xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/gen/fts.3 (revision 57718be8fa0bd5edc11ab9a72e68cc71982939a6)
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28.\"     @(#)fts.3	8.5 (Berkeley) 4/16/94
29.\" $FreeBSD$
30.\"
31.Dd January 12, 2014
32.Dt FTS 3
33.Os
34.Sh NAME
35.Nm fts
36.Nd traverse a file hierarchy
37.Sh LIBRARY
38.Lb libc
39.Sh SYNOPSIS
40.In fts.h
41.Ft FTS *
42.Fn fts_open "char * const *path_argv" "int options" "int (*compar)(const FTSENT * const *, const FTSENT * const *)"
43.Ft FTSENT *
44.Fn fts_read "FTS *ftsp"
45.Ft FTSENT *
46.Fn fts_children "FTS *ftsp" "int options"
47.Ft int
48.Fn fts_set "FTS *ftsp" "FTSENT *f" "int options"
49.Ft void
50.Fn fts_set_clientptr "FTS *ftsp" "void *clientdata"
51.Ft void *
52.Fn fts_get_clientptr "FTS *ftsp"
53.Ft FTS *
54.Fn fts_get_stream "FTSENT *f"
55.Ft int
56.Fn fts_close "FTS *ftsp"
57.Sh DESCRIPTION
58The
59.Nm
60functions are provided for traversing
61.Ux
62file hierarchies.
63A simple overview is that the
64.Fn fts_open
65function returns a
66.Dq handle
67on a file hierarchy, which is then supplied to
68the other
69.Nm
70functions.
71The function
72.Fn fts_read
73returns a pointer to a structure describing one of the files in the file
74hierarchy.
75The function
76.Fn fts_children
77returns a pointer to a linked list of structures, each of which describes
78one of the files contained in a directory in the hierarchy.
79In general, directories are visited two distinguishable times; in pre-order
80(before any of their descendants are visited) and in post-order (after all
81of their descendants have been visited).
82Files are visited once.
83It is possible to walk the hierarchy
84.Dq logically
85(ignoring symbolic links)
86or physically (visiting symbolic links), order the walk of the hierarchy or
87prune and/or re-visit portions of the hierarchy.
88.Pp
89Two structures are defined (and typedef'd) in the include file
90.In fts.h .
91The first is
92.Vt FTS ,
93the structure that represents the file hierarchy itself.
94The second is
95.Vt FTSENT ,
96the structure that represents a file in the file
97hierarchy.
98Normally, an
99.Vt FTSENT
100structure is returned for every file in the file
101hierarchy.
102In this manual page,
103.Dq file
104and
105.Dq Vt FTSENT No structure
106are generally
107interchangeable.
108.Pp
109The
110.Vt FTS
111structure contains space for a single pointer, which may be used to
112store application data or per-hierarchy state.
113The
114.Fn fts_set_clientptr
115and
116.Fn fts_get_clientptr
117functions may be used to set and retrieve this pointer.
118This is likely to be useful only when accessed from the sort
119comparison function, which can determine the original
120.Vt FTS
121stream of its arguments using the
122.Fn fts_get_stream
123function.
124The two
125.Li get
126functions are also available as macros of the same name.
127.Pp
128The
129.Vt FTSENT
130structure contains at least the following fields, which are
131described in greater detail below:
132.Bd -literal
133typedef struct _ftsent {
134	int fts_info;			/* status for FTSENT structure */
135	char *fts_accpath;		/* access path */
136	char *fts_path;			/* root path */
137	size_t fts_pathlen;		/* strlen(fts_path) */
138	char *fts_name;			/* file name */
139	size_t fts_namelen;		/* strlen(fts_name) */
140	long fts_level;			/* depth (\-1 to N) */
141	int fts_errno;			/* file errno */
142	long long fts_number;		/* local numeric value */
143	void *fts_pointer;		/* local address value */
144	struct ftsent *fts_parent;	/* parent directory */
145	struct ftsent *fts_link;	/* next file structure */
146	struct ftsent *fts_cycle;	/* cycle structure */
147	struct stat *fts_statp;		/* stat(2) information */
148} FTSENT;
149.Ed
150.Pp
151These fields are defined as follows:
152.Bl -tag -width "fts_namelen"
153.It Fa fts_info
154One of the following values describing the returned
155.Vt FTSENT
156structure and
157the file it represents.
