std::filesystem:: hard_link_count

Returns the number of hard links for the filesystem object identified by path p .

The non-throwing overload returns static_cast < uintmax_t > ( - 1 ) on errors.

Parameters

Return value

The number of hard links for p .

Exceptions

Any overload not marked noexcept may throw std::bad_alloc if memory allocation fails.

Example

#include <filesystem>
#include <iostream>
namespace fs = std::filesystem;
 
int main()
{
    // On a POSIX-style filesystem, each directory has at least 2 hard links:
    // itself and the special member pathname "."
    fs::path p = fs::current_path();
    std::cout << "Number of hard links for current path is "
              << fs::hard_link_count(p) << '\n';
 
    // Each ".." is a hard link to the parent directory, so the total number
    // of hard links for any directory is 2 plus number of direct subdirectories
    p = fs::current_path() / ".."; // Each dot-dot is a hard link to parent
    std::cout << "Number of hard links for .. is "
              << fs::hard_link_count(p) << '\n';
}

Number of hard links for current path is 2
Number of hard links for .. is 3

See also