Article ID: 168439
Article Last Modified on 9/7/2005
APPLIES TO
- The C Run-Time (CRT), when used with:
- Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0 Enterprise Edition
- Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 Enterprise Edition
- Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0 Professional Edition
- Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 Professional Edition
- Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Visual C++ .NET 2002 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Visual C++ .NET 2003 Standard Edition
This article was previously published under Q168439
SYMPTOMS
Using the C Run-time function stat to check a directory fails when the name passed to the function ends with "\".
For example, _stat("\\my_directory\\my_name",&buf) returns OK, but _stat("\\my_directory\\my_name\\",&buf) will return -1 as error.
CAUSE
The _stat function calls the windows API function FindFirstFile passing it the path name. The FindFirstFile returns an invalid handle if the name ends with "\."
RESOLUTION
Remove the trailing "\" from the path name.
STATUS
This behavior is by design.
MORE INFORMATION
The following sample program demonstrates the behavior.
//Sample.cpp
/* Compiler Options : none */
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <windows.h>
HANDLE hSearch;
WIN32_FIND_DATA Buf;
int main( void )
{
struct _stat buf;
int result;
result = _stat( "c:\\temp", &buf );
if( result != 0 )
printf( "_stat function on c:\\temp failed " );
result = _stat( "c:\\temp\\", &buf );
if( result != 0 )
printf( "_stat function on c:\\temp\\ failed " );
hSearch= FindFirstFile((LPSTR)"c:\\temp", &Buf);
if (hSearch == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE )
printf("\n\n FindFirstFile on c:\\temp failed too");
hSearch= FindFirstFile((LPSTR)"c:\\temp\\", &Buf);
if (hSearch == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE )
printf("\n\n FindFirstFile on c:\\temp\\ failed too");
return 0;
}
Program output:
If you have a valid C:\temp directory:
_stat function on c:\temp\ failed. FindFirstFile on c:\temp\ failed, too.
If you experience the C1010 error when you compile the sample code in Visual Studio .NET, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
815644 Most common causes of C1010 error
Keywords: kbtshoot kbprb KB168439
