDelete Deletes the current selection from the document. The content of the clipboard is not changed.\r\nThis command does not involve the clipboard, but it should appear with the clipboard\r\nhttps://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms649012\r\nPage 1 of 3\n\nCommand Description\r\ncommands on the Edit menu.\r\nThe clipboard for each window station has an associated clipboard sequence number. This number is incremented\r\nwhenever the contents of the clipboard change. To obtain the clipboard sequence number, call the\r\nGetClipboardSequenceNumber function.\r\nA clipboard viewer is a window that displays the current content of the clipboard. The clipboard viewer window is\r\na convenience for the user and does not affect the data-transaction functions of the clipboard.\r\nTypically, a clipboard viewer window can display at least the three most common formats: CF_TEXT,\r\nCF_BITMAP, and CF_METAFILEPICT. If a window does not make data available in any of these three\r\nformats, it should provide data in a display format or use the owner-display format.\r\nA clipboard viewer chain is the linking together of two or more entities so that they are dependent upon one\r\nanother for operation. This interdependency (chain) allows all running clipboard viewer applications to receive the\r\nmessages sent to the current clipboard.\r\nThe following topics are discussed in this section.\r\nClipboard Viewer Windows\r\nDisplay Formats\r\nOwner Display Format\r\nA window adds itself to the clipboard viewer chain by calling the SetClipboardViewer function. The return value\r\nis the handle to the next window in the chain. To retrieve the handle to the first window in the chain, call the\r\nGetClipboardViewer function.\r\nEach clipboard viewer window must keep track of the next window in the clipboard viewer chain. When the\r\ncontent of the clipboard changes, the system sends a WM_DRAWCLIPBOARD message to the first window in\r\nthe chain. After updating its display, each clipboard viewer window must pass this message on to the next window\r\nin the chain.\r\nBefore closing, a clipboard viewer window must remove itself from the clipboard viewer chain by calling the\r\nChangeClipboardChain function. The system then sends a WM_CHANGECBCHAIN message to the first\r\nwindow in the chain.\r\nFor more information about processing the WM_DRAWCLIPBOARD and WM_CHANGECBCHAIN\r\nmessages, see Creating a Clipboard Viewer Window.\r\nA display format is a clipboard format used to display information in a clipboard viewer window. A clipboard\r\nowner that uses a private or registered clipboard format, and none of the most common standard formats, must\r\nprovide data in a display format for viewing in a clipboard viewer window. The display formats are intended for\r\nviewing only and must not be pasted into a document.\r\nhttps://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms649012\r\nPage 2 of 3\n\nThe four display formats are: CF_DSPBITMAP, CF_DSPMETAFILEPICT, CF_DSPTEXT, and\r\nCF_DSPENHMETAFILE. These display formats are rendered in the same way as the standard formats, which\r\nare: CF_BITMAP, CF_TEXT, CF_METAFILEPICT, and CF_ENHMETAFILE.\r\nFor a clipboard owner that does not use any of the common standard clipboard formats, an alternative to providing\r\na display format is to use the owner-display (CF_OWNERDISPLAY) clipboard format.\r\nBy using the owner-display format, a clipboard owner can avoid the overhead of rendering data in an additional\r\nformat by taking direct control over painting the clipboard viewer window. The clipboard viewer window sends\r\nmessages to the clipboard owner whenever a portion of the window must be repainted or when the window is\r\nscrolled or resized.\r\nStandard Clipboard Formats\r\nSource: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms649012\r\nhttps://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms649012\r\nPage 3 of 3", "extraction_quality": 1, "language": "EN", "sources": [ "MITRE" ], "references": [ "https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms649012" ], "report_names": [ "ms649012" ], "threat_actors": [], "ts_created_at": 1775441437, "ts_updated_at": 1775791258, "ts_creation_date": 0, "ts_modification_date": 0, "files": { "pdf": "https://archive.orkl.eu/a418914194e40d082e85d82b288de466c3b7c850.pdf", "text": "https://archive.orkl.eu/a418914194e40d082e85d82b288de466c3b7c850.txt", "img": "https://archive.orkl.eu/a418914194e40d082e85d82b288de466c3b7c850.jpg" } }