FTS(3) FreeBSD Library Functions Manual FTS(3)
NAME
fts - traverse a file hierarchy
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <fts.h>
FTS *
fts_open(char * const *path_argv, int options,
int (*compar)(const FTSENT * const *, const FTSENT * const *));
FTS *
fts_open_b(char * const *path_argv, int options,
int (^compar)(const FTSENT * const *, const FTSENT * const *));
FTSENT *
fts_read(FTS *ftsp);
FTSENT *
fts_children(FTS *ftsp, int options);
int
fts_set(FTS *ftsp, FTSENT *f, int instr);
void
fts_set_clientptr(FTS *ftsp, void *clientdata);
void *
fts_get_clientptr(FTS *ftsp);
FTS *
fts_get_stream(FTSENT *f);
int
fts_close(FTS *ftsp);
DESCRIPTION
The fts functions are provided for traversing Unix file hierarchies. A
simple overview is that the fts_open() and fts_open_b() functions return
a "handle" on a file hierarchy, which is then supplied to the other fts
functions. The fts_read() function returns a pointer to a structure
describing one of the files in the file hierarchy. The fts_children()
function returns a pointer to a linked list of structures, each of which
describes one of the files contained in a directory in the hierarchy. In
general, directories are visited two distinguishable times; in pre-order
(before any of their descendants are visited) and in post-order (after
all of their descendants have been visited). Files are visited once. It
is possible to walk the hierarchy "logically" (ignoring symbolic links)
or physically (visiting symbolic links), order the walk of the hierarchy
or prune and/or re-visit portions of the hierarchy.
Two structures are defined (and typedef'd) in the include file <fts.h>.
The first is FTS, the structure that represents the file hierarchy
itself. The second is FTSENT, the structure that represents a file in
the file hierarchy. Normally, an FTSENT structure is returned for every
file in the file hierarchy. In this manual page, "file" and "FTSENT
structure" are generally interchangeable.
The FTS structure contains space for a single pointer, which may be used
to store application data or per-hierarchy state. The
fts_set_clientptr() and fts_get_clientptr() functions may be used to set
and retrieve this pointer. This is likely to be useful only when
accessed from the sort comparison function, which can determine the
original FTS stream of its arguments using the fts_get_stream() function.
The two get functions are also available as macros of the same name.
The FTSENT structure contains at least the following fields, which are
described in greater detail below:
typedef struct _ftsent {
int fts_info; /* status for FTSENT structure */
char *fts_accpath; /* access path */
char *fts_path; /* root path */
size_t fts_pathlen; /* strlen(fts_path) */
char *fts_name; /* file name */
size_t fts_namelen; /* strlen(fts_name) */
long fts_level; /* depth (-1 to N) */
int fts_errno; /* file errno */
long long fts_number; /* local numeric value */
void *fts_pointer; /* local address value */
struct ftsent *fts_parent; /* parent directory */
struct ftsent *fts_link; /* next file structure */
struct ftsent *fts_cycle; /* cycle structure */
struct stat *fts_statp; /* stat(2) information */
} FTSENT;
These fields are defined as follows:
fts_info One of the following values describing the returned FTSENT
structure and the file it represents. With the exception of
directories without errors (FTS_D), all of these entries are
terminal, that is, they will not be revisited, nor will any
of their descendants be visited.
FTS_D A directory being visited in pre-order.
FTS_DC A directory that causes a cycle in the tree.
(The fts_cycle field of the FTSENT structure
will be filled in as well.)
FTS_DEFAULT Any FTSENT structure that represents a file
type not explicitly described by one of the
other fts_info values.
FTS_DNR A directory which cannot be read. This
immediately follows FTS_D, in place of FTS_DP,
when the directory could not be entered, or
could be entered but not read. This is an
error return, and the fts_errno field will be
set to indicate what caused the error.
FTS_DOT A file named `.' or `..' which was not
specified as a file name to fts_open() or
fts_open_b() (see FTS_SEEDOT).
FTS_DP A directory being visited in post-order. The
contents of the FTSENT structure will be
unchanged from when the directory was visited
in pre-order, except for the fts_info field.
FTS_ERR This is an error return, and the fts_errno
field will be set to indicate what caused the
error.
FTS_F A regular file.
FTS_NS A file for which no stat(2) information was
available. The contents of the fts_statp field
are undefined. This is an error return, and
the fts_errno field will be set to indicate
what caused the error.
FTS_NSOK A file for which no stat(2) information was
requested. The contents of the fts_statp field
are undefined.
FTS_SL A symbolic link.
FTS_SLNONE A symbolic link with a non-existent target.