158With the exception of directories without errors
159.Pq Dv FTS_D ,
160all of these
161entries are terminal, that is, they will not be revisited, nor will any
162of their descendants be visited.
163.Bl  -tag -width FTS_DEFAULT
164.It Dv FTS_D
165A directory being visited in pre-order.
166.It Dv FTS_DC
167A directory that causes a cycle in the tree.
168(The
169.Fa fts_cycle
170field of the
171.Vt FTSENT
172structure will be filled in as well.)
173.It Dv FTS_DEFAULT
174Any
175.Vt FTSENT
176structure that represents a file type not explicitly described
177by one of the other
178.Fa fts_info
179values.
180.It Dv FTS_DNR
181A directory which cannot be read.
182This is an error return, and the
183.Fa fts_errno
184field will be set to indicate what caused the error.
185.It Dv FTS_DOT
186A file named
187.Ql .\&
188or
189.Ql ..\&
190which was not specified as a file name to
191.Fn fts_open
192(see
193.Dv FTS_SEEDOT ) .
194.It Dv FTS_DP
195A directory being visited in post-order.
196The contents of the
197.Vt FTSENT
198structure will be unchanged from when
199the directory was visited in pre-order, except for the
200.Fa fts_info
201field.
202.It Dv FTS_ERR
203This is an error return, and the
204.Fa fts_errno
205field will be set to indicate what caused the error.
206.It Dv FTS_F
207A regular file.
208.It Dv FTS_NS
209A file for which no
210.Xr stat 2
211information was available.
212The contents of the
213.Fa fts_statp
214field are undefined.
215This is an error return, and the
216.Fa fts_errno
217field will be set to indicate what caused the error.
218.It Dv FTS_NSOK
219A file for which no
220.Xr stat 2
221information was requested.
222The contents of the
223.Fa fts_statp
224field are undefined.
225.It Dv FTS_SL
226A symbolic link.
227.It Dv FTS_SLNONE
228A symbolic link with a non-existent target.
229The contents of the
230.Fa fts_statp
231field reference the file characteristic information for the symbolic link
232itself.
233.El
234.It Fa fts_accpath
235A path for accessing the file from the current directory.
236.It Fa fts_path
237The path for the file relative to the root of the traversal.
238This path contains the path specified to
239.Fn fts_open
240as a prefix.
241.It Fa fts_pathlen
242The length of the string referenced by
243.Fa fts_path .
244.It Fa fts_name
245The name of the file.
246.It Fa fts_namelen
247The length of the string referenced by
248.Fa fts_name .
249.It Fa fts_level
250The depth of the traversal, numbered from \-1 to N, where this file
251was found.
252The
253.Vt FTSENT
254structure representing the parent of the starting point (or root)
255of the traversal is numbered
256.Dv FTS_ROOTPARENTLEVEL
257(\-1), and the
258.Vt FTSENT
259structure for the root
260itself is numbered
261.Dv FTS_ROOTLEVEL
262(0).
263.It Fa fts_errno
264Upon return of a
265.Vt FTSENT
266structure from the
267.Fn fts_children
268or
269.Fn fts_read
270functions, with its
271.Fa fts_info
272field set to
273.Dv FTS_DNR ,
274.Dv FTS_ERR
275or
276.Dv FTS_NS ,
277the
278.Fa fts_errno
279field contains the value of the external variable
280.Va errno
281specifying the cause of the error.
282Otherwise, the contents of the
283.Fa fts_errno
284field are undefined.
285.It Fa fts_number
286This field is provided for the use of the application program and is
287not modified by the
288.Nm
289functions.
290It is initialized to 0.
291.It Fa fts_pointer
292This field is provided for the use of the application program and is
293not modified by the
294.Nm
295functions.
296It is initialized to
297.Dv NULL .
298.It Fa fts_parent
299A pointer to the
300.Vt FTSENT
301structure referencing the file in the hierarchy
302immediately above the current file, i.e., the directory of which this
303file is a member.
304A parent structure for the initial entry point is provided as well,
305however, only the
306.Fa fts_level ,
307.Fa fts_number
308and
309.Fa fts_pointer
310fields are guaranteed to be initialized.
311.It Fa fts_link
312Upon return from the
313.Fn fts_children
314function, the
315.Fa fts_link
316field points to the next structure in the NULL-terminated linked list of
317directory members.
