SCANDIR(3) Linux Programmer's Manual SCANDIR(3)NAME
scandir, scandirat, alphasort, versionsort - scan a directory for
matching entries
SYNOPSIS
#include <dirent.h>
int scandir(const char *dirp, struct dirent ***namelist,
int (*filter)(const struct dirent *),
int (*compar)(const struct dirent **, const struct dirent **));
int alphasort(const void *a, const void *b);
int versionsort(const void *a, const void *b);
#include <fcntl.h> /* Definition of AT_* constants */
#include <dirent.h>
int scandirat(int dirfd, const char *dirp, struct dirent ***namelist,
int (*filter)(const struct dirent *),
int (*compar)(const struct dirent **, const struct dirent **));
Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):
scandir(), alphasort():
_BSD_SOURCE || _SVID_SOURCE
|| /* Since glibc 2.10: */
(_POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200809L || _XOPEN_SOURCE >= 700)
versionsort(): _GNU_SOURCE
scandirat(): _GNU_SOURCE
DESCRIPTION
The scandir() function scans the directory dirp, calling filter() on
each directory entry. Entries for which filter() returns nonzero are
stored in strings allocated via malloc(3), sorted using qsort(3) with
the comparison function compar(), and collected in array namelist which
is allocated via malloc(3). If filter is NULL, all entries are
selected.
The alphasort() and versionsort() functions can be used as the compari‐
son function compar(). The former sorts directory entries using str‐
coll(3), the latter using strverscmp(3) on the strings (*a)->d_name and
(*b)->d_name.
scandirat()
The scandirat() function operates in exactly the same way as scandir(),
except for the differences described here.
If the pathname given in dirp is relative, then it is interpreted rela‐
tive to the directory referred to by the file descriptor dirfd (rather
than relative to the current working directory of the calling process,
as is done by scandir() for a relative pathname).
If dirp is relative and dirfd is the special value AT_FDCWD, then dirp
is interpreted relative to the current working directory of the calling
process (like scandir()).
If dirp is absolute, then dirfd is ignored.
See openat(2) for an explanation of the need for scandirat().
RETURN VALUE
The scandir() function returns the number of directory entries
selected. On error, -1 is returned, with errno set to indicate the
cause of the error.
The alphasort() and versionsort() functions return an integer less
than, equal to, or greater than zero if the first argument is consid‐
ered to be respectively less than, equal to, or greater than the sec‐
ond.
ERRORS
ENOENT The path in dirp does not exist.
ENOMEM Insufficient memory to complete the operation.
ENOTDIR
The path in dirp is not a directory.
The following additional errors can occur for scandirat():
EBADF dirfd is not a valid file descriptor.
ENOTDIR
dirp is a relative path and dirfd is a file descriptor referring
to a file other than a directory.
VERSIONSversionsort() was added to glibc in version 2.1.
scandirat() was added to glibc in version 2.15.
CONFORMING TOalphasort(), scandir(): 4.3BSD, POSIX.1-2008.
versionsort() and scandirat() are GNU extensions.
NOTES
Since glibc 2.1, alphasort() calls strcoll(3); earlier it used str‐
cmp(3).
EXAMPLE
#define _SVID_SOURCE
/* print files in current directory in reverse order */
#include <dirent.h>
int
main(void)
{
struct dirent **namelist;
int n;
n = scandir(".", &namelist, NULL, alphasort);
if (n < 0)
perror("scandir");
else {
while (n--) {
printf("%s\n", namelist[n]->d_name);
free(namelist[n]);
}
free(namelist);
}
}
SEE ALSOclosedir(3), fnmatch(3), opendir(3), readdir(3), rewinddir(3),
seekdir(3), strcmp(3), strcoll(3), strverscmp(3), telldir(3)COLOPHON
This page is part of release 3.65 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/.
GNU 2014-02-21 SCANDIR(3)