How to create a new directory in C

[munanxue]

I remember that I could create a new folder in the current directory easily
in Unix and Linux by something like
system("mkdir sub_directory");
But failed to do so under Windows System. Any suggestions?

[Christopher Benson-Manica]

munanxue <xu*********@yahoo.com> spoke thus:

I remember that I could create a new folder in the current directory easily
in Unix and Linux by something like
system("mkdir sub_directory");
But failed to do so under Windows System. Any suggestions?

Sure, even though this question is not topical for this group:

http://www.ungerhu.com/jxh/clc.welcome.txt
http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html
http://benpfaff.org/writings/clc/off-topic.html

The DOS command to create a directory is md, not mkdir. Passing Unix
commands to a DOS shell is, for obvious reasons, unlikely to
produce the results you want.

--
Christopher Benson-Manica | I *should* know what I'm talking about - if I
ataru(at)cyberspace.org | don't, I need to know. Flames welcome.

[Gordon Burditt]

>I remember that I could create a new folder in the current directory easily

in Unix and Linux by something like
system("mkdir sub_directory");
But failed to do so under Windows System. Any suggestions?

What command would you type at a command prompt to create a directory
in Windows? system() uses a command interpreter that tends to be
the same as one of the ones used by interactive users.

Also realize that the concepts of "current directory" work a little
differently between Windows and Unix. So do file/directory permissions.

Gordon L. Burditt

[munanxue]

1. mkdir can create a new directory in Windows, just as md.
2. system("md sub_directory"); failed as well, i tested before I posted
this thread.
any other suggestions?

[code_wrong]

"munanxue" <xu*********@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:a5******************************@localhost.ta lkaboutprogramming.com...

2. system("md sub_directory"); failed as well, i tested before I posted

That's very odd .. it works as expected here on XP home.
does system() work with other shell commands?

code compiled with gcc:

#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{
system("md sub_directory");
system("mkdir sub_dir2");
return 0;
}

[TJ]

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 19:34:30 -0500, munanxue wrote:

1. mkdir can create a new directory in Windows, just as md. 2.
system("md sub_directory"); failed as well, i tested before I posted
this thread.
any other suggestions?

You should read the bottom part of Gordon's post again:

On Fri, 05 Nov 2004 00:07:22 +0000, Gordon Burditt wrote:

Also realize that the concepts of "current directory" work a little
differently between Windows and Unix. So do file/directory
permissions.

Before calling the Windows(tm) md command in your code, did you change
the current working directory (in your code)? If not, did you search the
_entire_ drive (probably C:) for the directory you created. The CWD
(current working directory) environment variable is different on Windows
and unless you changed it, your new directory could be almost anywhere ...
but usually ends up in the "My Documents" folder.

[Ben Pfaff]

"munanxue" <xu*********@yahoo.com> writes:

any other suggestions?

Try an MS-DOS programming newsgroup?
--
Ben Pfaff
email: bl*@cs.stanford.edu
web: http://benpfaff.org

[TJ]

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 19:34:30 -0500, munanxue wrote:

1. mkdir can create a new directory in Windows, just as md.
2. system("md sub_directory"); failed as well, i tested before I posted
this thread.
any other suggestions?

Oops ... still too trigger happy on the "post message" command ...

Beyond my previous suggestion, please qualify what you mean by
"system("md sub_directory"); failed as well" ... how do you know it
failed? How did it fail? What is the return value of the system() call?
etc ...
Sincerely,
-TJ Walls
Ph.D Candidate - Physics Dept. Stony Brook University

[Mike Wahler]

"Christopher Benson-Manica" <at***@nospam.cyberspace.org> wrote in message
news:cm**********@chessie.cirr.com...

munanxue <xu*********@yahoo.com> spoke thus:

I remember that I could create a new folder in the current directory easily in Unix and Linux by something like
system("mkdir sub_directory");
But failed to do so under Windows System. Any suggestions?
Sure, even though this question is not topical for this group:

http://www.ungerhu.com/jxh/clc.welcome.txt
http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html
http://benpfaff.org/writings/clc/off-topic.html

The DOS command to create a directory is md, not mkdir.

