build tree of directories sub-directories using linked-lists

Hello.

I'm trying to design an algorithm that I could use in various programs under linux using readdir(), opendir(), etc. and create linked-lists of all the files in directories and sub-directories and am kind of frustrated with HOW to do it. For instance, I can use a readdir() to read all the files in one directory and build a linked-list of all of its files and this could be also a function on its own. Where I seem to get confused is when it comes to processing sub-directories. Should I process an entire directory and build a linked-list of all of its files and then scan that linked-list for sub-directories to open and build linked-lists of those sub-directories, or should I process those sub-directories as I'm building the linked-list of a particular directory using recursion? i.e. As I'm building a directory's linked-list of files and come across a sub-directory open it and build a linked-list of its files, etc. Any ideas?

Thanks

You really don't need a "linked-list" for this, the content is not dynamic. The only variable factor is the length of the list.

Since readdir already supplies struct dirent, just use an array of them.

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <dirent.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {
        short int i=0,n;
        struct dirent *dentry;
        struct dirent *Dray;
        DIR *dir = opendir(argv[1]);
        if (dir == NULL) {perror("opendir fail");return -1;}

        Dray=malloc(sizeof(*Dray));
        while((dentry=readdir(dir)) != NULL) {
                if (i>0) Dray=realloc(Dray,(i+1)*sizeof(*Dray));
                Dray[i]=*dentry;
                i++;
        }   
        closedir(dir);

        for (n=0;n<i;n++) printf("%s: %d\n",Dray[n].d_name,Dray[n].d_type);
}

Alternately, you could make Dray it's own kind of struct and just retain the fields from dirent that you want.

thanks MK27. Will that algorithm also handle all sub-directories infinitely underneath the directory in question?

*cough* tree walker in the FAQ *cough*