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FTS(3)			   Linux Programmers Manual		       FTS(3)



NAME
       fts,  fts_open, fts_read, fts_children, fts_set, fts_close - traverse a
       file hierarchy

SYNOPSIS
       #include 
       #include 
       #include 

       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 options);

       int fts_set(FTS *ftsp, FTSENT *f, int options);

       int fts_close(FTS *ftsp);

DESCRIPTION
       The fts functions are provided for traversing file hierarchies.	A sim
       ple  overview  is  that the fts_open() function returns a "handle" on a
       file hierarchy, which 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 pre-order (before
       any of their descendants are visited) and in post-order (after  all  of
       their  descendants  have been visited).	Files are visited once.  It is
       possible to walk the hierarchy "logically" (ignoring symbolic links) or
       physically  (visiting  symbolic links), order the walk of the hierarchy
       or prune and/or re-visit portions of the hierarchy.

       Two structures are defined (and typedefd) in the include file .
       The  first  is  FTS,  the  structure that represents the file hierarchy
       itself.	The second 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 at least the following fields, which are described in  greater
       detail below:

	   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 flags 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 pre-order.

		   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 speci
			       fied as a filename to fts_open() (see  FTS_SEE
			       DOT).

		   FTS_DP      A  directory  being visited in post-order.  The
			       contents  of  the  FTSENT  structure  will   be
			       unchanged  from	when  it  was returned in pre-
			       order, 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 sym
			       bolic 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  traver
		   sal.   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   Upon return of a FTSENT structure from  the	fts_children()
		   or  fts_read()  functions,  with  its fts_info field set to
		   FTS_DNR, FTS_ERR or FTS_NS, the  fts_errno  field  contains
		   the	value  of  the	external variable errno 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 pro
		   gram and is not modified by the fts functions.  It is  ini
		   tialized to 0.

       fts_pointer This  field is provided for the use of the application pro
		   gram and is not modified by the fts functions.  It is  ini
		   tialized 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 directo
		   ries,  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
       structures 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 point
       ers 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_LOGI
       CAL 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 nonexis
		    tent 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 cur
		    rent directory and try to access files unless  FTS_NOCHDIR
		    is specified and absolute pathnames were provided as argu
		    ments 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  per
		    formance  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 pre-order and
       once in post-order.  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	direc
       tories 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 post-order.

   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_chil
       dren() will recreate this linked list.

       As  a special case, if fts_read() has not yet been called for a hierar
       chy, 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 pre-order, 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.

       Option may be set to 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.  Option must be set to
       one of the following values:

       FTS_AGAIN    Re-visit the file; any file type may be  re-visited.   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
		    post-order directory visits, where it causes the directory
		    to	be  re-visited (in both pre and post-order) as well as
		    all of its descendants.

       FTS_FOLLOW   The referenced file must be a symbolic link.  If the  ref
		    erenced   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  pre-order
		    return,  followed by the return of all of its descendants,
		    followed by a post-order 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_chil
		    dren() or fts_read().

   fts_close()
       The fts_close() function  closes  a  file  hierarchy  stream  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  suc
       cess, and -1 if an error occurs.

ERRORS
       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),  read
       dir(3) and stat(2).

       In  addition, fts_children(), fts_open() and fts_set() may fail and set
       errno as follows:

       EINVAL The options were invalid.

VERSIONS
       These functions are available in Linux since glibc2.

CONFORMING TO
       4.4BSD.

SEE ALSO
       find(1), chdir(2), stat(2), ftw(3), qsort(3)

COLOPHON
       This page is part of release 3.05 of the Linux  man-pages  project.   A
       description  of	the project, and information about reporting bugs, can
       be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.



Linux				  2007-12-28				FTS(3)




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