pathfind(3G)

pathfind -- search for named file in named directories

Synopsis

   cc [flag . . . ] file . . . -lgen [library] . . .
   
   #include <libgen.h>
   

   char pathfind (const char path, const char name, const char
       mode);

Description

pathfind searches the directories named in path for the file name. The directories named in path are separated by colons. mode is a string of option letters chosen from the set rwxfbcdpugks:

Letter Meaning

r readable

w writable

x executable

f normal file

b block special

c character special

d directory

p FIFO (pipe)

u set user ID bit

g set group ID bit

k sticky bit

s size nonzero

Letter	Meaning
`r`	readable
`w`	writable
`x`	executable
`f`	normal file
`b`	block special
`c`	character special
`d`	directory
`p`	FIFO (pipe)
`u`	set user ID bit
`g`	set group ID bit
`k`	sticky bit
`s`	size nonzero

Options read, write, and execute are checked relative to the real (not the effective) user ID and group ID of the current process.

If the file name, with all the characteristics specified by mode, is found in any of the directories specified by path, then pathfind returns a pointer to a string containing the member of path, followed by a slash character (/), followed by name.

If name begins with a slash, it is treated as an absolute path name, and path is ignored.

An empty path member is treated as the current directory. ./ is not prepended at the occurrence of the first match; rather, the unadorned name is returned.

Return values

If no match is found, pathname returns a null pointer, ((char ) 0).

References

access(2), getenv(3C), mknod(2), sh(1), stat(2), test(1)

Notices

The string pointed to by the returned pointer is stored in a static area that is reused on subsequent calls to pathfind.

Examples

To find the ls command using the PATH environment variable:

   pathfind (getenv ("PATH"), "ls", "rx")