Finding out the name of a file, and changing directory

**nindoja** · 06-22-2004

[Edit]I am running Windows XP[/Edit]

Hello. I have two questions:

1. How would you find the name of the next directory to go into, so you could chdir() to it?
1. How would you assign the name of the first file in directory to an array?
3. How would you find the name of the next file in a given directory (findnextfile() maybe)?

And if you have to use findfirstfile() and/or findnextfile(), could you give an example of them. Thanks a bunch.

**chrismiceli** · 06-22-2004

If in linux, you might want to look here, the boards faq
http://faq.cprogramming.com/cgi-bin/...&id=1045780608

**nindoja** · 06-22-2004

Whoops... Sorry for not telling what Operating System I use. I am running Windows XP. But thanks for the effort.

**Prelude** · 06-22-2004

>I am running Windows XP.
Pipe the result of DIR into your program.

**nindoja** · 06-22-2004

Right, but how do I get the name of the directory that I need to change into. What I need to do is mass renaming of files in a given directory. The program will then go into the subsequent directories and rename all of the files. The program will be given the base directory, but it will have to get the name of the first subdirectory and go into it. Then, it will proceed to rename all of the files and go back to the base directory. After that, I will need to find the name of the next directory to go into. I know how to change directories, but I need to know how to get the directory name.

**Salem** · 06-22-2004

IIRC, there's a perfectly good tree walker in the FAQ, if people would ever read it

**nindoja** · 06-22-2004

Alright, I looked at all of the examples, but they went completely over my head. If I can just get the names of functions to do this, that would be great. From there I can work out a program.

**xErath** · 06-22-2004

If you feel like using Windows C APi, which is very nice...

Code:

#include<stdio.h>
#include<string.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
#include<windows.h>

int isDirGood(WIN32_FIND_DATA dir){
	return	(dir.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY)
			&& (strcmp(dir.cFileName, "."))
			&& (strcmp(dir.cFileName, ".."));
}

int isFileGood(WIN32_FIND_DATA file){
	return	!(file.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY);
}

void renameFiles(char *startingDir){
	HANDLE hTheFiles;
	WIN32_FIND_DATA theFiles;

	int len;

	len = strlen(startingDir);
	startingDir[len]='*';
	startingDir[len+1]=0;
	hTheFiles = FindFirstFile(startingDir, &theFiles);
	startingDir[len]=0;

	if(hTheFiles==INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) return;

	do{
		if(isDirGood(theFiles)){
			sprintf(startingDir+len, "%s\\", theFiles.cFileName);
			//puts(startingDir);
			renameFiles(startingDir);
			startingDir[len]=0;
		}else if(isFileGood(theFiles)){
			//RENAME THE FILE
			printf("FILE: %s%s renamed\n", startingDir, theFiles.cFileName);
		}


	}while(FindNextFile(hTheFiles, &theFiles));

	FindClose(hTheFiles);
}


char *dirToFullPath(char *s){
	char curDir[MAX_PATH];

	if(!s) s = (char*)calloc(1, MAX_PATH);

	if(!*s){//no dir specified
		GetCurrentDirectory(MAX_PATH, s);
		if(s[strlen(s)-1]!='\\')
			strcat(s,"\\");
	}
	else if(s[1]==':'){//full path dir
			if(s[strlen(s)-1]!='\\')
				strcat(s,"\\");
	}
	else{//relative dir
		GetCurrentDirectory(MAX_PATH, curDir);
		if(curDir[strlen(curDir)-1]!='\\')
			strcat(curDir,"\\");

		if(*s=='\\') s++;
		if(s[0] && s[strlen(s)-1]!='\\')
			strcat(s,"\\");

		strcat(curDir,s);
		strcpy(s, curDir);
	}
	return s;

}

main(){
	char s[1000];
	strcpy(s, YOUR_DIR_HERE);
	dirToFullPath(s);
	renameFiles(s);

}

It's all done... just add your renaming criteria to the renameFiles function, and add more arguments to it if you want.
Maybe you want to receive a directory by command line... If so the dirToFullPath is very good because it allows you to write any directory name, and changes it to its fullpath.
e.g: c:\dir\dir2> rename mydir3\mydir2
that input will make the startingDir string look like
"c:\dir\dir2\mydir3\mydir2".
The only problem is to allocate enough memory to the dir name buffer, but that's not really a problem...
Plus... "if(s[1]==':')" this condition works only for windows. If you want to make your app work in other OS you should change that condition.

