Ok, sorry for asking such a basic question (again), but I haven't been able to find any intelligent info on exactly how to determine the following: Is a file a directory or not?
I think I need to use stat, but this returns absolutely nothing in the examples I've tried. I've been using dirent.h, DIR and readdir() to read the folder(s), but the only "safe" information I can get from the files are the filenames (d_name). The d_name value seems totally useless.
From man stat:
Code:The following POSIX macros are defined to check the file type using the st_mode field: S_ISREG(m) is it a regular file? S_ISDIR(m) directory? S_ISCHR(m) character device? S_ISBLK(m) block device? S_ISFIFO(m) FIFO (named pipe)?
The stat::st_mode member should have the S_IFDIR bit set if it's a directory. I can't be more specific without seeing the code, though...Originally Posted by cnewbie1
Code:#include <cmath> #include <complex> bool euler_flip(bool value) { return std::pow ( std::complex<float>(std::exp(1.0)), std::complex<float>(0, 1) * std::complex<float>(std::atan(1.0) *(1 << (value + 2))) ).real() < 0; }
For example:
Code:$ ./isdir . .. isdir* . -- is a directory .. -- is a directory isdir -- is not a directory isdir.c -- is not a directory $ cat isdir.c #include <sys/stat.h> #include <unistd.h> #include <stdio.h> int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { int a; for(a = 1; a < argc; a ++) { struct stat buf; stat(argv[a], &buf); if(S_ISDIR(buf.st_mode)) { printf("%-20s -- is a directory\n", argv[a]); } else { printf("%-20s -- is not a directory\n", argv[a]); } } return 0; } $
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Thanks, and again apologies for getting back to being more basic than I really should need to be. I'll have a look at the help, hints and advice tomorrow
Ok...
This code (from your example) works fine. If I give it a filename it reports it as not a directory, and a directory is reported as a directory:
However - when I try to combine this with the directory listing code I've been playing with, it doesn't work. This code lists the contents of a directory:Code:int main() { int a; char *filename = "directory/file.txt"; //char *filename = "directory/subdirectory"; struct stat buf; stat(filename, &buf); if (S_ISDIR(buf.st_mode)) { printf("%-20s -- is a directory\n", filename); } else { printf("%-20s -- is not a directory\n", filename); } return 0; }
All entries are reported as "-- is not a directory". At first I thought it was related to some buffering and where I created the struct, and that the first entry (a file) would be "stuck" and not change. However, I'm not sure.Code:DIR *dp; struct dirent *ep; dp = opendir("./directory"); if (dp != NULL) { while (ep = readdir(dp)) { if (strcmp(ep->d_name, ".") == 0 || strcmp(ep->d_name, "..") == 0) { continue; } //printf("%s,", ep->d_name); struct stat buf; stat(ep->d_name, &buf); if (S_ISDIR(buf.st_mode)) { printf("%-20s -- is a directory\n", ep->d_name); } else { printf("%-20s -- is not a directory\n", ep->d_name); } } (void)closedir(dp); } else { perror("Couldn't open the directory\n"); }
The contents of the directory:
anotherfile.exe
anothersubfolder
file
file.txt
subdirectory
yetanotherfile.bat
The above code lists this:
If I place a break at the end of the while-loop, the only entry listed isCode:subdirectory -- is not a directory anothersubfolder -- is not a directory file.txt -- is not a directory .file -- is not a directory anotherfile.exe -- is not a directory file -- is not a directory yetanotherfile.bat -- is not a directory
If I remove the break, the first new entry isCode:subdirectory -- is not a directory
But only for one run. The next run again reports all entries as not directories.Code:subdirectory -- is a directory anothersubfolder -- is a directory file.txt -- is a directory .file -- is a directory anotherfile.exe -- is a directory file -- is a directory yetanotherfile.bat -- is a directory
.
If you read doc of readdir, struct dirent: d_type can be used to determine file type.
RTM!!!
Every place I've seen it discussed, the point is made that d_type cannot be used safely. Only d_name and d_init(?) can be used safely. This is supported by the fact that when I've used it, the values have been completely useless and not saying anything about wether or not the file is a directory.
So, RTM yourself. And I'll put some really mature exclamation marks at the end as well: !!!
Innnnnnnnnnnnnteresting. The code you've given works here (on Ubuntu), with "is a directory" appearing as needed in the middle of all the "is not a directory" lines. The way you have it set up, technically your buf variable gets destroyed and re-created every time through the loop, so caching of any sort shouldn't be a problem at all. I guess you can check to see if for some reason the call to stat fails.
OOH OOH update: If I change my program to walk through a different directory than the one it is in (like you are), then it fails as you say. I get a lot of "No such file or directory" if I use perror; so you probably need to let stat in on the directory somehow.
Last edited by tabstop; 12-29-2010 at 10:06 AM.
But how does that explain that THIS code works, even though the directory it is given is not the one I'm in the running the program?
Alt#1 returns "not a directory" and Alt#2 returns "is a directory".Code:int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { int a; //char *filename = "directory/file.txt"; // Alt.#1 char *filename = "directory/subdirectory"; // Alt.#2 struct stat buf; stat(filename, &buf); if (S_ISDIR(buf.st_mode)) { printf("%-20s -- is a directory\n", filename); } else { printf("%-20s -- is not a directory\n", filename); } return 0; }
I don't see any options to pass anything else or more data to stat() either, since it won't accept more arguments.
Last edited by cnewbie1; 12-29-2010 at 12:01 PM.
Check your return from stat!
readdir is giving you the name of the file within "./directory", so you are only getting "file.txt", not "./directory/file.txt". You need to prepend the file name with whatever you pass to opendir.Code:if (stat(ep->d_name, &buf) == -1) { fprintf(stderr, "%s: ", ep->d_name); perror("stat"); } else if (S_ISDIR(buf.st_mode)) {
> dp = opendir("./directory");
When you do things like this, the ep->name is just the name of the file (say foo.txt), NOT "./directory/foo.txt".
The problem is, you're calling stat() for a file in the opened directory, as if it were in the CURRENT directory.
Y'know, stat() returns a sucess/fail status - try paying attention to it.
^^^ Meh - what he said!
If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
If at first you don't succeed, try writing your phone number on the exam paper.
Ah, of course - that's logical. Thanks :-)
