std::filesystem::directory_iterator

From cppreference.com
 
 
 
 
Defined in header <filesystem>
class directory_iterator;
(since C++17)

directory_iterator is an InputIterator that iterates over the directory_entry elements of a directory (but does not visit the subdirectories). The iteration order is unspecified, except that each directory entry is visited only once. The special pathnames dot and dot-dot are skipped.

If the directory_iterator is advanced past the last directory entry, it becomes equal to the default-constructed iterator, also known as the end iterator. Two end iterators are always equal, dereferencing or incrementing the end iterator is undefined behavior.

If a file or a directory is deleted or added to the directory tree after the directory iterator has been created, it is unspecified whether the change would be observed through the iterator.

Member types

Member type Definition
value_type std::filesystem::directory_entry
difference_type std::ptrdiff_t
pointer const std::filesystem::directory_entry*
reference const std::filesystem::directory_entry&
iterator_category std::input_iterator_tag

Member functions

constructs a directory iterator
(public member function)
(destructor)
default destructor
(public member function)
assigns contents
(public member function)
accesses the pointed-to entry
(public member function)
advances to the next entry
(public member function)

Non-member functions

range-based for loop support
(function)

Additionally, operator== and operator!= are provided, either as members or as non-members, as required by InputIterator

Example

#include <fstream>
#include <iostream>
#include <filesystem>
namespace fs = std::filesystem;
 
int main()
{
    fs::create_directories("sandbox/a/b");
    std::ofstream("sandbox/file1.txt");
    std::ofstream("sandbox/file2.txt");
    for(auto& p: fs::directory_iterator("sandbox"))
        std::cout << p << '\n';
    fs::remove_all("sandbox");
}

Possible output:

"sandbox/a"
"sandbox/file1.txt"
"sandbox/file2.txt"

See also

an iterator to the contents of a directory and its subdirectories
(class)
options for iterating directory contents
(enum)
a directory entry
(class)