Merge changes from CUPS 1.4svn-r7282.

[thirdparty/cups.git] / cups / api-filedir.shtml

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  File and directory API introduction for the Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS).

  Copyright 2007-2008 by Apple Inc.
  Copyright 1997-2005 by Easy Software Products, all rights reserved.

  These coded instructions, statements, and computer programs are the
  property of Apple Inc. and are protected by Federal copyright
  law.  Distribution and use rights are outlined in the file "LICENSE.txt"
  which should have been included with this file.  If this file is
  file is missing or damaged, see the license at "http://www.cups.org/".
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<h2 class='title'><a name="OVERVIEW">Overview</a></h2>

<p>The CUPS file and directory APIs provide portable interfaces
for manipulating files and listing files and directories. Unlike
stdio <code>FILE</code> streams, the <code>cupsFile</code> functions
allow you to open more than 256 files at any given time. They
also manage the platform-specific details of locking, large file
support, line endings (CR, LF, or CR LF), and reading and writing
files using Flate ("gzip") compression. Finally, you can also
connect, read from, and write to network connections using the
<code>cupsFile</code> functions.</p>

<p>The <code>cupsDir</code> functions manage the platform-specific
details of directory access/listing and provide a convenient way
to get both a list of files and the information (permissions,
size, timestamp, etc.) for each of those files.</p>