opendir(3C)						   Standard C Library Functions 					       opendir(3C)

NAME

       opendir, fdopendir - open directory

SYNOPSIS

       #include <sys/types.h>
       #include <dirent.h>

       DIR *opendir(const char *dirname);

       DIR *fdopendir(int fildes);

DESCRIPTION

       The opendir() function opens a directory stream corresponding to the directory named by the dirname argument.

       The  fdopendir()  function  opens  a directory stream for the directory file descriptor fildes. The directory file descriptor should not be
       used or closed following a successful function call, as this might cause undefined results from future operations on the  directory  stream
       obtained from the call. Use closedir(3C) to close a directory stream.

       The  directory  stream  is positioned at the first entry. If the type DIR is implemented using a file descriptor, applications will only be
       able to open up to a total of {OPEN_MAX} files and directories. A successful call to any of the exec functions  will  close  any  directory
       streams that are open in the calling process.  See exec(2).

RETURN VALUES

       Upon  successful completion, opendir() and fdopendir() return a pointer to an object of type DIR. Otherwise, a null pointer is returned and
       errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS

       The opendir() function will fail if:

       EACCES	       Search permission is denied for the component of the path prefix of dirname or read permission is denied for dirname.

       ELOOP	       Too many symbolic links were encountered in resolving path.

       ENAMETOOLONG    The length of the dirname argument  exceeds  {PATH_MAX},  or  a	path  name  component  is  longer  than  {NAME_MAX}  while
		       {_POSIX_NO_TRUNC} is in effect.

       ENOENT	       A component of dirname does not name an existing directory or dirname is an empty string.

       ENOTDIR	       A component of dirname is not a directory.

       The fdopendir() function will fail if:

       ENOTDIR	       The file descriptor fildes does not reference a directory.

       The opendir() function may fail if:

       EMFILE	       There are {OPEN_MAX} file descriptors currently open in the calling process.

       ENAMETOOLONG    Pathname resolution of a symbolic link produced an intermediate result whose length exceeds PATH_MAX.

       ENFILE	       Too many files are currently open on the system.

USAGE

       The  opendir() and fdopendir() functions should be used in conjunction with readdir(3C), closedir(3C) and rewinddir(3C) to examine the con-
       tents of the directory (see the EXAMPLES section in readdir(3C)). This method is recommended for portability.

ATTRIBUTES

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     |	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Interface Stability	     |opendir()   is	Standard;  |
       |			     |fdopendir() is Evolving	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |MT-Level		     |Safe			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO

       lstat(2), symlink(2), closedir(3C), readdir(3C), rewinddir(3C), attributes(5)

SunOS 5.10							    1 Aug 2001							       opendir(3C)