318Otherwise, the contents of the
319.Fa fts_link
320field are undefined.
321.It Fa fts_cycle
322If a directory causes a cycle in the hierarchy (see
323.Dv FTS_DC ) ,
324either because
325of a hard link between two directories, or a symbolic link pointing to a
326directory, the
327.Fa fts_cycle
328field of the structure will point to the
329.Vt FTSENT
330structure in the hierarchy that references the same file as the current
331.Vt FTSENT
332structure.
333Otherwise, the contents of the
334.Fa fts_cycle
335field are undefined.
336.It Fa fts_statp
337A pointer to
338.Xr stat 2
339information for the file.
340.El
341.Pp
342A single buffer is used for all of the paths of all of the files in the
343file hierarchy.
344Therefore, the
345.Fa fts_path
346and
347.Fa fts_accpath
348fields are guaranteed to be
349.Dv NUL Ns -terminated
350.Em only
351for the file most recently returned by
352.Fn fts_read .
353To use these fields to reference any files represented by other
354.Vt FTSENT
355structures will require that the path buffer be modified using the
356information contained in that
357.Vt FTSENT
358structure's
359.Fa fts_pathlen
360field.
361Any such modifications should be undone before further calls to
362.Fn fts_read
363are attempted.
364The
365.Fa fts_name
366field is always
367.Dv NUL Ns -terminated .
368.Sh FTS_OPEN
369The
370.Fn fts_open
371function takes a pointer to an array of character pointers naming one
372or more paths which make up a logical file hierarchy to be traversed.
373The array must be terminated by a
374.Dv NULL
375pointer.
376.Pp
377There are
378a number of options, at least one of which (either
379.Dv FTS_LOGICAL
380or
381.Dv FTS_PHYSICAL )
382must be specified.
383The options are selected by
384.Em or Ns 'ing
385the following values:
386.Bl -tag -width "FTS_PHYSICAL"
387.It Dv FTS_COMFOLLOW
388This option causes any symbolic link specified as a root path to be
389followed immediately whether or not
390.Dv FTS_LOGICAL
391is also specified.
392.It Dv FTS_LOGICAL
393This option causes the
394.Nm
395routines to return
396.Vt FTSENT
397structures for the targets of symbolic links
398instead of the symbolic links themselves.
399If this option is set, the only symbolic links for which
400.Vt FTSENT
401structures
402are returned to the application are those referencing non-existent files.
403Either
404.Dv FTS_LOGICAL
405or
406.Dv FTS_PHYSICAL
407.Em must
408be provided to the
409.Fn fts_open
410function.
411.It Dv FTS_NOCHDIR
412To allow descending to arbitrary depths
413(independent of
414.Brq Dv PATH_MAX )
415and improve performance, the
416.Nm
417functions change directories as they walk the file hierarchy.
418This has the side-effect that an application cannot rely on being
419in any particular directory during the traversal.
420The
421.Dv FTS_NOCHDIR
422option turns off this feature, and the
423.Nm
424functions will not change the current directory.
425Note that applications should not themselves change their current directory
426and try to access files unless
427.Dv FTS_NOCHDIR
428is specified and absolute
429pathnames were provided as arguments to
430.Fn fts_open .
431.It Dv FTS_NOSTAT
432By default, returned
433.Vt FTSENT
434structures reference file characteristic information (the
435.Fa statp
436field) for each file visited.
437This option relaxes that requirement as a performance optimization,
438allowing the
439.Nm
440functions to set the
441.Fa fts_info
442field to
443.Dv FTS_NSOK
444and leave the contents of the
445.Fa statp
446field undefined.
447.It Dv FTS_PHYSICAL
448This option causes the
449.Nm
450routines to return
451.Vt FTSENT
452structures for symbolic links themselves instead
453of the target files they point to.
454If this option is set,
455.Vt FTSENT
456structures for all symbolic links in the
457hierarchy are returned to the application.
458Either
459.Dv FTS_LOGICAL
460or
461.Dv FTS_PHYSICAL
462.Em must
463be provided to the
464.Fn fts_open
465function.
466.It Dv FTS_SEEDOT
467By default, unless they are specified as path arguments to
468.Fn fts_open ,
469any files named
470.Ql .\&
471or
472.Ql ..\&
473encountered in the file hierarchy are ignored.
