'\" te
.\"  Copyright 1989 AT&T  Copyright (c) 2001, Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
.\" The contents of this file are subject to the terms of the Common Development and Distribution License (the "License").  You may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
.\" You can obtain a copy of the license at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE or http://www.opensolaris.org/os/licensing.  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
.\" When distributing Covered Code, include this CDDL HEADER in each file and include the License file at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE.  If applicable, add the following below this CDDL HEADER, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]" replaced with your own identifying information: Portions Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
.TH GETDENTS 2 "Jul 17, 2001"
.SH NAME
getdents \- read directory entries and put in a file system independent format
.SH SYNOPSIS
.LP
.nf
#include <dirent.h>

\fBint\fR \fBgetdents\fR(\fBint\fR \fIfildes\fR, \fBstruct dirent *\fR\fIbuf\fR, \fBsize_t\fR \fInbyte\fR);
.fi

.SH DESCRIPTION
.sp
.LP
The \fBgetdents()\fR function attempts to read \fInbyte\fR bytes from the
directory associated with the file descriptor \fIfildes\fR and to format them
as file system independent directory entries in the buffer pointed to by
\fIbuf\fR. Since the file system independent directory entries are of variable
lengths, in most cases the actual number of bytes returned will be less than
\fInbyte\fR. The file system independent directory entry is specified by the
\fBdirent\fR structure.  See \fBdirent.h\fR(3HEAD).
.sp
.LP
On devices capable of seeking, \fBgetdents()\fR starts at a position in the
file given by the file pointer associated with \fIfildes\fR. Upon return from
\fBgetdents()\fR, the file pointer is incremented to point to the next
directory entry.
.SH RETURN VALUES
.sp
.LP
Upon successful completion, a non-negative integer is returned indicating the
number of bytes actually read. A return value of \fB0\fR indicates the end of
the directory has been reached. Otherwise, \fB\(mi1\fR is returned and
\fBerrno\fR is set to indicate the error.
.SH ERRORS
.sp
.LP
The \fBgetdents()\fR function will fail if:
.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBEBADF\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 13n
The \fIfildes\fR argument is not a valid file descriptor open for reading.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBEFAULT\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 13n
The \fIbuf\fR argument points to an illegal address.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBEINVAL\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 13n
The \fInbyte\fR argument is not large enough for one directory entry.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBEIO\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 13n
An I/O error occurred while accessing the file system.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBENOENT\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 13n
The current file pointer for the directory is not located at a valid entry.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBENOLINK\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 13n
The \fIfildes\fR argument points to a remote machine and the link to that
machine is no longer active.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBENOTDIR\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 13n
The \fIfildes\fR argument is not a directory.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBEOVERFLOW\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 13n
The value of the \fBdirent\fR structure member \fBd_ino\fR or \fBd_off\fR
cannot be represented in an \fBino_t\fR or  \fBoff_t\fR.
.RE

.SH USAGE
.sp
.LP
The \fBgetdents()\fR function was developed to implement the \fBreaddir\fR(3C)
function and should not be used for other purposes.
.sp
.LP
The \fBgetdents()\fR function has a transitional interface for 64-bit file
offsets.  See \fBlf64\fR(7).
.SH SEE ALSO
.sp
.LP
.BR readdir (3C),
.BR dirent.h (3HEAD),
.BR lf64 (7)