vl-directory-files (AutoLISP)

Lists all files in a given directory

Supported Platforms: Windows and Mac OS

Signature

(vl-directory-files [directory pattern directories])

directory

Type: String

Directory name to collect files for; if nil or absent, vl-directory-files uses the current directory.

pattern

Type: String

Valid wildcard pattern for the file name; if nil or absent, vl-directory-files assumes "*.*".

directories

Type: Integer

Value that indicates whether the returned list should include directory names. Specify one of the following:

-1 -- List directories only

0 -- List files and directories (the default)

1 -- List files only

Return Values

Type: List or nil

A list of file and path names; otherwise nil if no files match the specified pattern.

Release Information

Releases:

• AutoCAD R14 and later on Windows
• AutoCAD 2011 and later on Mac OS

History

AutoCAD 2021

• directory and pattern arguments previously accepted ASCII text strings, but they now accept Unicode text strings.
• Return value was modified to support Unicode characters and might be different than earlier releases. For example, (vl-directory-files "c:/") previously returned the directory name "abc中" as "abc?", but now correctly returns the directory name as "abc中". Also previously passing a directory name with a Unicode character returned a value of nil even if the directory existed.
• LISPSYS system variable controls which AutoLISP engine is used and the behavior of the function.
  • 0 - ASCII character support (legacy behavior)
  • 1 or 2 - Unicode character support
  Note: After the value of the LISPSYS system variable has been changed, AutoCAD must be restarted for the change to take affect.

Examples

Windows

(vl-directory-files "c:/acadwin" "acad*.exe")
("ACAD.EXE" "ACADAPP.EXE" "ACADL.EXE" "ACADPS.EXE")

(vl-directory-files "e:/acadwin" nil -1)
("." ".." "SUPPORT" "SAMPLE" "ADS" "FONTS" "IGESFONT" "SOURCE" "ASE")

(vl-directory-files "E:/acad" nil -1)
("." ".." "WIN" "COM" "DOS")

Mac OS

(vl-directory-files "/myutilities/lsp" "*.lsp")
(".DS_Store" "utilities.lsp" "blk-insert.lsp")

(vl-directory-files "/myutilities" nil -1)
("." ".." "Help" "Lsp" "Support")