How to List the contents of a directory using c++

I don't suppose there is another way to list the directory contents?

Nope.  FindFirst() and FindNext() are the only way to get the listing.  You can filter the results and list them anyway you like to display them.

>>>> I don't suppose there is another way to list the directory contents?

#include <process.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

int getFilesFromDir(const string& path, vector<string>& files)
{
    string cmd = "dir /b \"";
    cmd += path;   // expect something like c:/mypath
    cmd += "\" > c:/temp/dir.txt";
    system(cmd.c_str());
    ifstream ifs("c:/temp/dir.txt");
    string line;
    while (getline(ifs, line))
          files.push_back(line);

   remove("c:/temp/dir.txt");
   return files.size();
}

Regards, Alex

hi broken_array,

here is an example (adapted from own code, untested!)


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> code begin >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
enum DirItemType
{
      DirItemUndefined = 0x0,
      DirItemDir = 0x1,
      DirItemFile = 0x2,
};

static void Dump_Dir_Item( const char *pszPath, const char *pszFilename, DirItemType type )
{
      printf( "%s\\%s\n", pszPath, pszFilename );
}

bool My_File::Scan_Directory(string &dir)
{
      DirItemType itemType;
      struct _finddata_t c_file;
      long hFile;
      static const int DIRECTORY = _A_SUBDIR;
      static const int FILE = _A_NORMAL | _A_RDONLY | _A_HIDDEN | _A_SYSTEM | _A_ARCH;
            
      hFile = _findfirst( dir.c_str(), &c_file );
      if( hFile == -1 ) return false;

      if( strcmp( c_file.name, "." ) && strcmp( c_file.name, ".." ) )
      {
            if( ( ( type & DirItemDir ) && ( c_file.attrib & DIRECTORY ) ) ||
                  ( ( type & DirItemFile ) && ( c_file.attrib & FILE || c_file.attrib == 0 ) ) )
            {

                  if( c_file.attrib & DIRECTORY )
                  {
                        itemType = DirItemDir;
                  }
                  else if( c_file.attrib & FILE || c_file.attrib == 0 )
                  {
                        itemType = DirItemFile;
                  }
                  else assert( false );

                  Dump_Dir_Item( dir.c_str(), c_file.name, itemType );
            }
      }
      while( _findnext( hFile, &c_file ) == 0 )
      {
            if( strcmp( c_file.name, "." ) && strcmp( c_file.name, ".." ) )
            {
                  if( ( ( type & DirItemDir ) && ( c_file.attrib & DIRECTORY ) ) ||
                        ( ( type & DirItemFile ) && ( c_file.attrib & FILE || c_file.attrib == 0 ) ) )
                  {
                        if( c_file.attrib & DIRECTORY )
                        {
                              itemType = DirItemDir;
                        }
                        else if( c_file.attrib & FILE || c_file.attrib == 0 )
                        {
                              itemType = DirItemFile;
                        }
                        else assert( false );

                        Dump_Dir_Item( dir.c_str(), c_file.name, itemType );
                  }
            }
      }

      return true;
}

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< code end <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


hope it helps,
ike

oops, adapted too fast ;-) with second param of My_File::Scan_Directory, you can control, if files should be printed, directories or both
 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> code begin >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
#include <io.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <assert.h>

enum DirItemType
{
    DirItemUndefined = 0x0,
    DirItemDir = 0x1,
    DirItemFile = 0x2,
};

static void Dump_Dir_Item( const char *pszPath, const char *pszFilename, DirItemType type )
{
    printf( "%s\\%s\n", pszPath, pszFilename );
}

bool My_File::Scan_Directory(string &dir, DirItemType type)
{
    DirItemType itemType;
    struct _finddata_t c_file;
    long hFile;
    static const int DIRECTORY = _A_SUBDIR;
    static const int FILE = _A_NORMAL | _A_RDONLY | _A_HIDDEN | _A_SYSTEM | _A_ARCH;
         
    hFile = _findfirst( dir.c_str(), &c_file );
    if( hFile == -1 ) return false;

    if( strcmp( c_file.name, "." ) && strcmp( c_file.name, ".." ) )
    {
         if( ( ( type & DirItemDir ) && ( c_file.attrib & DIRECTORY ) ) ||
              ( ( type & DirItemFile ) && ( c_file.attrib & FILE || c_file.attrib == 0 ) ) )
         {
              if( c_file.attrib & DIRECTORY )
              {
                   itemType = DirItemDir;
              }
              else if( c_file.attrib & FILE || c_file.attrib == 0 )
              {
                   itemType = DirItemFile;
              }
              else assert( false );

              Dump_Dir_Item( dir.c_str(), c_file.name, itemType );
         }
    }
    while( _findnext( hFile, &c_file ) == 0 )
    {
         if( strcmp( c_file.name, "." ) && strcmp( c_file.name, ".." ) )
         {
              if( ( ( type & DirItemDir ) && ( c_file.attrib & DIRECTORY ) ) ||
                   ( ( type & DirItemFile ) && ( c_file.attrib & FILE || c_file.attrib == 0 ) ) )
              {
                   if( c_file.attrib & DIRECTORY )
                   {
                        itemType = DirItemDir;
                   }
                   else if( c_file.attrib & FILE || c_file.attrib == 0 )
                   {
                        itemType = DirItemFile;
                   }
                   else assert( false );

