NAME

dir − format of directories

SYNOPSIS

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/dir.h>

DESCRIPTION

A directory behaves exactly like an ordinary file, save that no user may write into a directory.  The fact that a file is a directory is indicated by a bit in the flag word of its i-node entry; see filsys(5). The structure of a directory entry as given in the include file is:

#ifndefDIRSIZ
#defineDIRSIZ14
#endif
struct  direct {
ino_td_ino;
chard_name[DIRSIZ];
};

By convention, the first two names in each directory are the names  "." and "..".  The first is an entry for the directory itself.  By opening the file "." a program can read the names of files and subdirectories in a directory.  The second name ".." is for the parent directory.  The meaning of ".." is modified for the root directory of the master file system (“/”), where ".." has the same meaning as ".". 

SEE ALSO

filsys(5)

7th Edition