What does Windows error code 38 (ERROR_HANDLE_EOF) mean?

 
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ERROR_SHARING_BUFFER_EXCEEDED ERROR_HANDLE_DISK_FULL

ERROR_HANDLE_EOF

The file has no more data at the requested position

ERROR_HANDLE_EOF signals an end-of-file condition for the referenced handle. It is usually expected control flow when reading sequentially or querying data beyond the current file length, not evidence that the file is damaged.

Correct interpretation

  • Compare the current offset with the file size.
  • Distinguish a successful short read from an API that reports EOF as an error code.
  • Handle files that can grow or shrink concurrently.
  • Do not retry forever at the same offset when no writer is expected.

Application behavior

Finish the read loop cleanly, process any bytes already returned, and close or reposition the handle as required. For structured formats, EOF can still reveal truncation when required records are missing; validate the format separately instead of assuming every EOF is benign.

References


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