                   Dump_Dir_Item( dir.c_str(), c_file.name, itemType );
              }
         }
    }

    return true;
}

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< code end <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


ike

Check out the following code, that is portable on Windows, UNIX, Linux, and any other POSIX operating system:
http://code.axter.com/findfilecontainer.h

Example usage:

FindFilesInPath MyFindFilesInPath("M:\\BinSearch\\", "*.c*");
for(std::vector<std::string>::const_iterator i = MyFindFilesInPath.c_FileList.begin();
      i != MyFindFilesInPath.c_FileList.end();++i)
{
            cout << i->c_str() << endl;
}

I have looked at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/fileio/fs/listing_the_files_in_a_directory.asp and got it working but it doesn't seem to to list the contents of any of the folders that are in the directory that is being scanned ?

Please post your code

string *My_File::Scan_Directory(string &dir)
{
      string *Files;
      int count = 0;
      
      WIN32_FIND_DATA FindFileData;
      HANDLE hFind = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
      string DirSpec;  // directory specification
      DWORD dwError;
   
      cout << "Target directory is " << dir << endl;
      DirSpec = dir;
      DirSpec.append("\\*");

      hFind = FindFirstFile(DirSpec.c_str(), &FindFileData);

      if (hFind == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
      {
            cout << "Invalid file handle. Error is " << GetLastError() << endl;
            return (0);
      }
      else
      {
            cout << "First file name is " << FindFileData.cFileName << endl;
            count = 1;
            while(FindNextFile(hFind, &FindFileData) != 0)
            {
                  cout << "Next file name is " << FindFileData.cFileName << endl;
                  count++;
            }
   
            dwError = GetLastError();
            FindClose(hFind);
            if (dwError != ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES)
            {
                  cout << "FindNextFile error. Error is " << dwError <<endl;
                  return (0);
            }
      }

      Files = new string[count];
      count = 0;

      hFind = FindFirstFile(DirSpec.c_str(), &FindFileData);

      if (hFind == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
      {
            cout << "Invalid file handle. Error is " << GetLastError() << endl;
            return (0);
      }
      else
      {
            Files[count] = FindFileData.cFileName;
            
            while(FindNextFile(hFind, &FindFileData) != 0)
            {
                  count++;
                  Files[count] = FindFileData.cFileName;
                  
            }
   
            dwError = GetLastError();
            FindClose(hFind);
            if (dwError != ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES)
            {
                  cout << "FindNextFile error. Error is " << dwError <<endl;
                  return (0);
            }
      }
      
      return (Files);
}

I have altered the code so that the files that are found in the directory are stored in a vector called Directory_Files. I still have the problem that the folders that exist within the directory that is beeing scanned are not expanded, the files in these folders are not scanned and so are not put into the vector.

bool My_File::Scan_Directory(string &dir)
{
      WIN32_FIND_DATA FindFileData;
      HANDLE hFind = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
      string DirSpec;  // directory specification
      DWORD dwError;
   
      //cout << "Target directory is " << dir << endl;
      DirSpec = dir;
      DirSpec.append("\\*");
      Directory_Files.erase(Directory_Files.begin(),Directory_Files.end());

      hFind = FindFirstFile(DirSpec.c_str(), &FindFileData);

      if (hFind == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
      {
            cout << "Invalid file handle. Error is " << GetLastError() << endl;
            return (false);
      }
      else
      {
            //cout << "First file name is " << FindFileData.cFileName << endl;
            Directory_Files.push_back(FindFileData.cFileName);
            while(FindNextFile(hFind, &FindFileData) != 0)
            {
                  //cout << "Next file name is " << FindFileData.cFileName << endl;
                  Directory_Files.push_back(FindFileData.cFileName);                  
            }
   
            dwError = GetLastError();
            FindClose(hFind);
            if (dwError != ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES)
            {
                  cout << "FindNextFile error. Error is " << dwError <<endl;
                  return (false);
            }
      }

      return (true);
}

I think I need to somehow search through any folders that are in the directory to be scanned and list the files in theses folders as well, but I am not sure how to do this.

What would I have to change in order to get this to work under a unix environment instead of a windows one?

>>What would I have to change in order to get this to work under a unix environment instead of a windows one?

Almost everything.

Why haven't you try the code that I posted, which is portable between any POSIX environment including windows and unix?

>> I still have the problem that the folders that exist within the directory that is beeing scanned are not expanded, the files in these folders are not scanned and so are not put into the vector.

The code I posted has the option to expand to sub directories.

This option is the last argument in the constructor.

bool SearchSubDir = true;

FindFilesInPath MyFindFilesInPath("M:\\BinSearch\\", "*.c*", NULL, SearchSubDir );