The contents of the fts_statp field reference
the file characteristic information for the
symbolic link itself.
fts_accpath A path for accessing the file from the current directory.
fts_path The path for the file relative to the root of the traversal.
This path contains the path specified to fts_open() or
fts_open_b() as a prefix.
fts_pathlen The length of the string referenced by fts_path.
fts_name The name of the file.
fts_namelen The length of the string referenced by fts_name.
fts_level The depth of the traversal, numbered from -1 to N, where
this file was found. The FTSENT structure representing the
parent of the starting point (or root) of the traversal is
numbered FTS_ROOTPARENTLEVEL (-1), and the FTSENT structure
for the root itself is numbered FTS_ROOTLEVEL (0).
fts_errno Upon return of a FTSENT structure from the fts_children() or
fts_read() functions, with its fts_info field set to
FTS_DNR, FTS_ERR or FTS_NS, the fts_errno field contains the
value of the external variable errno specifying the cause of
the error. Otherwise, the contents of the fts_errno field
are undefined.
fts_number This field is provided for the use of the application
program and is not modified by the fts functions. It is
initialized to 0.
fts_pointer This field is provided for the use of the application
program and is not modified by the fts functions. It is
initialized to NULL.
fts_parent A pointer to the FTSENT structure referencing the file in
the hierarchy immediately above the current file, i.e., the
directory of which this file is a member. A parent
structure for the initial entry point is provided as well,
however, only the fts_level, fts_number and fts_pointer
fields are guaranteed to be initialized.
fts_link Upon return from the fts_children() function, the fts_link
field points to the next structure in the NULL-terminated
linked list of directory members. Otherwise, the contents
of the fts_link field are undefined.
fts_cycle If a directory causes a cycle in the hierarchy (see FTS_DC),
either because of a hard link between two directories, or a
symbolic link pointing to a directory, the fts_cycle field
of the structure will point to the FTSENT structure in the
hierarchy that references the same file as the current
FTSENT structure. Otherwise, the contents of the fts_cycle
field are undefined.
fts_statp A pointer to stat(2) information for the file.
A single buffer is used for all of the paths of all of the files in the
file hierarchy. Therefore, the fts_path and fts_accpath fields are
guaranteed to be NUL-terminated only for the file most recently returned
by fts_read(). To use these fields to reference any files represented by
other FTSENT structures will require that the path buffer be modified
using the information contained in that FTSENT structure's fts_pathlen
field. Any such modifications should be undone before further calls to
fts_read() are attempted. The fts_name field is always NUL-terminated.
Thread Safety
The fts functions can safely be used in multi-threaded programs provided
no two threads access the same FTS or FTSENT structure simultaneously.
However, unless the FTS_NOCHDIR flag was passed to fts_open() or
fts_open_b(), calls to fts_read() and fts_children() may change the
current working directory, which will affect all threads. Conversely,
changing the current working directory either during or between calls to
fts_read() or fts_children() (even in a single-thread program) may cause
fts to malfunction unless the FTS_NOCHDIR flag was passed to fts_open()
or fts_open_b() and all paths in path_argv were absolute.
fts_open()
The fts_open() function takes a pointer to an array of character pointers
naming one or more paths which make up a logical file hierarchy to be
traversed. The array must be terminated by a NULL pointer.
There are a number of options, at least one of which (either FTS_LOGICAL
or FTS_PHYSICAL) must be specified. The options are selected by or'ing
the following values:
FTS_COMFOLLOW This option causes any symbolic link specified as a
root path to be followed immediately whether or not
FTS_LOGICAL is also specified.
FTS_COMFOLLOWDIR This option is similar to FTS_COMFOLLOW, but only
follows symbolic links to directories.
FTS_LOGICAL This option causes the fts routines to return FTSENT
structures for the targets of symbolic links instead of
the symbolic links themselves. If this option is set,
the only symbolic links for which FTSENT structures are
returned to the application are those referencing non-
existent files. Either FTS_LOGICAL or FTS_PHYSICAL
must be provided to the fts_open() function.
FTS_NOCHDIR To allow descending to arbitrary depths (independent of
{PATH_MAX}) and improve performance, the fts functions
change directories as they walk the file hierarchy.
This has the side-effect that an application cannot
rely on being in any particular directory during the
traversal. The FTS_NOCHDIR option turns off this
feature, and the fts functions will not change the
current directory. Note that applications should not
themselves change their current directory and try to
access files unless FTS_NOCHDIR is specified and
absolute pathnames were provided as arguments to
fts_open().
