List of all files inside the folder and its subfolders in Windows

Question

I want to list all the files that run under Task Scheduler by accessing all the files in the "C:\windows\system32\Tasks" Directory.

The program should recursively keep opening subfolders in the directory and list all the files. I currently use Windows OS.

I tried using the COM library but it doesn't display the tasks in the subfolders. I have 60 tasks but it displays only 12. So, I'm trying to iterate through the Tasks folder instead.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <dirent.h>

int main(void)
{
    DIR *dir;
    struct dirent *de; 
    if ((dir = opendir("C:\\Windows\\System32\\Tasks")) != NULL);
    {
        printf("The startup Programs are:\n");
        while ((de = readdir(dir)) != NULL)
          {
            printf("%s\n", de->d_name);
          }
    closedir(dir);
    }
   getchar();
}

I expected the output to display all the files inside the current folder and the subfolders. However, the output only displays the name of the first folder and exits.

I've removed the C++ tag: unless OP says otherwise this really looks like C. @OP: C != C++ — YSC, Jan 25 '19 at 10:39
@πάνταῥεῖ, that is for unix. He needs it for Windows. the unix versin won't work. — Paul Ogilvie, Jan 25 '19 at 11:13
@πάνταῥεῖ, both your links are to the same solution. — Paul Ogilvie, Jan 25 '19 at 11:14
@Paul _"He needs it for Windows."_ POSIX functions are mentioned. Should work anyways. — πάντα ῥεῖ, Jan 25 '19 at 11:17
@πάνταῥεῖ, he mentions posix as he doesn't know what to use under windows. `readdir` is unavailable under MSVC/Windows. — Paul Ogilvie, Jan 25 '19 at 11:19
@Paul OK https://stackoverflow.com/questions/883594/microsoft-visual-studio-opendir-and-readdir-how — πάντα ῥεῖ, Jan 25 '19 at 11:25
Or this: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41404711/how-to-list-files-in-a-directory-using-the-windows-api google is your friend — Jabberwocky, Jan 25 '19 at 12:36

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 25 '19 at 14:06

2

As there is apparently no full, simple, example of recursively listing directories under windows, here is one:

#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>

void listdirs(char *dir, char *mask)
{
    char fspec[1024], fname[1024];
    WIN32_FIND_DATA     dta;
    HANDLE              hDta;

    sprintf(fspec,"%s/%s",dir, mask);

    if ((hDta= FindFirstFile (fspec, &dta)) != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
        do {
            if ( !(dta.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY) )
            {
                printf ("%s/%s\n", dir, dta.cFileName);
            }
            else
            {
                if (strcmp(dta.cFileName,".")!=0 && strcmp(dta.cFileName,"..")!=0 )
                {
                    sprintf (fname, "%s\\%s", dir, dta.cFileName);
                    listdirs(fname, mask);
                }
            }
        } while (FindNextFile (hDta, &dta));

        FindClose(hDta);
    }
}
int main (int argc, char *argv[])
{
    listdirs(argv[1],argv[2]);  // Usage: progname c:\MyDir *.*
    return 0;
}

answered Jan 25 '19 at 14:06

Paul Ogilvie

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This works well for other folders but doesn't work for the system32\tasks folder. – Raisa A Jan 28 '19 at 09:13
If you look at the security attributes of the folder, you will see that only administrators may list the contents of the directory. – Paul Ogilvie Jan 28 '19 at 12:03
1

If you add a `printf ("%s/\n",fname);` after the `sprintf(fname..` you will see it traverses the directories but does not list any files. – Paul Ogilvie Jan 28 '19 at 12:19
I've run Codeblocks as Administrator, but I'm still unable to read names of files. – Raisa A Jan 29 '19 at 05:33
I am also at a loss why it doesn't work for system32/tasks. It has something to do with the security attributes. – Paul Ogilvie Jan 29 '19 at 08:38
The error message it gives if the Directory doesn't open is "Input/Output error" – Raisa A Jan 31 '19 at 05:53

List of all files inside the folder and its subfolders in Windows

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