How can I create directory tree in C?

Question

I want an easy way to create multiple directories in C.

For example I want to create directory in:

/a/b/c

but if the directories are not there I want them to be created automagically. How can I do this ?

Create a, then create a/b, then a/b/c. You need to write some code for this, there is no easy way. — Jabberwocky, Jun 04 '20 at 08:18
Hint: use `strtok` to decompose the path into "a", "b" and "c", then use `strcpy`and `strcat` to create successively "/a", "/a/b" and "a/b/c" and use `mkdir` to create the individual directories. — Jabberwocky, Jun 04 '20 at 08:20
`system("mkdir -p /one/two/three"); /* assuming you can write on / */` — pmg, Jun 04 '20 at 08:22
Please read `man 1 mkdir` for how to create directories from within your C code — user3629249, Jun 06 '20 at 05:30

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 04 '20 at 08:40

Here is a small C program to create the directory tree a/b/c in the current directory:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <errno.h>

int create_dir(char *name)
{
    int rc;

    rc = mkdir(name, S_IRWXU);
    if (rc != 0 && errno != EEXIST) 
    {
        perror("mkdir");
        exit(1);
    }
    if (rc != 0 && errno == EEXIST)
        printf("%s already exists.\n", name);

    return 0;
}

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{

    create_dir("a");
    create_dir("a/b");
    create_dir("a/b/c");

    exit(0);
}

How can I create directory tree in C?

1 Answers1