SCANDIR(3)                           BSD                            SCANDIR(3)



NAME
     scandir, alphasort - scan a directory

SYNOPSIS
     #include <sys/types.h>
     #include <sys/dir.h>

     scandir(dirname, namelist, select, compar)
     char *dirname;
     struct direct *(*namelist[]);
     int (*select)();
     int (*compar)();

     alphasort(d1, d2)
     struct direct **d1, **d2;

DESCRIPTION
     scandir reads the directory dirname and builds an array of pointers to
     directory entries using malloc(3).  It returns the number of entries in
     the array and a pointer to the array through namelist.

     The select parameter is a pointer to a user supplied subroutine which is
     called by scandir to select which entries are to be included in the
     array.  The select routine is passed a pointer to a directory entry and
     should return a nonzero value if the directory entry is to be included in
     the array.  If select is null, then all the directory entries will be
     included.

     The compar parameter is a pointer to a user supplied subroutine which is
     passed to qsort(3) to sort the completed array. If this pointer is null,
     the array is not sorted.  alphasort is a routine which can be used for
     the compar parameter to sort the array alphabetically.

     The memory allocated for the array can be deallocated with free (see
     malloc(3)) by freeing each pointer in the array and the array itself.

SEE ALSO
     directory(3), malloc(3), qsort(3), dir(5)

DIAGNOSTICS
     Returns -1 if the directory cannot be opened for reading or if malloc(3)
     cannot allocate enough memory to hold all the data structures.