#include <sys/types.h>#include <sys/stat.h>#include <fts.h>FTS *fts_open(char * const *path_argv, int options, int (*compar)(const FTSENT **, const FTSENT **));FTSENT *fts_read(FTS *ftsp);FTSENT *fts_children(FTS *ftsp, int options);int fts_set(FTS *ftsp, FTSENT *f, int options);int fts_close(FTS *ftsp);
DESCRIPTION
The
fts functions are provided for traversing
file hierarchies.
A simple overview is that the
fts_open()
function returns a "handle" on a file hierarchy, which is then supplied to
the other
fts functions.
The function
fts_read()
returns a pointer to a structure describing one of the files in the file
hierarchy.
The function
fts_children()
returns a pointer to a linked list of structures, each of which describes
one of the files contained in a directory in the hierarchy.
In general, directories are visited two distinguishable times; in pre-order
(before any of their descendants are visited) and in post-order (after all
of their descendants have been visited).
Files are visited once.
It is possible to walk the hierarchy "logically" (ignoring symbolic links)
or physically (visiting symbolic links), order the walk of the hierarchy or
prune and/or re-visit portions of the hierarchy.
Two structures are defined (and typedef'd) in the include file
<fts.h>.
The first is
FTS,
the structure that represents the file hierarchy itself.
The second is
FTSENT,
the structure that represents a file in the file
hierarchy.
Normally, an
FTSENT
structure is returned for every file in the file
hierarchy.
In this manual page, "file" and
"FTSENT structure"
are generally interchangeable.
The
FTSENT
structure contains at least the following fields, which are
described in greater detail below:
typedef struct _ftsent {
unsigned short fts_info; /* flags for FTSENT structure */
char *fts_accpath; /* access path */
char *fts_path; /* root path */
short fts_pathlen; /* strlen(fts_path) */
char *fts_name; /* filename */
short fts_namelen; /* strlen(fts_name) */
short fts_level; /* depth (-1 to N) */
int fts_errno; /* file errno */
long fts_number; /* local numeric value */
void *fts_pointer; /* local address value */
struct ftsent *fts_parent; /* parent directory */
struct ftsent *fts_link; /* next file structure */
struct ftsent *fts_cycle; /* cycle structure */
struct stat *fts_statp; /* stat(2) information */
} FTSENT;
These fields are defined as follows:
fts_info
One of the following flags describing the returned
FTSENT
structure and
the file it represents.
With the exception of directories without errors
(FTS_D),
all of these
entries are terminal, that is, they will not be revisited, nor will any
of their descendants be visited.
FTS_D
A directory being visited in pre-order.
FTS_DC
A directory that causes a cycle in the tree.
(The
fts_cycle
field of the
FTSENT
structure will be filled in as well.)
FTS_DEFAULT
Any
FTSENT
structure that represents a file type not explicitly described
by one of the other
fts_info
values.
FTS_DNR
A directory which cannot be read.
This is an error return, and the
fts_errno
field will be set to indicate what caused the error.
FTS_DOT
A file named
"."
or
".."
which was not specified as a filename to
fts_open()
(see
FTS_SEEDOT).
FTS_DP
A directory being visited in post-order.
The contents of the
FTSENT
structure will be unchanged from when
it was returned in pre-order, that is, with the
fts_info
field set to
FTS_D.
FTS_ERR
This is an error return, and the
fts_errno
field will be set to indicate what caused the error.
FTS_F
A regular file.
FTS_NS
A file for which no
stat(2)
information was available.
The contents of the
fts_statp
field are undefined.
This is an error return, and the
fts_errno
field will be set to indicate what caused the error.
FTS_NSOK
A file for which no
stat(2)
information was requested.
The contents of the
fts_statp
field are undefined.
FTS_SL
A symbolic link.
FTS_SLNONE
A symbolic link with a nonexistent target.
The contents of the
fts_statp
field reference the file characteristic information for the symbolic link
itself.
fts_accpath
A path for accessing the file from the current directory.
fts_path
The path for the file relative to the root of the traversal.
This path contains the path specified to
fts_open()
as a prefix.
fts_pathlen
The length of the string referenced by
fts_path.
fts_name
The name of the file.
fts_namelen
The length of the string referenced by
fts_name.
fts_level
The depth of the traversal, numbered from -1 to N, where this file
was found.
The
FTSENT
structure representing the parent of the starting point (or root)
of the traversal is numbered -1, and the
FTSENT
structure for the root
itself is numbered 0.
fts_errno
Upon return of a
FTSENT
structure from the
fts_children()
or
fts_read()
functions, with its
fts_info
field set to
FTS_DNR,
FTS_ERR
or
FTS_NS,
the
fts_errno
field contains the value of the external variable
errno
specifying the cause of the error.
