getdents(2) System Calls getdents(2)NAMEgetdents - read directory entries and put in a file system independent
format
SYNOPSIS
#include <dirent.h>
int getdents(int fildes, struct dirent *buf, size_t nbyte);
DESCRIPTION
The getdents() function attempts to read nbyte bytes from the directory
associated with the file descriptor fildes and to format them as file
system independent directory entries in the buffer pointed to by buf.
Since the file system independent directory entries are of variable
lengths, in most cases the actual number of bytes returned will be less
than nbyte. The file system independent directory entry is specified by
the dirent structure. See dirent.h(3HEAD).
On devices capable of seeking, getdents() starts at a position in the
file given by the file pointer associated with fildes. Upon return from
getdents(), the file pointer is incremented to point to the next direc‐
tory entry.
RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, a non-negative integer is returned indicat‐
ing the number of bytes actually read. A return value of 0 indicates
the end of the directory has been reached. Otherwise, −1 is returned
and errno is set to indicate the error.
ERRORS
The getdents() function will fail if:
EBADF The fildes argument is not a valid file descriptor open
for reading.
EFAULT The buf argument points to an illegal address.
EINVAL The nbyte argument is not large enough for one directory
entry.
EIO An I/O error occurred while accessing the file system.
ENOENT The current file pointer for the directory is not located
at a valid entry.
ENOLINK The fildes argument points to a remote machine and the
link to that machine is no longer active.
ENOTDIR The fildes argument is not a directory.
EOVERFLOW The value of the dirent structure member d_ino or d_off
cannot be represented in an ino_t or off_t.
USAGE
The getdents() function was developed to implement the readdir(3C)
function and should not be used for other purposes.
The getdents() function has a transitional interface for 64-bit file
offsets. See lf64(5).
SEE ALSOreaddir(3C), dirent.h(3HEAD), lf64(5)SunOS 5.11 17 Jul 2001 getdents(2)
