telldir(3) - Linux manual page (original) (raw)

telldir(3) Library Functions Manual telldir(3)

NAME top

   telldir - return current location in directory stream

LIBRARY top

   Standard C library (_libc_, _-lc_)

SYNOPSIS top

   **#include <dirent.h>**

   **long telldir(DIR ***_dirp_**);**

Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):

   **telldir**():
       _XOPEN_SOURCE
          || /* glibc >= 2.19: */ _DEFAULT_SOURCE
          || /* glibc <= 2.19: */ _BSD_SOURCE || _SVID_SOURCE

DESCRIPTION top

   The **telldir**() function returns the current location associated
   with the directory stream _dirp_.

RETURN VALUE top

   On success, the **telldir**() function returns the current location in
   the directory stream.  On error, -1 is returned, and _[errno](../man3/errno.3.html)_ is set
   to indicate the error.

ERRORS top

   **EBADF** Invalid directory stream descriptor _dirp_.

ATTRIBUTES top

   For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see
   [attributes(7)](../man7/attributes.7.html).
   ┌──────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬─────────┐
   │ **Interface** │ **Attribute** │ **Value** │
   ├──────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────┤
   │ **telldir**()                            │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe │
   └──────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴─────────┘

STANDARDS top

   POSIX.1-2008.

HISTORY top

   POSIX.1-2001, 4.3BSD.

   Up to glibc 2.1.1, the return type of **telldir**() was _offt_.
   POSIX.1-2001 specifies _long_, and this is the type used since glibc
   2.1.2.

   In early filesystems, the value returned by **telldir**() was a simple
   file offset within a directory.  Modern filesystems use tree or
   hash structures, rather than flat tables, to represent
   directories.  On such filesystems, the value returned by **telldir**()
   (and used internally by [readdir(3)](../man3/readdir.3.html)) is a "cookie" that is used by
   the implementation to derive a position within a directory.
   Application programs should treat this strictly as an opaque
   value, making _no_ assumptions about its contents.

SEE ALSO top

   [closedir(3)](../man3/closedir.3.html), [opendir(3)](../man3/opendir.3.html), [readdir(3)](../man3/readdir.3.html), [rewinddir(3)](../man3/rewinddir.3.html), [scandir(3)](../man3/scandir.3.html),
   [seekdir(3)](../man3/seekdir.3.html)

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Linux man-pages 6.10 2024-07-23 telldir(3)

Pages that refer to this page:closedir(3), dirfd(3), opendir(3), readdir(3), rewinddir(3), scandir(3), seekdir(3)