474This option causes the
475.Nm
476routines to return
477.Vt FTSENT
478structures for them.
479.It Dv FTS_XDEV
480This option prevents
481.Nm
482from descending into directories that have a different device number
483than the file from which the descent began.
484.El
485.Pp
486The argument
487.Fn compar
488specifies a user-defined function which may be used to order the traversal
489of the hierarchy.
490It
491takes two pointers to pointers to
492.Vt FTSENT
493structures as arguments and
494should return a negative value, zero, or a positive value to indicate
495if the file referenced by its first argument comes before, in any order
496with respect to, or after, the file referenced by its second argument.
497The
498.Fa fts_accpath ,
499.Fa fts_path
500and
501.Fa fts_pathlen
502fields of the
503.Vt FTSENT
504structures may
505.Em never
506be used in this comparison.
507If the
508.Fa fts_info
509field is set to
510.Dv FTS_NS
511or
512.Dv FTS_NSOK ,
513the
514.Fa fts_statp
515field may not either.
516If the
517.Fn compar
518argument is
519.Dv NULL ,
520the directory traversal order is in the order listed in
521.Fa path_argv
522for the root paths, and in the order listed in the directory for
523everything else.
524.Sh FTS_READ
525The
526.Fn fts_read
527function returns a pointer to an
528.Vt FTSENT
529structure describing a file in
530the hierarchy.
531Directories (that are readable and do not cause cycles) are visited at
532least twice, once in pre-order and once in post-order.
533All other files are visited at least once.
534(Hard links between directories that do not cause cycles or symbolic
535links to symbolic links may cause files to be visited more than once,
536or directories more than twice.)
537.Pp
538If all the members of the hierarchy have been returned,
539.Fn fts_read
540returns
541.Dv NULL
542and sets the external variable
543.Va errno
544to 0.
545If an error unrelated to a file in the hierarchy occurs,
546.Fn fts_read
547returns
548.Dv NULL
549and sets
550.Va errno
551appropriately.
552If an error related to a returned file occurs, a pointer to an
553.Vt FTSENT
554structure is returned, and
555.Va errno
556may or may not have been set (see
557.Fa fts_info ) .
558.Pp
559The
560.Vt FTSENT
561structures returned by
562.Fn fts_read
563may be overwritten after a call to
564.Fn fts_close
565on the same file hierarchy stream, or, after a call to
566.Fn fts_read
567on the same file hierarchy stream unless they represent a file of type
568directory, in which case they will not be overwritten until after a call to
569.Fn fts_read
570after the
571.Vt FTSENT
572structure has been returned by the function
573.Fn fts_read
574in post-order.
575.Sh FTS_CHILDREN
576The
577.Fn fts_children
578function returns a pointer to an
579.Vt FTSENT
580structure describing the first entry in a NULL-terminated linked list of
581the files in the directory represented by the
582.Vt FTSENT
583structure most recently returned by
584.Fn fts_read .
585The list is linked through the
586.Fa fts_link
587field of the
588.Vt FTSENT
589structure, and is ordered by the user-specified comparison function, if any.
590Repeated calls to
591.Fn fts_children
592will recreate this linked list.
593.Pp
594As a special case, if
595.Fn fts_read
596has not yet been called for a hierarchy,
597.Fn fts_children
598will return a pointer to the files in the logical directory specified to
599.Fn fts_open ,
600i.e., the arguments specified to
601.Fn fts_open .
602Otherwise, if the
603.Vt FTSENT
604structure most recently returned by
605.Fn fts_read
606is not a directory being visited in pre-order,
607or the directory does not contain any files,
608.Fn fts_children
609returns
610.Dv NULL
611and sets
612.Va errno
613to zero.
614If an error occurs,
615.Fn fts_children
616returns
617.Dv NULL
618and sets
619.Va errno
620appropriately.
621.Pp
622The
623.Vt FTSENT
624structures returned by
625.Fn fts_children
626may be overwritten after a call to
627.Fn fts_children ,
628.Fn fts_close
629or
630.Fn fts_read
631on the same file hierarchy stream.
632.Pp
633.Em Option
634may be set to the following value:
635.Bl -tag -width FTS_NAMEONLY
636.It Dv FTS_NAMEONLY
637Only the names of the files are needed.