Otherwise, the contents of the
fts_errno
field are undefined.
fts_number
This field is provided for the use of the application program and is
not modified by the
fts functions.
It is initialized to 0.
fts_pointer
This field is provided for the use of the application program and is
not modified by the
fts functions.
It is initialized to
NULL.
fts_parent
A pointer to the
FTSENT
structure referencing the file in the hierarchy
immediately above the current file, that is, the directory of which this
file is a member.
A parent structure for the initial entry point is provided as well,
however, only the
fts_level,
fts_number
and
fts_pointer
fields are guaranteed to be initialized.
fts_link
Upon return from the
fts_children()
function, the
fts_link
field points to the next structure in the NULL-terminated linked list of
directory members.
Otherwise, the contents of the
fts_link
field are undefined.
fts_cycle
If a directory causes a cycle in the hierarchy (see
FTS_DC),
either because
of a hard link between two directories, or a symbolic link pointing to a
directory, the
fts_cycle
field of the structure will point to the
FTSENT
structure in the hierarchy that references the same file as the current
FTSENT
structure.
Otherwise, the contents of the
fts_cycle
field are undefined.
A single buffer is used for all of the paths of all of the files in the
file hierarchy.
Therefore, the
fts_path
and
fts_accpath
fields are guaranteed to be
NULL-terminated
only
for the file most recently returned by
fts_read().
To use these fields to reference any files represented by other
FTSENT
structures will require that the path buffer be modified using the
information contained in that
FTSENT
structure's
fts_pathlen
field.
Any such modifications should be undone before further calls to
fts_read()
are attempted.
The
fts_name
field is always
NULL-terminated.
fts_open()
The
fts_open()
function takes a pointer to an array of character pointers naming one
or more paths which make up a logical file hierarchy to be traversed.
The array must be terminated by a
NULL
pointer.
There are
a number of options, at least one of which (either
FTS_LOGICAL
or
FTS_PHYSICAL)
must be specified.
The options are selected by
oring
the following values:
FTS_COMFOLLOW
This option causes any symbolic link specified as a root path to be
followed immediately whether or not
FTS_LOGICAL
is also specified.
FTS_LOGICAL
This option causes the
fts routines to return
FTSENT
structures for the targets of symbolic links
instead of the symbolic links themselves.
If this option is set, the only symbolic links for which
FTSENT
structures
are returned to the application are those referencing nonexistent files.
Either
FTS_LOGICAL
or
FTS_PHYSICALmust
be provided to the
fts_open()
function.
FTS_NOCHDIR
As a performance optimization, the
fts functions change directories as they walk the file hierarchy.
This has the side-effect that an application cannot rely on being
in any particular directory during the traversal.
The
FTS_NOCHDIR
option turns off this optimization, and the
fts functions will not change the current directory.
Note that applications should not themselves change their current directory
and try to access files unless
FTS_NOCHDIR
is specified and absolute
pathnames were provided as arguments to
fts_open().
FTS_NOSTAT
By default, returned
FTSENT
structures reference file characteristic information (the
statp
field) for each file visited.
This option relaxes that requirement as a performance optimization,
allowing the
fts functions to set the
fts_info
field to
FTS_NSOK
and leave the contents of the
statp
field undefined.
FTS_PHYSICAL
This option causes the
fts routines to return
FTSENT
structures for symbolic links themselves instead
of the target files they point to.
If this option is set,
FTSENT
structures for all symbolic links in the
hierarchy are returned to the application.
Either
FTS_LOGICAL
or
FTS_PHYSICALmust
be provided to the
fts_open()
function.
FTS_SEEDOT
By default, unless they are specified as path arguments to
fts_open(),
any files named
"."
or
".."
encountered in the file hierarchy are ignored.
This option causes the
fts routines to return
FTSENT
structures for them.
FTS_XDEV
This option prevents
fts from descending into directories that have a different device number
than the file from which the descent began.
The argument
compar()
specifies a user-defined function which may be used to order the traversal
of the hierarchy.
It
takes two pointers to pointers to
FTSENT
structures as arguments and
should return a negative value, zero, or a positive value to indicate
if the file referenced by its first argument comes before, in any order
with respect to, or after, the file referenced by its second argument.
The
fts_accpath,
fts_path
and
fts_pathlen
fields of the
FTSENT
structures may
never
be used in this comparison.
If the
fts_info
field is set to
FTS_NS
or
FTS_NSOK,
the
fts_statp
field may not either.
If the
compar()
argument is
NULL,
the directory traversal order is in the order listed in
path_argv
for the root paths, and in the order listed in the directory for
everything else.
fts_read()
The
fts_read()
function returns a pointer to an
FTSENT
structure describing a file in
the hierarchy.