**nindoja** · 06-22-2004

Thanks a bunch, but I tried that (copied and pasted the code). The only change that I made was what directory to use at the bottom. When I run it, I get nothing... No window, no alerts, nothing. But it compiles well.

**xErath** · 06-22-2004

Originally Posted by nindoja

Thanks a bunch, but I tried that (copied and pasted the code). The only change that I made was what directory to use at the bottom. When I run it, I get nothing... No window, no alerts, nothing. But it compiles well.

Make sure your using a directory that exists
If not:
if(hTheFiles==INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) return;
the function returns without doing nothing.
Debug the function to find out where the problem is.
You could also put something like puts(startingDir) at the beginning of the function.

**swoopy** · 06-22-2004

>that input you make the startingDir string look like
>"c:\dir\dir2\mydir3\mydir2".

It had better look more like this:
"c:\\dir\\dir2\\mydir3\\mydir2".

**nindoja** · 06-22-2004

Nope, that didn't work. So here is my code:

Code:

 #include<stdio.h>
#include<string.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
#include<windows.h>
int isDirGood(WIN32_FIND_DATA dir){
 return (dir.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY)
   && (strcmp(dir.cFileName, "."))
   && (strcmp(dir.cFileName, ".."));
}
int isFileGood(WIN32_FIND_DATA file){
 return !(file.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY);
}
void renameFiles(char *startingDir){
 HANDLE hTheFiles;
 WIN32_FIND_DATA theFiles;
 int len;
 
 
 
 
 puts(startingDir);
 
  
  
 len = strlen(startingDir);
 startingDir[len]='*';
 startingDir[len+1]=0;
 hTheFiles = FindFirstFile(startingDir, &theFiles);
 startingDir[len]=0;
 if(hTheFiles==INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) return;
 do{
  if(isDirGood(theFiles)){
   sprintf(startingDir+len, "%s\\", theFiles.cFileName);
   //puts(startingDir);
   renameFiles(startingDir);
   startingDir[len]=0;
   printf("hahahahahahahahahahahahaha");
  }else if(isFileGood(theFiles)){
   //RENAME THE FILE
   printf("FILE: %s%s renamed\n", startingDir, theFiles.cFileName);
  }

 }while(FindNextFile(hTheFiles, &theFiles));
 FindClose(hTheFiles);
}

char *dirToFullPath(char *s){
 char curDir[MAX_PATH];
 if(!s) s = (char*)calloc(1, MAX_PATH);
 if(!*s){//no dir specified
  GetCurrentDirectory(MAX_PATH, s);
  if(s[strlen(s)-1]!='\\')
   strcat(s,"\\");
 }
 else if(s[1]==':'){//full path dir
   if(s[strlen(s)-1]!='\\')
	strcat(s,"\\");
 }
 else{//relative dir
  GetCurrentDirectory(MAX_PATH, curDir);
  if(curDir[strlen(curDir)-1]!='\\')
   strcat(curDir,"\\");
  if(*s=='\\') s++;
  if(s[0] && s[strlen(s)-1]!='\\')
   strcat(s,"\\");
  strcat(curDir,s);
  strcpy(s, curDir);
 }
 return s;
}
int main(void){
 char s[1000];
 char a[1000]="c:\\test";
 strcpy(s, a);
 dirToFullPath(s);
 renameFiles(s);
 return 0;
}

**xErath** · 06-22-2004

Hum.. i'm not getting the problem.
It works fine with me. Debug the source.. What IDE are you using?? Put a breakpoint before the cicle, and also before the return... Or put a printf() if you like before and after the return, and inside the cicle, outside the ifs.
For shure, it's the return that finishes the program.

**nindoja** · 06-22-2004

I tried it using Visual C++ and Dev-C++, but both to no avail. I put break points on every line, and even then it won't work. Since we can't get it to work, does anyone know how to do it via a console application???

**xErath** · 06-22-2004

Originally Posted by nindoja

I tried it using Visual C++ and Dev-C++, but both to no avail. I put break points on every line, and even then it won't work. Since we can't get it to work, does anyone know how to do it via a console application???

If you're using Visual C++ place a breakpoint at the beginnig of the function renameFiles(), and when the breakpoint is reached press F10 to go step by step, and see where the function exits. Plus do a printf() of the directory name after calling dirToFullPath()

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Finding out the name of a file, and changing directory

whoops

right, but...

explain

tried that

nope

nope

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