Thread: Get list of just files

I'm trying to find a way to get a list of only the files inside a directory. If that directory has other sub-directories in it, I don't want them in the list.

I'm currently using scandir like this:

char *pathname = "/var/";

int count, i;
struct direct **files;

count = scandir(pathname, &files, file_select, alphasort);

for (i=1; i<count+1; ++i)
printf("%s\n", files[i-1]->d_name);

I've looked around and can't find an easy way to check to see if an element in files is a directory or a file.

Can anyone give me a suggestion?

First time poster.

forgot that part.

I'm using debian linux

I was focused more on the directory part and didn't realize I had a brain fart. I had copied some code I found online and hadn't really looked at it. - Thank you for not just laughing at me, but correcting me as well. I can deal with laughter. I can't stand my own laziness.

So, how would you easily detect whether or not it's a directory. I've looking at doing something with a system call like "file *" or "ls -d */" and pipe it to a variable then split up the results then, but that sounds too ugly.

My whole purpose for this is to run diff on every file, but not sub-directories against a "supposedly" duplicate file structure to look for any changes in files.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

My pointer is to type "man dirent", and examine the d_type field of the structure.

I see now that in my sample code adding files[i]->file_type to my code will get me what I need. If it returns a 4, it's a directory.

Thank you for smackin' me upside my head.

I'd advise you to use stat(2) and then use the macro S_ISDIR to filter out all the directories. Please refer to the man page of stat(2) for more information.

Cactus_Hugger - I did take your pointer and read the documentation and I did end up using the #define DT_DIR instead of 4. That seems to be working.

I will also read the docs for stat() like you and mageshd84 seem to indicate.

I haven't done C in Linux for sometime so I had totally forgot about reading the man pages. I won't make that mistake again.

I remember struggling through programming back in the days before Al Gore invented the Internet. Sometimes I fall victim to relying on asking questions rather than seeking answers on my own.

Thank you to all who answered here.