Either one will work in DOS.

An example of why posting off topic answers is not advised. :-)

Passing Unix
commands to a DOS shell is, for obvious reasons, unlikely to
produce the results you want.

Agreed.

-Mike

[Christopher Benson-Manica]

Mike Wahler <mk******@mkwahler.net> spoke thus:

Either one will work in DOS.
Whoops... (Well, at least I linked to the FAQ and welcome message!)
An example of why posting off topic answers is not advised. :-)

Agreed :-)

--
Christopher Benson-Manica | I *should* know what I'm talking about - if I
ataru(at)cyberspace.org | don't, I need to know. Flames welcome.

[munanxue]

First, thanks for all of your help.

For the unclarity of "it failed as well", I mean it didn't create a new
directory, as it should.

gcc will compile both system("md sub1") and system("mkdir sub2") as long
as the parameter passed in system() is a string. But both commands failed
to create a new directory.

For those who suggested the current directory problem, I tested system("md
c:\sub_directory") and it didn't work.

For those who think this thread is off topic, I am sorry if I bothered
anybody by posting this question, and this was unintentional. I didn't
consider this is a MS-DOS programming question, since what I am looking
for is just a nice function call that does the job for me.

Best Regards

[Gordon Burditt]

>For the unclarity of "it failed as well", I mean it didn't create a new

directory, as it should.
Are you sure it didn't create a new directory *ANYWHERE*?
Did you check the entire system for one?
gcc will compile both system("md sub1") and system("mkdir sub2") as long
as the parameter passed in system() is a string. But both commands failed
to create a new directory.

For those who suggested the current directory problem, I tested system("md
c:\sub_directory") and it didn't work.

What is a \s character? I believe using such a character results in the
wrath of undefined behavior. Also, you're probably better off using
an absolute path. Hint: system("md c:\\sub_directory");

Gordon L. Burditt

[Mark McIntyre]

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 19:34:30 -0500, in comp.lang.c , "munanxue"
<xu*********@yahoo.com> wrote:

1. mkdir can create a new directory in Windows, just as md.
2. system("md sub_directory"); failed as well, i tested before I posted
this thread.
any other suggestions?

Yes, ask in a windows programming group. How the command that you execute
via system works is offtopic here.

<OT>
top guess, you don't have permission to create a file where system() is
spawning its shell. Try system("dir > c:\foo.txt") and see where you
actually /are/ at the time. I bet its not where you expect.
</OT>
--
Mark McIntyre
CLC FAQ <http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html>
CLC readme: <http://www.ungerhu.com/jxh/clc.welcome.txt>

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[Florian Weingarten]

Mark McIntyre <ma**********@spamcop.net> wrote:

spawning its shell. Try system("dir > c:\foo.txt") and see where you

Should be system("dir > c:\\foo.txt"), shouldn't it?
Flo
--
Florian Weingarten | IRCnet: fw (fw_) | PGP: 0x65C91285
http://hackvalue.de/~flo/ | ICQ: 38564900 | Jabber: [e-mail]

[Mark McIntyre]

On Fri, 5 Nov 2004 23:45:22 +0100, in comp.lang.c , Florian Weingarten
<[e-mail]> wrote:

Mark McIntyre <ma**********@spamcop.net> wrote:

spawning its shell. Try system("dir > c:\foo.txt") and see where you

Should be system("dir > c:\\foo.txt"), shouldn't it?

The behaviour of the string passed to system is implementation defined, and
offtopic here....
gd&r

--
Mark McIntyre
CLC FAQ <http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html>
CLC readme: <http://www.ungerhu.com/jxh/clc.welcome.txt>

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[pete]

Mark McIntyre wrote:

On Fri, 5 Nov 2004 23:45:22 +0100, in comp.lang.c , Florian Weingarten
<[e-mail]> wrote:

Mark McIntyre <ma**********@spamcop.net> wrote:

spawning its shell. Try system("dir > c:\foo.txt")
and see where you

Should be system("dir > c:\\foo.txt"), shouldn't it?