FTS_NOSTAT By default, returned FTSENT structures reference file
characteristic information (the statp field) for each
file visited. This option relaxes that requirement as
a performance optimization, allowing the fts functions
to set the fts_info field to FTS_NSOK and leave the
contents of the statp field undefined. The roots and
any directories encountered during traversal (FTS_D,
FTS_DC, FTS_DP) are still fully populated.
FTS_NOSTAT_TYPE This option is similar to FTS_NOSTAT, but attempts to
populate fts_info based on information from the d_type
field of struct dirent.
FTS_PHYSICAL This option causes the fts routines to return FTSENT
structures for symbolic links themselves instead of the
target files they point to. If this option is set,
FTSENT structures for all symbolic links in the
hierarchy are returned to the application. Either
FTS_LOGICAL or FTS_PHYSICAL must be provided to the
fts_open() function.
FTS_SEEDOT By default, unless they are specified as path arguments
to fts_open(), any files named `.' or `..' encountered
in the file hierarchy are ignored. This option causes
the fts routines to return FTSENT structures for them.
FTS_XDEV This option prevents fts from descending into
directories that have a different device number than
the file from which the descent began.
The compar argument points to a user-defined function which may be used
to order the traversal of the hierarchy. It takes two pointers to
pointers to FTSENT structures as arguments and should return a negative
value, zero, or a positive value to indicate if the file referenced by
its first argument comes before, in any order with respect to, or after,
the file referenced by its second argument. The fts_accpath, fts_path
and fts_pathlen fields of the FTSENT structures may never be used in this
comparison. If the fts_info field is set to FTS_NS or FTS_NSOK, the
fts_statp field may not either. If the compar() argument is NULL, the
directory traversal order is in the order listed in path_argv for the
root paths, and in the order listed in the directory for everything else.
fts_open_b()
The fts_open_b() function is identical to fts_open() except that it takes
a block pointer instead of a function pointer. The block is copied
before fts_open_b() returns, so the original can safely go out of scope
or be released.
fts_read()
The fts_read() function returns a pointer to an FTSENT structure
describing a file in the hierarchy. Directories (that are readable and
do not cause cycles) are visited at least twice, once in pre-order and
once in post-order. All other files are visited at least once. (Hard
links between directories that do not cause cycles or symbolic links to
symbolic links may cause files to be visited more than once, or
directories more than twice.)
If all the members of the hierarchy have been returned, fts_read()
returns NULL and sets the external variable errno to 0. If an error
unrelated to a file in the hierarchy occurs, fts_read() returns NULL and
sets errno appropriately. If an error related to a returned file occurs,
a pointer to an FTSENT structure is returned, and errno may or may not
have been set (see fts_info). Note that fts_read() will not set errno to
0 if called again with the same ftsp argument after the FTS_STOP flag has
been set or the end of the stream has been reached.
The FTSENT structures returned by fts_read() may be overwritten after a
call to fts_close() on the same file hierarchy stream, or, after a call
to fts_read() on the same file hierarchy stream unless they represent a
file of type directory, in which case they will not be overwritten until
after a call to fts_read() after the FTSENT structure has been returned
by the fts_read() function in post-order.
fts_children()
The fts_children() function returns a pointer to an FTSENT structure
describing the first entry in a NULL-terminated linked list of the files
in the directory represented by the FTSENT structure most recently
returned by fts_read(). The list is linked through the fts_link field of
the FTSENT structure, and is ordered by the user-specified comparison
function, if any. Repeated calls to fts_children() will recreate this
linked list.
As a special case, if fts_read() has not yet been called for a hierarchy,
fts_children() will return a pointer to the files in the logical
directory specified to fts_open() or fts_open_b(), i.e., the arguments
specified to fts_open() or fts_open_b(). Otherwise, if the FTSENT
structure most recently returned by fts_read() is not a directory being
visited in pre-order, or the directory does not contain any files,
fts_children() returns NULL and sets errno to zero. If an error occurs,
fts_children() returns NULL and sets errno appropriately.
The FTSENT structures returned by fts_children() may be overwritten after
a call to fts_children(), fts_close() or fts_read() on the same file
hierarchy stream.
Option may be set to the following value:
FTS_NAMEONLY Only the names of the files are needed. The contents of
all the fields in the returned linked list of structures
are undefined with the exception of the fts_name and
fts_namelen fields.
fts_set()
The fts_set() function allows the user application to determine further
processing for the file f of the stream ftsp. The fts_set() function
returns 0 on success, and -1 if an error occurs. Its instr argument must
have one of the following values:
FTS_AGAIN Re-visit the file; any file type may be re-visited. The
next call to fts_read() will return the referenced file.
