std::filesystem::read_symlink

std::filesystem::path read_symlink( const std::filesystem::path& p );
std::filesystem::path read_symlink( const std::filesystem::path& p,
                                    std::error_code& ec );

If the path p refers to a symbolic link, returns a new path object which refers to the target of that symbolic link.

It is an error if p does not refer to a symbolic link.

The non-throwing overload returns an empty path on errors.

Parameters

Return value

The target of the symlink (which may not necessarily exist).

Exceptions

The overload that does not take a std::error_code& parameter throws filesystem::filesystem_error on underlying OS API errors, constructed with p as the first path argument and the OS error code as the error code argument. The overload taking a std::error_code& parameter sets it to the OS API error code if an OS API call fails, and executes ec.clear() if no errors occur. Any overload not marked noexcept may throw std::bad_alloc if memory allocation fails.

Example

#include <iostream>
#include <filesystem>
 
namespace fs = std::filesystem;
 
int main()
{
    for(fs::path p : {"/usr/bin/gcc", "/bin/cat", "/bin/mouse"}) {
        std::cout << p;
        fs::exists(p)
            ? fs::is_symlink(p)
            ? std::cout << " -> " << fs::read_symlink(p) << '\n'
            : std::cout << " exists but it is not a symlink\n"
            : std::cout << " does not exist\n";
    }
}

"/usr/bin/gcc" -> "gcc-5"
"/bin/cat" exists but it is not a symlink
"/bin/mouse" does not exist

See also