The behaviour of the string passed to system is implementation
defined, and offtopic here....
gd&r

Are you aware that your original string contains a formfeed character?

--
pete

[Mark McIntyre]

On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 08:38:20 GMT, in comp.lang.c , pete
<pf*****@mindspring.com> wrote:

Mark McIntyre wrote:

On Fri, 5 Nov 2004 23:45:22 +0100, in comp.lang.c , Florian Weingarten
<[e-mail]> wrote:

>Mark McIntyre <ma**********@spamcop.net> wrote:
>> spawning its shell. Try system("dir > c:\foo.txt")
>> and see where you
>
>Should be system("dir > c:\\foo.txt"), shouldn't it?

The behaviour of the string passed to system is implementation
defined, and offtopic here....
gd&r

Are you aware that your original string contains a formfeed character?

See previous answer.

--
Mark McIntyre
CLC FAQ <http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html>
CLC readme: <http://www.ungerhu.com/jxh/clc.welcome.txt>

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[Florian Weingarten]

Mark McIntyre <ma**********@spamcop.net> wrote:

spawning its shell. Try system("dir > c:\foo.txt") and see where you

Should be system("dir > c:\\foo.txt"), shouldn't it?

The behaviour of the string passed to system is implementation defined, and
offtopic here....

Are you sure about that? The C standard says:

Alphabetic escape sequences representing nongraphic characters in the execution
character set are intended to produce actions on display devices as follows:

\f (form feed) Moves the active position to the initial position at the start of the next
logical page.

(ISO/IEC 9899:1999 (E), 5.2.2 Character display semantics)
Flo
--
Florian Weingarten | IRCnet: fw (fw_) | PGP: 0x65C91285
http://hackvalue.de/~flo/ | ICQ: 38564900 | Jabber: [e-mail]

[caroundw5h]

Wow, does anything ever get done around here?

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>// for system
int main(void)
{
system("md HEREIAM");
system("mkdir PICKABOO");
return 0;
}
 

compile the following on windows save it in the C: directory then go
back and look for the file names passed as arguments.
or if you want you can pass the path to system after md:
ex: md path\kdkdk\kdkdk\kkdkd

[Keith Thompson]

Florian Weingarten <[e-mail]> writes:

Mark McIntyre <ma**********@spamcop.net> wrote:

spawning its shell. Try system("dir > c:\foo.txt") and see where you

Should be system("dir > c:\\foo.txt"), shouldn't it?

The behaviour of the string passed to system is implementation defined, and
offtopic here....

Are you sure about that? The C standard says:

Alphabetic escape sequences representing nongraphic characters in
the execution character set are intended to produce actions on
display devices as follows:

\f (form feed) Moves the active position to the initial position at
the start of the next logical page.

(ISO/IEC 9899:1999 (E), 5.2.2 Character display semantics)

There's no indication that a character in a string passed to system()
is going to be sent to a display device. In this particular case, it
almost certainly won't be. I don't know what would happen on a
Windows system, but the equivalent command on a Unix-like system would
likely create a file whose name contains a formfeed character.

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) ks***@mib.org <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
San Diego Supercomputer Center <*> <http://users.sdsc.edu/~kst>
We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this.

[Mark McIntyre]

On Sat, 6 Nov 2004 21:35:56 +0100, in comp.lang.c , Florian Weingarten
<[e-mail]> wrote:

Mark McIntyre <ma**********@spamcop.net> wrote:

spawning its shell. Try system("dir > c:\foo.txt") and see where you

Should be system("dir > c:\\foo.txt"), shouldn't it?
The behaviour of the string passed to system is implementation defined, and
offtopic here....

Are you sure about that?

Yes:
7.20.4.6 The system function
If string is not a null pointer, the system function passes the string
pointed to by string to that command processor to be executed in a manner
which the implementation shall document;
The C standard says:

(something irrelevant about escape sequences).

