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FTS(3) Linux Programmer's Manual FTS(3)
fts, fts_open, fts_read, fts_children, fts_set, fts_close - traverse
a file hierarchy
#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 instr);
int fts_set(FTS *ftsp, FTSENT *f, int instr);
int fts_close(FTS *ftsp);
The fts functions are provided for traversing file hierarchies. A
simple overview is that the fts_open() function returns a "handle"
(of type FTS *) that refers to a file hierarchy "stream". This
handle 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
preorder (before any of their descendants are visited) and in
postorder (after all of their descendants have been visited). Files
are visited once. It is possible to walk the hierarchy "logically"
(visiting the files that symbolic links point to) or physically
(visiting the symbolic links themselves), order the walk of the
hierarchy or prune and/or revisit portions of the hierarchy.
Two structures (and associated types) are defined in the include file
<fts.h>. The first type is FTS, the structure that represents the
file hierarchy itself. The second type 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 fields describing a file. The
structure contains at least the following fields (there are
additional fields that should be considered private to the
implementation):
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 values 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 preorder.
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 postorder. The
contents of the FTSENT structure will be
unchanged from when it was returned in
preorder, 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 If fts_children() or fts_read() returns an FTSENT
structure whose fts_info field is set to FTS_DNR,
FTS_ERR, or FTS_NS, the fts_errno field contains the
error number (i.e., the errno value) 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.
fts_statp A pointer to stat(2) information for the file.
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_PHYSICAL
must 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_PHYSICAL must 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 preorder
and once in postorder. 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 postorder.
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 re-create 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
preorder, 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.
The instr argument is either zero or 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.
The instr argument is either 0 (meaning "do nothing") or one of the
following values:
FTS_AGAIN Revisit the file; any file type may be revisited. 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 postorder directory visits, where it causes
the directory to be revisited (in both preorder and
postorder) 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 preorder
return, followed by the return of all of its
descendants, followed by a postorder 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 the file hierarchy stream referred to
by 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.
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 options or instr was invalid.
These functions are available in Linux since glibc2.
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see
attributes(7).
┌───────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬───────────┐
│Interface │ Attribute │ Value │
├───────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼───────────┤
│fts_open(), fts_set(), fts_close() │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe │
├───────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼───────────┤
│fts_read(), fts_children() │ Thread safety │ MT-Unsafe │
└───────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴───────────┘
4.4BSD.
In versions of glibc before 2.23, all of the APIs described in this
man page are not safe when compiling a program using the LFS APIs
(e.g., when compiling with -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64).
find(1), chdir(2), stat(2), ftw(3), qsort(3)
This page is part of release 4.12 of the Linux man-pages project. A
description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the
latest version of this page, can be found at
https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
Linux 2017-03-13 FTS(3)
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