GETDENTS(2)                                           GETDENTS(2)



     NAME
          getdents - read directory entries and put in a file system
          independent format

     SYNOPSIS
          #include <sys/dirent.h>

          int getdents (fildes, buf, nbyte)
          int fildes;
          char *buf;
          unsigned nbyte;

     DESCRIPTION
          Fildes is a file descriptor obtained from an open(2) or
          dup(2) system call.

          getdents attempts to read nbyte bytes from the directory
          associated with fildes and to format them as file system
          independent directory entries in the buffer pointed to by
          buf.  Since the file system independent directory entries
          are of variable length, in most cases the actual number of
          bytes returned will be strictly less than nbyte.

          The file system independent directory entry is specified by
          the dirent structure.  For a description of this see
          dirent(4).

          On devices capable of seeking, getdents starts at a position
          in the file given by the file pointer associated with
          fildes.  Upon return from getdents, the file pointer is
          incremented to point to the next directory entry.

          This system call was developed in order to implement the
          readdir(3X) routine [for a description see directory(3X)],
          and should not be used for other purposes.

          getdents will fail if one or more of the following are true:

          [EBADF]        Fildes is not a valid file descriptor open
                         for reading.

          [EFAULT]       Buf points outside the allocated address
                         space.

          [EINVAL]       nbyte is not large enough for one directory
                         entry.

          [ENOENT]       The current file pointer for the directory is
                         not located at a valid entry.

          [ENOLINK]      Fildes points to a remote machine and the
                         link to that machine is no longer active.



     Page 1                                        (last mod. 8/20/87)

     GETDENTS(2)                                           GETDENTS(2)



          [ENOTDIR]      Fildes is not a directory.

          [EIO]          An I/O error occurred while accessing the
                         file system.

     SEE ALSO
          directory(3X), dirent(4).

     DIAGNOSTICS
          Upon successful completion a non-negative integer is
          returned indicating the number of bytes actually read.  A
          value of 0 indicates the end of the directory has been
          reached.  If the system call failed, a -1 is returned and
          errno is set to indicate the error.

     ORIGIN
          AT&T V.3






































     Page 2                                        (last mod. 8/20/87)