The important word is "intended". There's nothing there to mandate it to do
anything for which the C standard generally uses "shall".
--
Mark McIntyre
CLC FAQ <http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html>
CLC readme: <http://www.ungerhu.com/jxh/clc.welcome.txt>

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[Dik T. Winter]

In article <sl***************@hackvalue.de> Florian Weingarten <[e-mail]> writes:

Mark McIntyre <ma**********@spamcop.net> wrote:

spawning its shell. Try system("dir > c:\foo.txt") and see where you

Should be system("dir > c:\\foo.txt"), shouldn't it?

The behaviour of the string passed to system is implementation defined, and
offtopic here....

Are you sure about that? The C standard says:

Oh, Mark is pretty sure. The string passed to the system contains a
formfeed, what happens with that string is implementation defined.
On this system: system("ls > c:\\foo.txt"), will create a file where
the name contains a formfeed.
--
dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj amsterdam, nederland, [phone]
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn amsterdam, nederland; http://www.cwi.nl/~dik/

[pete]

Mark McIntyre wrote:

On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 08:38:20 GMT, in comp.lang.c , pete
<pf*****@mindspring.com> wrote:

Mark McIntyre wrote:

On Fri, 5 Nov 2004 23:45:22 +0100, in comp.lang.c ,
Florian Weingarten
<[e-mail]> wrote:

>Mark McIntyre <ma**********@spamcop.net> wrote:
>> spawning its shell. Try system("dir > c:\foo.txt")
>> and see where you
>
>Should be system("dir > c:\\foo.txt"), shouldn't it?

The behaviour of the string passed to system is implementation
defined, and offtopic here....
gd&r

Are you aware that your original
string contains a formfeed character?

See previous answer.

I was thinking of your previous answer.

Whether or not that string contains a formfeed is highly on topic,
and maybe not obvious to some people, like yourself.

--
pete

[Joona I Palaste]

Dik T. Winter <Di********@cwi.nl> scribbled the following:

In article <sl***************@hackvalue.de> Florian Weingarten <[e-mail]> writes:

> Mark McIntyre <ma**********@spamcop.net> wrote:

> >>> spawning its shell. Try system("dir > c:\foo.txt") and see where you
> >>
> >>Should be system("dir > c:\\foo.txt"), shouldn't it?
> >
> > The behaviour of the string passed to system is implementation defined, and
> > offtopic here.... >
> Are you sure about that? The C standard says:

Oh, Mark is pretty sure. The string passed to the system contains a
formfeed, what happens with that string is implementation defined.
On this system: system("ls > c:\\foo.txt"), will create a file where
the name contains a formfeed.

Dik, are you having a typo day? I recently spotted one typo from you on
sci.math, and now you have another. There's no formfeed character in
"ls > c:\\foo.txt". Did you mean "ls > c:\foo.txt"?

--
/-- Joona Palaste (pa*****@cc.helsinki.fi) ------------- Finland --------\
\-------------------------------------------------------- rules! --------/
"It's time, it's time, it's time to dump the slime!"
- Dr. Dante

[Mark McIntyre]

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 03:47:30 GMT, in comp.lang.c , pete
<pf*****@mindspring.com> wrote:

Mark McIntyre wrote:

See previous answer.

I was thinking of your previous answer.

Whether or not that string contains a formfeed is highly on topic,
and maybe not obvious to some people, like yourself.

The presence of single-character escape sequences in strings is something
that's been obvious to me since around 1986, when I first programmed C (on
a Vax 8700 I think it was, tho th Atari ST1024 came around the same time).
Thats not the point.

--
Mark McIntyre
CLC FAQ <http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html>
CLC readme: <http://www.ungerhu.com/jxh/clc.welcome.txt>

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[Dik T. Winter]

In article <cm**********@oravannahka.helsinki.fi> Joona I Palaste <pa*****@cc.helsinki.fi> writes:

Dik T. Winter <Di********@cwi.nl> scribbled the following:

....

Oh, Mark is pretty sure. The string passed to the system contains a
formfeed, what happens with that string is implementation defined.
On this system: system("ls > c:\\foo.txt"), will create a file where
the name contains a formfeed.

Dik, are you having a typo day? I recently spotted one typo from you on
sci.math, and now you have another. There's no formfeed character in
"ls > c:\\foo.txt". Did you mean "ls > c:\foo.txt"?

