The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7
IEEE Std 1003.1-2008, 2016 Edition
Copyright © 2001-2016 The IEEE and The Open Group

#### NAME

> seekdir - set the position of a directory stream

#### SYNOPSIS

> ``[XSI] #include <dirent.h>
> void seekdir(DIR *`dirp`, long` loc`);``
> `
> `

#### DESCRIPTION

> The seekdir() function shall set the position of the next readdir() operation on the directory stream specified by dirp to the position specified by loc. The value of loc should have been returned from an earlier call to telldir() using the same directory stream. The new position reverts to the one associated with the directory stream when telldir() was performed.

> If the value of loc was not obtained from an earlier call to telldir(), or if a call to rewinddir() occurred between the call to telldir() and the call to seekdir(), the results of subsequent calls to readdir() are unspecified.

#### RETURN VALUE

> The seekdir() function shall not return a value.

#### ERRORS

> No errors are defined.

The following sections are informative.

#### EXAMPLES

> None.

#### APPLICATION USAGE

> None.

#### RATIONALE

> The original standard developers perceived that there were restrictions on the use of the seekdir() and telldir() functions related to implementation details, and for that reason these functions need not be supported on all POSIX-conforming systems. They are required on implementations supporting the XSI option.

> One of the perceived problems of implementation is that returning to a given point in a directory is quite difficult to describe formally, in spite of its intuitive appeal, when systems that use B-trees, hashing functions, or other similar mechanisms to order their directories are considered. The definition of seekdir() and telldir() does not specify whether, when using these interfaces, a given directory entry will be seen at all, or more than once.

> On systems not supporting these functions, their capability can sometimes be accomplished by saving a filename found by readdir() and later using rewinddir() and a loop on readdir() to relocate the position from which the filename was saved.

#### FUTURE DIRECTIONS

> None.

#### SEE ALSO

> fdopendir, readdir, telldir

> XBD <dirent.h>, <sys/types.h>

#### CHANGE HISTORY

> First released in Issue 2.

#### Issue 6

> In the SYNOPSIS, the inclusion of <sys/types.h> is no longer required.

#### Issue 7

> SD5-XSH-ERN-200 is applied, updating the DESCRIPTION to note that the value of loc should have been returned from an earlier call to telldir() using the same directory stream.

End of informative text.

return to top of page

UNIX ® is a registered Trademark of The Open Group.
POSIX ® is a registered Trademark of The IEEE.
Copyright © 2001-2016 The IEEE and The Open Group, All Rights Reserved
[ Main Index | XBD | XSH | XCU | XRAT ]