How can I create directory tree in C++/Linux?
system("mkdir -p /tmp/a/b/c")
is the shortest way I can think of (in terms of the length of code, not necessarily execution time).
It's not cross-platform but will work under Linux.
Easy with Boost.Filesystem: create_directories
#include <boost/filesystem.hpp>
//...
boost::filesystem::create_directories("/tmp/a/b/c");
Returns: true if a new directory was created, otherwise false.
Here is my example of code (it works for both Windows and Linux):
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <sys/stat.h> // stat
#include <errno.h> // errno, ENOENT, EEXIST
#if defined(_WIN32)
#include <direct.h> // _mkdir
#endif
bool isDirExist(const std::string& path)
{
#if defined(_WIN32)
struct _stat info;
if (_stat(path.c_str(), &info) != 0)
{
return false;
}
return (info.st_mode & _S_IFDIR) != 0;
#else
struct stat info;
if (stat(path.c_str(), &info) != 0)
{
return false;
}
return (info.st_mode & S_IFDIR) != 0;
#endif
}
bool makePath(const std::string& path)
{
#if defined(_WIN32)
int ret = _mkdir(path.c_str());
#else
mode_t mode = 0755;
int ret = mkdir(path.c_str(), mode);
#endif
if (ret == 0)
return true;
switch (errno)
{
case ENOENT:
// parent didn't exist, try to create it
{
int pos = path.find_last_of('/');
if (pos == std::string::npos)
#if defined(_WIN32)
pos = path.find_last_of('\\');
if (pos == std::string::npos)
#endif
return false;
if (!makePath( path.substr(0, pos) ))
return false;
}
// now, try to create again
#if defined(_WIN32)
return 0 == _mkdir(path.c_str());
#else
return 0 == mkdir(path.c_str(), mode);
#endif
case EEXIST:
// done!
return isDirExist(path);
default:
return false;
}
}
int main(int argc, char* ARGV[])
{
for (int i=1; i<argc; i++)
{
std::cout << "creating " << ARGV[i] << " ... " << (makePath(ARGV[i]) ? "OK" : "failed") << std::endl;
}
return 0;
}
Usage:
$ makePath 1/2 folderA/folderB/folderC
creating 1/2 ... OK
creating folderA/folderB/folderC ... OK
With C++17 or later, there's the standard header <filesystem> with
function
std::filesystem::create_directories
which should be used in modern C++ programs.
The C++ standard functions do not have the POSIX-specific explicit
permissions (mode) argument, though.
However, here's a C function that can be compiled with C++ compilers.
/*
@(#)File: mkpath.c
@(#)Purpose: Create all directories in path
@(#)Author: J Leffler
@(#)Copyright: (C) JLSS 1990-2020
@(#)Derivation: mkpath.c 1.16 2020/06/19 15:08:10
*/
/*TABSTOP=4*/
#include "posixver.h"
#include "mkpath.h"
#include "emalloc.h"
#include <errno.h>
#include <string.h>
/* "sysstat.h" == <sys/stat.h> with fixup for (old) Windows - inc mode_t */
#include "sysstat.h"
typedef struct stat Stat;
static int do_mkdir(const char *path, mode_t mode)
{
Stat st;
int status = 0;
if (stat(path, &st) != 0)
{
/* Directory does not exist. EEXIST for race condition */
if (mkdir(path, mode) != 0 && errno != EEXIST)
status = -1;
}
else if (!S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))
{
errno = ENOTDIR;
status = -1;
}
return(status);
}
/**
** mkpath - ensure all directories in path exist
** Algorithm takes the pessimistic view and works top-down to ensure
** each directory in path exists, rather than optimistically creating
** the last element and working backwards.
*/
int mkpath(const char *path, mode_t mode)
{
char *pp;
char *sp;
int status;
char *copypath = STRDUP(path);
status = 0;
pp = copypath;
while (status == 0 && (sp = strchr(pp, '/')) != 0)
{
if (sp != pp)
{
/* Neither root nor double slash in path */
*sp = '\0';
status = do_mkdir(copypath, mode);
*sp = '/';
}
pp = sp + 1;
}
if (status == 0)
status = do_mkdir(path, mode);
FREE(copypath);
return (status);
}
#ifdef TEST
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
/*
** Stress test with parallel running of mkpath() function.
** Before the EEXIST test, code would fail.
** With the EEXIST test, code does not fail.
**
** Test shell script
** PREFIX=mkpath.$$
** NAME=./$PREFIX/sa/32/ad/13/23/13/12/13/sd/ds/ww/qq/ss/dd/zz/xx/dd/rr/ff/ff/ss/ss/ss/ss/ss/ss/ss/ss
** : ${MKPATH:=mkpath}
** ./$MKPATH $NAME &
** [...repeat a dozen times or so...]
** ./$MKPATH $NAME &
** wait
** rm -fr ./$PREFIX/
*/
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
int i;
for (i = 1; i < argc; i++)
{
for (int j = 0; j < 20; j++)
{
if (fork() == 0)
{
int rc = mkpath(argv[i], 0777);
if (rc != 0)
fprintf(stderr, "%d: failed to create (%d: %s): %s\n",
(int)getpid(), errno, strerror(errno), argv[i]);
exit(rc == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE);
}
}
int status;
int fail = 0;
while (wait(&status) != -1)
{
if (WEXITSTATUS(status) != 0)
fail = 1;
}
if (fail == 0)
printf("created: %s\n", argv[i]);
}
return(0);
}
#endif /* TEST */
The macros STRDUP() and FREE() are error-checking versions of
strdup() and free(), declared in emalloc.h (and implemented in
emalloc.c and estrdup.c).
The "sysstat.h" header deals with broken versions of <sys/stat.h>
and can be replaced by <sys/stat.h> on modern Unix systems (but there
were many issues back in 1990).
And "mkpath.h" declares mkpath().
The change between v1.12 (original version of the answer) and v1.13
(amended version of the answer) was the test for EEXIST in
do_mkdir().
This was pointed out as necessary by
Switch — thank
you, Switch.
The test code has been upgraded and reproduced the problem on a MacBook
Pro (2.3GHz Intel Core i7, running Mac OS X 10.7.4), and suggests that
the problem is fixed in the revision (but testing can only show the
presence of bugs, never their absence).
The code shown is now v1.16; there have been cosmetic or administrative
changes made since v1.13 (such as use mkpath.h instead of jlss.h and
include <unistd.h> unconditionally in the test code only).
It's reasonable to argue that "sysstat.h" should be replaced by
<sys/stat.h> unless you have an unusually recalcitrant system.
(You are hereby given permission to use this code for any purpose with attribution.)
This code is available in my SOQ
(Stack Overflow Questions) repository on GitHub as files mkpath.c and
mkpath.h (etc.) in the
src/so-0067-5039
sub-directory.