How fast are FindFirstFile/FindFirstFileEx, and CFileFind – actually?

For the past several months, I’ve been working on a fork of WinDirStat, the extremely popular disk usage analysis program.

WinDirStat is fantastically useful, but also fantastically slow. A well populated drive will lock WinDirStat for anywhere from fifteen minutes to a few hours, or worse (mirror).

Way back in April (2014), I was in an Object Oriented Programming class, and I’d just started to master C++. With WinDirStat I had  more than just an interesting problem to work on, but a real challenge to take on. But enough about WinDirStat, that’s for another article.

Side note: 90% of the slowdown in WinDirStat was NOT related to actually walking a directory tree, and was fixed by swapping a few data structures. Directory walking was however, still slow.

On windows there are two obvious ways to recursively enumerate files and directories. The first, provided by the Windows API, is with FindFirstFile/FindFirstFileEx & FindNextFile. This is a C/C++ API that will, on every call, (a) fill a predefined structure with information about a single file, or (b) fail and set the last error to ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES (the terrible behavior typical of the Windows API).  The second, provided by MFC, is the CFileFind class. CFileFind is nothing more than a convenience wrapper for FindFirstFile, but with some utility functions & overhead.

The biggest downside to both methods is that they require a system call for every file. Internally, FindNextFile opens a file handle and then calls NtQueryDirectoryFile with said handle. This is terribly inefficient,  especially if  8dot3 name creation is enabled. Back to the documentation.

Like many Windows APIs, there's an "extended" version.

Like many Windows APIs, there’s an “extended” version.

Aha! With FindFirstFileEx, we can ask for only the relevant information (with FindExInfoBasic), and even better, there’s a mysterious flag: “FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH”, which is described to mean: “Uses a larger buffer for directory queries, which can increase performance of the find operation.”

Of course, the MSDN documentation provides “just the facts” (as Raymond Chen describes it), and nothing about where FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH should be used or what performance benefit it might provide. Raymond Chen offers some theory, but no hard numbers (and some comments suggest that it makes no difference). There’s also a poorly formatted Visual Studio user suggestion, which suggests using the USN (update sequence number) journal, which is not a viable option.

Perhaps most interestingly, FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH is used in the Chromium codebase!

Yup, Chromium is using FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH.

Yup, Chromium is using FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH.

The source even mentions that it “should speed up large enumerations”, but provides NO evidence.

Sidenote: the USN journal is not viable as it stores only a log of changes. There is no structure information, and it isn’t guaranteed to hold information about every file on the drive. Reconstructing the filesystem tree from the USN journal is an extremely complex task, and I doubt it could be done quickly, if at all.

The truth is: no matter what flags you set, you will see roughly the same picture:

Note the "Functions Doing Most Individual Work" table.

Note the “Functions Doing Most Individual Work” table.

Nearly all of the program’s time is spent in NtOpenFile & NtQueryDirectoryFile, and a single core (I have 8 logical) is pegged at 100%.

std::async as a force multiplier

Before I get to the hard numbers, I want to mention that there’s a parallel option. God damn do I love C++11.

If using the FindFirstFile/FindNextFile method: wherever you would recursively call a function to descend into a directory, emplace_back a future ( i.e. std::async( std::launch::async | std::launch::deferred, yourFunctionHere, FunctionArgsHere ) ) to that function. Right before returning,  call get( )on each future.

i.e.:


std::int64_t stdRecurseFindFutures( _In_ std::wstring dir, _In_ const bool isLargeFetch, _In_ const bool isBasicInfo ) {
	std::int64_t num = 0;
	dir.reserve( MAX_PATH );
	std::wstring normSzDir(dir);
	normSzDir.reserve( MAX_PATH );
	if ( ( dir.back( ) != L'*' ) && ( dir.at( dir.length( ) - 2 ) != L'\\' ) ) {
		dir += L"\\*";
		}
	else if ( dir.back( ) == L'\\' ) {
		dir += L"*";
		}
	std::vector<std::future<std::int64_t>> futureDirs;
	WIN32_FIND_DATA fData;
	HANDLE fDataHand = NULL;