Yup. 7 November is typo day.
--
dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj amsterdam, nederland, [phone]
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn amsterdam, nederland; http://www.cwi.nl/~dik/

[caroundw5h]

ca********@yahoo.com (caroundw5h) wrote in message news:<aa**************************@posting.google. com>...

Wow, does anything ever get done around here?

 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>// for system
 int main(void)
 {
      system("md HEREIAM");
      system("mkdir PICKABOO");
      return 0;
 }
 

compile the following on windows save it in the C: directory then go
back and look for the file names passed as arguments.
or if you want you can pass the path to system after md:
ex: md path\kdkdk\kdkdk\kkdkd

or just #include <windows.h>
and use CreateDirectory("path to dir");

[Lew Pitcher]

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Hash: SHA1

caroundw5h wrote:

ca********@yahoo.com (caroundw5h) wrote in message news:<aa**************************@posting.google. com>...

Wow, does anything ever get done around here?

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>// for system
int main(void)
{
     system("md HEREIAM");
     system("mkdir PICKABOO");
     return 0;
}

compile the following on windows save it in the C: directory then go
back and look for the file names passed as arguments.
or if you want you can pass the path to system after md:
ex: md path\kdkdk\kdkdk\kkdkd

or just #include <windows.h>
and use CreateDirectory("path to dir");

Hmmm... I don't think that works.

~/code $ cat mdir.c
#include <windows.h>

int main(void)
{
CreateDirectory("/home/lpitcher/newdirectory");

return 0;
}
~/code $ cc -o mdir mdir.c
mdir.c:1:21: windows.h: No such file or directory
~/code $ uname -a
Linux bitsie 2.4.26 #7 Mon Apr 19 23:43:43 EDT 2004 i686 unknown

Apparently, the "windows.h" include file isn't part of the gcc compiler kit.
Obviously, it's not part of standard C, otherwise it would have been included
in gcc.

- --
Lew Pitcher

Master Codewright & JOAT-in-training | GPG public key available on request
Registered Linux User #112576 (http://counter.li.org/)
Slackware - Because I know what I'm doing.
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[Ben Pfaff]

Lew Pitcher <lp******@sympatico.ca> writes:

Apparently, the "windows.h" include file isn't part of the gcc compiler kit.
Obviously, it's not part of standard C, otherwise it would have been included
in gcc.

GCC does not include a C library.
--
"A lesson for us all: Even in trivia there are traps."
--Eric Sosman

[wangxiaopeng1976]

I found using cygwin and this code,
it can create the directory PICKABOO.

If using MKS, both can created.

[Richard Bos]

ca********@yahoo.com (caroundw5h) wrote:

Wow, does anything ever get done around here?
Certainly.
#include <stdio.h>
You never use this header. Eradicate it.
#include <stdlib.h>// for system
No, really? I wonder what kind of comment you write when you use a dozen
functions from a header.
int main(void)
{
system("md HEREIAM");
system("mkdir PICKABOO");

If you go back in the thread, you'll see that that is _exactly_ what the
OP was doing. His problem was that it appeared not to work.

Richard

[pete]

Richard Bos wrote:

ca********@yahoo.com (caroundw5h) wrote:

#include <stdlib.h>// for system

No, really? I wonder what kind of comment
you write when you use a dozen functions from a header.

I used to comment things like that,
until after about two weeks of learning C.

--
pete

[Michael Mair]

pete wrote:

Richard Bos wrote:

ca********@yahoo.com (caroundw5h) wrote:

#include <stdlib.h>// for system

No, really? I wonder what kind of comment
you write when you use a dozen functions from a header.

I used to comment things like that,
until after about two weeks of learning C.

And I still do, sometimes, when I have dozens of headers and want to
know which is needed for what. The data structures are all in one but
some of the access macros added later on found their way into another
header (by way of the corresponding translation unit).
When doing solutions for C newbies, I also write these comments so
they learn that they "need headerxyz for function abc" and the like.

For my own, private stuff, I do not use this comment style.
Nonetheless, I at least group my headers.
Cheers
Michael
--
E-Mail: Mine is a gmx dot de address.