PropertyHandle :: ProvideGUID - Provide Global Instance Identifier (GUID)

Usually the GUID is generated when the instance is created. It is, however, also possible to create GUIDs on demand by not setting auto generating GUIDs in the structure or collection definition. This function allows explicitly generating a GUID as long as no GUID has been generated for the instance. When the ID already exists, the function returns the current GUID without generating a new one.

For building a GUID for a structure instance the structure must be derived from __OBJECT . Since ProvideGUID () is locking the __OBJECT extent it should not be used in long transactions.