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READDIR(3) Linux Programmer's Manual READDIR(3)

NAME

readdir - read a directory

SYNOPSIS

#include <sys/types.h>

#include <dirent.h>

struct dirent *readdir(DIR *dir);

DESCRIPTION

The readdir() function returns a pointer to a dirent structure representing the next directory entry in the directory stream pointed to by dir. It returns NULL on reaching the end-of-file or if an error occurred.

The data returned by readdir() is overwritten by subsequent calls to readdir() for the same directory stream.

According to POSIX, the dirent structure contains a field char d_name[] of unspecified size, with at most NAME_MAX characters preceding the terminating null character. Use of other fields will harm the portability of your programs.

RETURN VALUE

The readdir() function returns a pointer to a dirent structure, or NULL if an error occurs or end-of-file is reached.

ERRORS

Invalid directory stream descriptor dir.

CONFORMING TO

SVID 3, POSIX, BSD 4.3

SEE ALSO

read(2), opendir(3), closedir(3), rewinddir(3), seekdir(3), telldir(3), scandir(3)

22 April 1996