638The contents of all the fields in the returned linked list of structures
639are undefined with the exception of the
640.Fa fts_name
641and
642.Fa fts_namelen
643fields.
644.El
645.Sh FTS_SET
646The function
647.Fn fts_set
648allows the user application to determine further processing for the
649file
650.Fa f
651of the stream
652.Fa ftsp .
653The
654.Fn fts_set
655function
656returns 0 on success, and \-1 if an error occurs.
657.Em Option
658must be set to one of the following values:
659.Bl -tag -width FTS_PHYSICAL
660.It Dv FTS_AGAIN
661Re-visit the file; any file type may be re-visited.
662The next call to
663.Fn fts_read
664will return the referenced file.
665The
666.Fa fts_stat
667and
668.Fa fts_info
669fields of the structure will be reinitialized at that time,
670but no other fields will have been changed.
671This option is meaningful only for the most recently returned
672file from
673.Fn fts_read .
674Normal use is for post-order directory visits, where it causes the
675directory to be re-visited (in both pre and post-order) as well as all
676of its descendants.
677.It Dv FTS_FOLLOW
678The referenced file must be a symbolic link.
679If the referenced file is the one most recently returned by
680.Fn fts_read ,
681the next call to
682.Fn fts_read
683returns the file with the
684.Fa fts_info
685and
686.Fa fts_statp
687fields reinitialized to reflect the target of the symbolic link instead
688of the symbolic link itself.
689If the file is one of those most recently returned by
690.Fn fts_children ,
691the
692.Fa fts_info
693and
694.Fa fts_statp
695fields of the structure, when returned by
696.Fn fts_read ,
697will reflect the target of the symbolic link instead of the symbolic link
698itself.
699In either case, if the target of the symbolic link does not exist the
700fields of the returned structure will be unchanged and the
701.Fa fts_info
702field will be set to
703.Dv FTS_SLNONE .
704.Pp
705If the target of the link is a directory, the pre-order return, followed
706by the return of all of its descendants, followed by a post-order return,
707is done.
708.It Dv FTS_SKIP
709No descendants of this file are visited.
710The file may be one of those most recently returned by either
711.Fn fts_children
712or
713.Fn fts_read .
714.El
715.Sh FTS_CLOSE
716The
717.Fn fts_close
718function closes a file hierarchy stream
719.Fa ftsp
720and restores the current directory to the directory from which
721.Fn fts_open
722was called to open
723.Fa ftsp .
724The
725.Fn fts_close
726function
727returns 0 on success, and \-1 if an error occurs.
728.Sh ERRORS
729The function
730.Fn fts_open
731may fail and set
732.Va errno
733for any of the errors specified for the library functions
734.Xr open 2
735and
736.Xr malloc 3 .
737.Pp
738The function
739.Fn fts_close
740may fail and set
741.Va errno
742for any of the errors specified for the library functions
743.Xr chdir 2
744and
745.Xr close 2 .
746.Pp
747The functions
748.Fn fts_read
749and
750.Fn fts_children
751may fail and set
752.Va errno
753for any of the errors specified for the library functions
754.Xr chdir 2 ,
755.Xr malloc 3 ,
756.Xr opendir 3 ,
757.Xr readdir 3
758and
759.Xr stat 2 .
760.Pp
761In addition,
762.Fn fts_children ,
763.Fn fts_open
764and
765.Fn fts_set
766may fail and set
767.Va errno
768as follows:
769.Bl -tag -width Er
770.It Bq Er EINVAL
771The options were invalid, or the list were empty.
772.El
773.Sh SEE ALSO
774.Xr find 1 ,
775.Xr chdir 2 ,
776.Xr stat 2 ,
777.Xr ftw 3 ,
778.Xr qsort 3
779.Sh HISTORY
780The
781.Nm
782interface was first introduced in
783.Bx 4.4 .
784The
785.Fn fts_get_clientptr ,
786.Fn fts_get_stream ,
787and
788.Fn fts_set_clientptr
789functions were introduced in
790.Fx 5.0 ,
791principally to provide for alternative interfaces to the
792.Nm
793functionality using different data structures.
794.Sh BUGS
795The
796.Fn fts_open
797function will automatically set the
798.Dv FTS_NOCHDIR
799option if the
800.Dv FTS_LOGICAL
801option is provided, or if it cannot
802.Xr open 2
803the current directory.
804