Skip to main content

List files in a directory (file.list)

Declaration​

list, err = file.list(path [, deep])

Parameters​

  • path
    String. Absolute directory path.
  • deep
    Boolean, optional. Added in 2025-03-13. Whether to recursively return full paths of files in subdirectories. Default false.

Returns​

  • list
    Array or nil. nil if path does not exist or path is a file; otherwise an array of file names in the directory.
  • err
    String. Error message when operation fails.

Notes​

Get all file names under a directory.

Example​

local list, err = file.list("/var/mobile/")
if list then
    print("There are "..#list.." files or directories in /var/mobile/")
    for _, name in ipairs(list) do
        print(name)
    end
    sys.alert(print.out())
else
    sys.alert("/var/mobile/ is not a directory: "..err)
end

Note: Uses sys.alert

Deep recursive example

-- full_paths = file.list(path, deep)
-- When deep is true, returns full paths recursively
list = file.list("/var/mobile/Media/1ferver", true)
nLog(list)
--[[
Possible output
{ -- table: 0xc4cc58a30
    [1] = "/var/mobile/Media/1ferver/snippets/syntax - do __ end.snippet",
    [2] = "/var/mobile/Media/1ferver/snippets/app - app.uninstall(bid).snippet",
    [3] = "/var/mobile/Media/1ferver/snippets/test - snippet.snippet",
    ...
}
--]]

Note: Uses nLog