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 GetParent

The GetParent function retrieves a handle to the specified window's parent or owner.

To retrieve a handle to a specified ancestor, use the [GetAncestor] function.

Syntax

    HWND GetParent(
        HWND hWnd
    );

Parameters

• hWnd
  [in] Handle to the window whose parent window handle is to be retrieved.

Return Value

If the window is a child window, the return value is a handle to the parent window. If the window is a top-level window, the return value is a handle to the owner window. If the window is a top-level unowned window or if the function fails, the return value is NULL. To get extended error information, call GetLastError. For example, this would determine, when the function returns NULL, if the function failed or the window was a top-level window.

Remarks

Note that, despite its name, this function can return an owner window instead of a parent window. To obtain the parent window and not the owner, use [GetAncestor] with the GA_PARENT flag.

Example

For an example, see Initializing a Dialog Box.

Function Information

• Minimum DLL Version user32.dll
• Header Declared in Winuser.h, include Windows.h
• Import library User32.lib
• Minimum operating systems Windows 95, Windows NT 3.1

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Notebook exported on Monday, 7 July 2008, 18:56:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time