The fts_stat and fts_info fields of the structure will be
reinitialized at that time, but no other fields will have
been changed. This option is meaningful only for the most
recently returned file from fts_read(). Normal use is for
post-order directory visits, where it causes the directory
to be re-visited (in both pre and post-order) as well as
all of its descendants.
FTS_FOLLOW The referenced file must be a symbolic link. If the
referenced file is the one most recently returned by
fts_read(), the next call to fts_read() returns the file
with the fts_info and fts_statp fields reinitialized to
reflect the target of the symbolic link instead of the
symbolic link itself. If the file is one of those most
recently returned by fts_children(), the fts_info and
fts_statp fields of the structure, when returned by
fts_read(), will reflect the target of the symbolic link
instead of the symbolic link itself. In either case, if
the target of the symbolic link does not exist the fields
of the returned structure will be unchanged and the
fts_info field will be set to FTS_SLNONE.
If the target of the link is a directory, the pre-order
return, followed by the return of all of its descendants,
followed by a post-order return, is done.
FTS_SKIP No descendants of this file are visited. The file may be
one of those most recently returned by either
fts_children() or fts_read().
fts_set_clientptr(), fts_get_clientptr()
The fts_set_clientptr() function sets the client data pointer for the
stream ftsp to clientdata. The fts_get_clientptr() function returns the
client data pointer associated with ftsp. This can be used to pass per-
stream data to the comparison function.
For performance reasons, fts_get_clientptr() may be shadowed by a
preprocessor macro.
fts_get_stream()
The fts_get_stream() function returns the fts stream associated with the
file entry f. A typical use for this would be for a comparison function
to first call fts_get_stream() on one of its arguments, then call
fts_get_clientptr() to obtain the client data pointer, which in turn
points to information necessary to correctly order the two entries.
For performance reasons, fts_get_stream() may be shadowed by a
preprocessor macro.
fts_close()
The fts_close() function closes a file hierarchy stream ftsp and restores
the current directory to the directory from which fts_open() or
fts_open_b() was called to open ftsp.
RETURN VALUES
The fts_open() and fts_open_b() functions return a pointer to the new fts
stream on success and NULL on failure.
The fts_read() function returns a pointer to the next file entry on
success, or if an error occurs that relates specifically to that file
entry. On reaching the end of the file hierarchy, it returns NULL and
sets the external variable errno to 0. On failure, it returns NULL and
sets errno to an appropriate non-zero value. If called again after the
FTS_STOP flag has been set or the end of the stream has been reached,
fts_read() returns NULL and leaves errno untouched.
The fts_children() function returns a pointer to a linked list of file
entries on success. On reaching the end of the file hierarchy, it
returns NULL and sets the external variable errno to 0. On failure, it
returns NULL and sets errno to an appropriate non-zero value.
The fts_set() function returns 0 on success and -1 if its instr argument
is invalid.
The fts_get_clientptr() function returns the client data pointer
associated with its argument, or NULL if none has been set.
The fts_get_stream() function returns a pointer to the fts stream
associated with its argument.
The fts_close() function returns 0 on success, and -1 if an error occurs.
ERRORS
The fts_open() and fts_open_b() functions may fail and set errno for any
of the errors specified for the library functions open(2) and malloc(3).
The fts_open_b() function may also fail and set errno to ENOSYS if the
blocks runtime is missing.
The fts_close() function may fail and set errno for any of the errors
specified for the library functions chdir(2) and close(2).
The fts_read() and fts_children() functions may fail and set errno for
any of the errors specified for the library functions chdir(2),
malloc(3), opendir(3), readdir(3) and stat(2).
In addition, the fts_children(), fts_open(), and fts_set() functions may
fail and set errno as follows:
[EINVAL] The options were invalid, or the list was empty.
SEE ALSO
find(1), chdir(2), stat(2), ftw(3), qsort(3)
HISTORY
The fts interface was first introduced in 4.4BSD. The
fts_get_clientptr(), fts_get_stream(), and fts_set_clientptr() functions
were introduced in FreeBSD 5.0, principally to provide for alternative
interfaces to the fts functionality using different data structures.
Blocks support and the FTS_COMFOLLOWDIR and FTS_NOSTAT options were added
in FreeBSD 15.0 based on similar functionality in macOS.
BUGS
The fts_open() function will automatically set the FTS_NOCHDIR option if
the FTS_LOGICAL option is provided, or if it cannot open(2) the current
directory.
FreeBSD 15.1-STABLE-HBSD May 29, 2026 FTS(3)