xref: /netbsd-src/lib/libc/gen/directory.3 (revision fad4c9f71477ae11cea2ee75ec82151ac770a534)
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30.\"     @(#)directory.3	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
31.\"
32.Dd May 18, 2006
33.Dt DIRECTORY 3
34.Os
35.Sh NAME
36.Nm opendir ,
37.Nm readdir ,
38.Nm readdir_r ,
39.Nm telldir ,
40.Nm seekdir ,
41.Nm rewinddir ,
42.Nm closedir ,
43.Nm dirfd
44.Nd directory operations
45.Sh LIBRARY
46.Lb libc
47.Sh SYNOPSIS
48.In dirent.h
49.Ft DIR *
50.Fn opendir "const char *filename"
51.Ft struct dirent *
52.Fn readdir "DIR *dirp"
53.Ft int
54.Fn readdir_r "DIR * restrict dirp" "struct dirent * restrict entry" "struct dirent ** restrict result"
55.Ft long
56.Fn telldir "DIR *dirp"
57.Ft void
58.Fn seekdir "DIR *dirp" "long  loc"
59.Ft void
60.Fn rewinddir "DIR *dirp"
61.Ft int
62.Fn closedir "DIR *dirp"
63.Ft int
64.Fn dirfd "DIR *dirp"
65.Sh DESCRIPTION
66The
67.Fn opendir
68function
69opens the directory named by
70.Fa filename ,
71associates a
72.Em directory stream
73with it
74and
75returns a pointer to be used to identify the
76.Em directory stream
77in subsequent operations.
78The pointer
79.Dv NULL
80is returned if
81.Fa filename
82cannot be accessed, or if it cannot
83.Xr malloc 3
84enough memory to hold the whole thing.
85.Pp
86The
87.Fn readdir
88function
89returns a pointer to the next directory entry.
90It returns
91.Dv NULL
92upon reaching the end of the directory or detecting an invalid
93.Fn seekdir
94operation.
95.Pp
96The
97.Fn readdir_r
98function
99provides the same functionality as
100.Fn readdir ,
101but the caller must provide a directory
102.Fa entry
103buffer to store the results in.  If the read succeeds,
104.Fa result
105is pointed at the
106.Fa entry ;
107upon reaching the end of the directory
108.Fa result
109is set to
110.Dv NULL .
111The
112.Fn readdir_r
113function
114returns 0 on success or an error number to indicate failure.
115.Pp
116The
117.Fn telldir
118function
119returns the current location associated with the named
120.Em directory stream .
121.Pp
122The
123.Fn seekdir
124function
125sets the position of the next
126.Fn readdir
127operation on the
128.Em directory stream .
129The new position reverts to the one associated with the
130.Em directory stream
131when the
132.Fn telldir
133operation was performed.
134Values returned by
135.Fn telldir
136are good only for the lifetime of the
137.Dv DIR
138pointer,
139.Fa dirp ,
140from which they are derived.
141If the directory is closed and then reopened, the
142.Fn telldir
143value cannot be re-used.
144.Pp
145The
146.Fn rewinddir
147function
148resets the position of the named
149.Em directory stream
150to the beginning of the directory.
151.Pp
152The
153.Fn closedir
154function
155closes the named
156.Em directory stream
157and frees the structure associated with the
158.Fa dirp
159pointer,
160returning 0 on success.
161On failure, \-1 is returned and the global variable
162.Va errno
163is set to indicate the error.
164.Pp
165The
166.Fn dirfd
167function
168returns the integer file descriptor associated with the named
169.Em directory stream ,
170see
171.Xr open 2 .
172.Sh EXAMPLES
173Sample code which searches a directory for entry
174.Dq name
175is:
176.Bd -literal -offset indent
177len = strlen(name);
178dirp = opendir(".");
179if (dirp != NULL) {
180	while ((dp = readdir(dirp)) != NULL)
181		if (dp-\*[Gt]d_namlen == len \*[Am]\*[Am]
182		    !strcmp(dp-\*[Gt]d_name, name)) {
183			(void)closedir(dirp);
184			return (FOUND);
185		}
186	(void)closedir(dirp);
187}
188return (NOT_FOUND);
189.Ed
190.Sh SEE ALSO
191.Xr close 2 ,
192.Xr lseek 2 ,
193.Xr open 2 ,
194.Xr read 2 ,
195.Xr dir 5
196.Sh STANDARDS
197The
198.Fn opendir ,
199.Fn readdir ,
200.Fn rewinddir
201and
202.Fn closedir
203functions conform to
204.St -p1003.1-90 .
205.Sh HISTORY
206The
207.Fn opendir ,
208.Fn readdir ,
209.Fn telldir ,
210.Fn seekdir ,
211.Fn rewinddir ,
212.Fn closedir ,
213and
214.Fn dirfd
215functions appeared in
216.Bx 4.2 .
217