xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/gen/scandir.3 (revision 2e3507c25e42292b45a5482e116d278f5515d04d)
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28.Dd August 31, 2023
29.Dt SCANDIR 3
30.Os
31.Sh NAME
32.Nm scandir ,
33.Nm scandirat ,
34.Nm scandir_b ,
35.Nm alphasort ,
36.Nm versionsort
37.Nd scan a directory
38.Sh LIBRARY
39.Lb libc
40.Sh SYNOPSIS
41.In dirent.h
42.Ft int
43.Fo scandir
44.Fa "const char *dirname"
45.Fa "struct dirent ***namelist"
46.Fa "int \*(lp*select\*(rp\*(lpconst struct dirent *\*(rp"
47.Fa "int \*(lp*compar\*(rp\*(lpconst struct dirent **, const struct dirent **\*(rp"
48.Fc
49.Ft int
50.Fo scandirat
51.Fa "int dirfd"
52.Fa "const char *dirname"
53.Fa "struct dirent ***namelist"
54.Fa "int \*(lp*select\*(rp\*(lpconst struct dirent *\*(rp"
55.Fa "int \*(lp*compar\*(rp\*(lpconst struct dirent **, const struct dirent **\*(rp"
56.Fc
57.Ft int
58.Fo scandir_b
59.Fa "const char *dirname"
60.Fa "struct dirent ***namelist"
61.Fa "int \*(lp^select\*(rp\*(lpconst struct dirent *\*(rp"
62.Fa "int \*(lp^compar\*(rp\*(lpconst struct dirent **, const struct dirent **\*(rp"
63.Fc
64.Ft int
65.Fn alphasort "const struct dirent **d1" "const struct dirent **d2"
66.Ft int
67.Fn versionsort "const struct dirent **d1" "const struct dirent **d2"
68.Sh DESCRIPTION
69The
70.Fn scandir
71function
72reads the directory
73.Fa dirname
74and builds an array of pointers to directory
75entries using
76.Xr malloc 3 .
77It returns the number of entries in the array.
78A pointer to the array of directory entries is stored in the location
79referenced by
80.Fa namelist .
81.Pp
82The
83.Fa select
84argument is a pointer to a user supplied subroutine which is called by
85.Fn scandir
86to select which entries are to be included in the array.
87The select routine is passed a
88pointer to a directory entry and should return a non-zero
89value if the directory entry is to be included in the array.
90If
91.Fa select
92is null, then all the directory entries will be included.
93.Pp
94The
95.Fa compar
96argument is a pointer to a user supplied subroutine which is passed to
97.Xr qsort 3
98to sort the completed array.
99If this pointer is null, the array is not sorted.
100.Pp
101The
102.Fn alphasort
103function
104is a routine which can be used for the
105.Fa compar
106argument to sort the array alphabetically using
107.Xr strcoll 3 .
108.Pp
109The
110.Fn versionsort
111function is a routine which can be used for the
112.Fa compar
113argument to sort the array naturally using
114.Xr strverscmp 3 .
115.Pp
116The memory allocated for the array can be deallocated with
117.Xr free 3 ,
118by freeing each pointer in the array and then the array itself.
119.Pp
120The
121.Fn scandirat
122function is similar to
123.Fn scandir ,
124but takes an additional
125.Fa dirfd
126argument.
127If the supplied
128.Fa dirname
129is absolute, the function's behavior is identical to that of
130.Fn scandir ,
131the
132.Fa dirfd
133argument is unused.
134If
135.Fa dirname
136is relative,
137.Fa dirfd
138must be a valid file descriptor referencing a directory, in
139which case the
140.Fa dirname
141lookup is performed relative to the directory referenced by
142.Fa dirfd .
143If
144.Fa dirfd
145has the special value
146.Va AT_FDCWD ,
147then the current process directory is used as the base for
148relative lookups.
149See
150.Xr openat 2
151for additional details.
152.Pp
153The
154.Fn scandir_b
155function behaves in the same way as
156.Fn scandir ,
157but takes blocks as arguments instead of function pointers and calls
158.Fn qsort_b
159rather than
160.Fn qsort .
161.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
162Returns \-1 if the directory cannot be opened for reading or if
163.Xr malloc 3
164cannot allocate enough memory to hold all the data structures.
165.Sh SEE ALSO
166.Xr openat 2 ,
167.Xr directory 3 ,
168.Xr malloc 3 ,
169.Xr qsort 3 ,
170.Xr strcoll 3 ,
171.Xr strverscmp 3 ,
172.Xr dir 5
173.Sh STANDARDS
174The
175.Fn versionsort
176function is a GNU extension and conforms to no standard.
177.Sh HISTORY
178The
179.Fn scandir
180and
181.Fn alphasort
182functions appeared in
183.Bx 4.2 .
184The
185.Fn scandirat
186and
187.Fn versionsort
188functions were added in
189.Fx 13.2 .
190