"listening" to file changes in C/C++ (on Windows)

Question

Is their any way I can target a certain file and be able to receive all changes that are made to it?

Such as a file called Names.txt. Could I watch that file for names added? and then write them to the console?

The example code with not compile in Dev-C++ 4.9.9.2

#include <windows.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <tchar.h>

void RefreshDirectory(LPTSTR);
void RefreshTree(LPTSTR);
void WatchDirectory(LPTSTR);

int _tmain(int argc, TCHAR *argv[])
{
    if(argc != 2)
    {
        _tprintf(TEXT("Usage: %s <dir>\n"), argv[0]);
        return 1;
    }

    WatchDirectory(argv[1]);
}

void WatchDirectory(LPTSTR lpDir)
{
   DWORD dwWaitStatus; 
   HANDLE dwChangeHandles[2]; 
   TCHAR lpDrive[4];
   TCHAR lpFile[_MAX_FNAME];
   TCHAR lpExt[_MAX_EXT];

   _tsplitpath_s(lpDir, lpDrive, 4, NULL, 0, lpFile, _MAX_FNAME, lpExt, _MAX_EXT);

   lpDrive[2] = (TCHAR)'\\';
   lpDrive[3] = (TCHAR)'\0';

// Watch the directory for file creation and deletion. 

   dwChangeHandles[0] = FindFirstChangeNotification( 
      lpDir,                         // directory to watch 
      FALSE,                         // do not watch subtree 
      FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_FILE_NAME); // watch file name changes 

   if (dwChangeHandles[0] == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) 
   {
     printf("\n ERROR: FindFirstChangeNotification function failed.\n");
     ExitProcess(GetLastError()); 
   }

// Watch the subtree for directory creation and deletion. 

   dwChangeHandles[1] = FindFirstChangeNotification( 
      lpDrive,                       // directory to watch 
      TRUE,                          // watch the subtree 
      FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_DIR_NAME);  // watch dir name changes 

   if (dwChangeHandles[1] == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) 
   {
     printf("\n ERROR: FindFirstChangeNotification function failed.\n");
     ExitProcess(GetLastError()); 
   }


// Make a final validation check on our handles.

   if ((dwChangeHandles[0] == NULL) || (dwChangeHandles[1] == NULL))
   {
     printf("\n ERROR: Unexpected NULL from FindFirstChangeNotification.\n");
     ExitProcess(GetLastError()); 
   }

// Change notification is set. Now wait on both notification 
// handles and refresh accordingly. 

   while (TRUE) 
   { 
   // Wait for notification.

      printf("\nWaiting for notification...\n");

      dwWaitStatus = WaitForMultipleObjects(2, dwChangeHandles, 
         FALSE, INFINITE); 

      switch (dwWaitStatus) 
      { 
         case WAIT_OBJECT_0: 

         // A file was created, renamed, or deleted in the directory.
         // Refresh this directory and restart the notification.

             RefreshDirectory(lpDir); 
             if ( FindNextChangeNotification(dwChangeHandles[0]) == FALSE )
             {
               printf("\n ERROR: FindNextChangeNotification function failed.\n");
               ExitProcess(GetLastError()); 
             }
             break; 

         case WAIT_OBJECT_0 + 1: 

         // A directory was created, renamed, or deleted.
         // Refresh the tree and restart the notification.

             RefreshTree(lpDrive); 
             if (FindNextChangeNotification(dwChangeHandles[1]) == FALSE )
             {
               printf("\n ERROR: FindNextChangeNotification function failed.\n");
               ExitProcess(GetLastError()); 
             }
             break; 

         case WAIT_TIMEOUT:

         // A timeout occurred, this would happen if some value other 
         // than INFINITE is used in the Wait call and no changes occur.
         // In a single-threaded environment you might not want an
         // INFINITE wait.

            printf("\nNo changes in the timeout period.\n");
            break;

         default: 
            printf("\n ERROR: Unhandled dwWaitStatus.\n");
            ExitProcess(GetLastError());
            break;
      }
   }
}

void RefreshDirectory(LPTSTR lpDir)
{
   // This is where you might place code to refresh your
   // directory listing, but not the subtree because it
   // would not be necessary.

   _tprintf(TEXT("Directory (%s) changed.\n"), lpDir);
}

void RefreshTree(LPTSTR lpDrive)
{
   // This is where you might place code to refresh your
   // directory listing, including the subtree.

   _tprintf(TEXT("Directory tree (%s) changed.\n"), lpDrive);
}

Answer 1

Absolutely. See FindFirstChangeNotification, ReadDirectoryChangesW, Example.

Answer 2

See MSDN -- you'll need to watch the directory and ignore changes to other files there that you don't care about.