GETDENTS(2-SVR3)    RISC/os Reference Manual     GETDENTS(2-SVR3)



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

SYNOPSIS
     #include <bsd/sys/types.h>
     #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 routine 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 direc-
                         tory entry.

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

     [ENOLINK]           fildes points to a remote machine and



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GETDENTS(2-SVR3)    RISC/os Reference Manual     GETDENTS(2-SVR3)



                         the link to that machine is no longer
                         active.

     [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.






































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