	if ( isLargeFetch ) {
		if ( isBasicInfo ) {
			fDataHand = FindFirstFileExW( dir.c_str( ), FindExInfoBasic,    &fData, FindExSearchNameMatch, NULL, FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH );
			}
		else {
			fDataHand = FindFirstFileExW( dir.c_str( ), FindExInfoStandard, &fData, FindExSearchNameMatch, NULL, FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH );
			}
		}
	else {
		if ( isBasicInfo ) {
			fDataHand = FindFirstFileExW( dir.c_str( ), FindExInfoBasic,    &fData, FindExSearchNameMatch, NULL, 0 );
			}
		else {
			fDataHand = FindFirstFileExW( dir.c_str( ), FindExInfoStandard, &fData, FindExSearchNameMatch, NULL, 0 );
			}
		}
		auto res = FindNextFileW( fDataHand, &fData );
//[a lot of code omitted]
			if ( ( fData.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY ) && ( scmpVal != 0 ) ) {
				futureDirs.emplace_back( std::async( std::launch::async | std::launch::deferred, descendDirectory, fData, normSzDir, isLargeFetch, isBasicInfo, true ) );
				}
//[more code omitted]
			res = FindNextFileW( fDataHand, &fData );

			}
		}
        FindClose( fDataHand );
	for ( auto& a : futureDirs ) {
		num += a.get( );
		}

	return num;
	}

This code will enumerate many directories in parallel! That was easy!

Methodology

The test program I’ve written, FileFindBench, is on GitHub. All it does, is blast through a directory (given as an argument), as quickly as possible. It doesn’t bother storing any information about the files, or with maintaining state. It tries all combination of FindFirstFileEx’s options, and all options of the async version.

I’m running it against my C:\Users directory, which (for stress testing) has ~2 million files in it. My computer has a fast SSD, and I’m running this test with a warm cache.

Results

I’ve added periods to compensate for wordpress mutilating the formatting, and sorted for timing. (approx Sept. 7, 2014 )

Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.77324
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.789377
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.791148
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.796216
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.796983
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.829399
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.834139
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.836425
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.842552
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.906004
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.919565
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.927472
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.930694
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.93445
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.945352
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.950834
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.965645
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 0.971893
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.03875
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.09779

Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.3805
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.38791
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.40822
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.4307
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.43829
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.46621
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.47866
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.48441
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.48614
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.48666
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.40388
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.42533
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.45934
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.49625
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.5049
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.50675
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.50794
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.50918
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.51068
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.51309
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.51632
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.51834
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.52094
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.52248
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.52307
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.52398
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.52856
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.53466
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.53918
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.54056
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.54065
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.54439
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.55298
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.55733
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.58185
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.58753
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.60224
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 1, Time in seconds: 1.61878

Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.03071
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.17842
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.18279
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.19601
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.20159
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.2182
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.22085
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.22822
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.25406
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.25552
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.25908
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.2671
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.27266
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.31976
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.33403
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.37965
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.39302
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.67497
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.69628

Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 3.68602
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 4.3283
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 5.15483
<span style="line-height: 1.5;">

or, only the synchronous:

Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.49625
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.5049
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.50675
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.50794
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.50918
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.51068
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.51309
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.52094
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.52248
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.52307
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.52398
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.52856
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.53918
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.54056
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.54065
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.55298
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.55733
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 1.58753

Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.03071
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.17842
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.18279
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.19601
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.20159
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.2182
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.22085
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.22822
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.25406
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.25552
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.25908
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.2671
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.27266
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.31976
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.33403
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.37965
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.39302
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.67497
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 2.69628

Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 3.68602
Iteration WITH ...FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, WITH ...isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 4.3283
Iteration without FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH, without isBasicInfo, IsAsync?: 0, Time in seconds: 5.15483

First, all of the fastest iterations ( under 1 second ), are asynchronous enumerations – this is expected. For now, ignore the async aspect, so we can focus on FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH and FindExInfoBasic.

sync_chart

FIND_FIRST_EX_LARGE_FETCH negatively impacts performance! Also note that FindExInfoBasic makes little difference; perhaps it improves worst-case timing . Now that’s an interesting result.

Try it for yourself, and post a comment summarizing your results.

Up next:  A quick look into the Native API for directory enumeration.

~ by Alexander Riccio on January 13, 2015.

One Response to “How fast are FindFirstFile/FindFirstFileEx, and CFileFind – actually?”

  1. Reblogged this on Dinesh Ram Kali..

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