Directories (that are readable and do not cause cycles) are visited at
least twice, once in pre-order and once in post-order.
All other files are visited at least once.
(Hard links between directories that do not cause cycles or symbolic
links to symbolic links may cause files to be visited more than once,
or directories more than twice.)
If all the members of the hierarchy have been returned,
fts_read()
returns
NULL
and sets the external variable
errno
to 0.
If an error unrelated to a file in the hierarchy occurs,
fts_read()
returns
NULL
and sets
errno
appropriately.
If an error related to a returned file occurs, a pointer to an
FTSENT
structure is returned, and
errno
may or may not have been set (see
fts_info).
The
FTSENT
structures returned by
fts_read()
may be overwritten after a call to
fts_close()
on the same file hierarchy stream, or, after a call to
fts_read()
on the same file hierarchy stream unless they represent a file of type
directory, in which case they will not be overwritten until after a call to
fts_read()
after the
FTSENT
structure has been returned by the function
fts_read()
in post-order.
fts_children()
The
fts_children()
function returns a pointer to an
FTSENT
structure describing the first entry in a NULL-terminated linked list of
the files in the directory represented by the
FTSENT
structure most recently returned by
fts_read().
The list is linked through the
fts_link
field of the
FTSENT
structure, and is ordered by the user-specified comparison function, if any.
Repeated calls to
fts_children()
will recreate this linked list.
As a special case, if
fts_read()
has not yet been called for a hierarchy,
fts_children()
will return a pointer to the files in the logical directory specified to
fts_open(),
that is, the arguments specified to
fts_open().
Otherwise, if the
FTSENT
structure most recently returned by
fts_read()
is not a directory being visited in pre-order,
or the directory does not contain any files,
fts_children()
returns
NULL
and sets
errno
to zero.
If an error occurs,
fts_children()
returns
NULL
and sets
errno
appropriately.
The
FTSENT
structures returned by
fts_children()
may be overwritten after a call to
fts_children(),
fts_close()
or
fts_read()
on the same file hierarchy stream.
Option
may be set to the following value:
FTS_NAMEONLY
Only the names of the files are needed.
The contents of all the fields in the returned linked list of structures
are undefined with the exception of the
fts_name
and
fts_namelen
fields.
fts_set()
The function
fts_set()
allows the user application to determine further processing for the
file
f
of the stream
ftsp.
The
fts_set()
function
returns 0 on success, and -1 if an error occurs.
Option
must be set to one of the following values:
FTS_AGAIN
Re-visit the file; any file type may be re-visited.
The next call to
fts_read()
will return the referenced file.
The
fts_stat
and
fts_info
fields of the structure will be reinitialized at that time,
but no other fields will have been changed.
This option is meaningful only for the most recently returned
file from
fts_read().
Normal use is for post-order directory visits, where it causes the
directory to be re-visited (in both pre and post-order) as well as all
of its descendants.
FTS_FOLLOW
The referenced file must be a symbolic link.
If the referenced file is the one most recently returned by
fts_read(),
the next call to
fts_read()
returns the file with the
fts_info
and
fts_statp
fields reinitialized to reflect the target of the symbolic link instead
of the symbolic link itself.
If the file is one of those most recently returned by
fts_children(),
the
fts_info
and
fts_statp
fields of the structure, when returned by
fts_read(),
will reflect the target of the symbolic link instead of the symbolic link
itself.
In either case, if the target of the symbolic link does not exist the
fields of the returned structure will be unchanged and the
fts_info
field will be set to
FTS_SLNONE.
If the target of the link is a directory, the pre-order return, followed
by the return of all of its descendants, followed by a post-order return,
is done.
FTS_SKIP
No descendants of this file are visited.
The file may be one of those most recently returned by either
fts_children()
or
fts_read().
fts_close()
The
fts_close()
function closes a file hierarchy stream
ftsp
and restores the current directory to the directory from which
fts_open()
was called to open
ftsp.
The
fts_close()
function
returns 0 on success, and -1 if an error occurs.
ERRORS
The function
fts_open()
may fail and set
errno
for any of the errors specified for
open(2)
and
malloc(3).
The function
fts_close()
may fail and set
errno
for any of the errors specified for
chdir(2)
and
close(2).
The functions
fts_read()
and
fts_children()
may fail and set
errno
for any of the errors specified for
chdir(2),
malloc(3),
opendir(3),
readdir(3)
and
stat(2).
In addition,
fts_children(),
fts_open()
and
fts_set()
may fail and set
errno
as follows:
EINVAL
The options were invalid.
VERSIONS
These functions are available in Linux since glibc2.
This page is part of release 3.14 of the Linux
man-pages
project.
A description of the project,
and information about reporting bugs,
can be found at
http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.