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Question

Getting home directory in Mac OS X using C language

Answer 1

+5 A:

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>    

int main(void)
{
    const char *homeDir = getenv("HOME");

    if (homeDir)
        printf("Home directory is %s\n", homeDir);
    else
        printf("Couldn't figure it out.\n");

    return 0;
}

dreamlax 2010-06-11 04:27:32

`$ HOME=erased; ./app` = Home directory is erased

jweyrich 2010-06-11 05:13:03

As jweyrich says, this is not reliable. There's no guarantee that HOME is set to the home directory or that it is set at all. Server processes often delete their environment for security reasons. You should use `getpwuid()` which returns the password structure including the home directory from the user database. http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man3/getpwuid.3.html

JeremyP 2010-06-11 08:22:59

Answer 2

+6 A:

with FSFindFolder:

UInt8 path[1024];
FSRef file;
FSFindFolder( kOnAppropriateDisk , kCurrentUserFolderType , kCreateFolder , &file );
FSRefMakePath( &file , path , sizeof(path) );

with CSCopyUserName:

char path[1024];
CFStringRef name = CSCopyUserName( true );
CFStringRef full = CFStringCreateWithFormat( NULL , NULL , CFSTR( "/Users/%@" ) , name );
CFStringGetCString( full , path , sizeof(path) , kCFStringEncodingUTF8 );
// release strings

with NSHomeDirectory:

char path[1024];
CFStringGetCString( (CFStringRef)NSHomeDirectory() , path , sizeof(path) , kCFStringEncodingUTF8 );

note that the path can use UTF8 characters.

drawnonward 2010-06-11 04:40:04

Note that `NSHomeDirectory` is misleading. It actually returns the application directory, not the current user homedir.

jweyrich 2010-06-11 05:26:15

@jweyrich that only applies to iPhone. On normal MacOS it is the equivalent of the others. None of these work on iPhone.

drawnonward 2010-06-11 08:42:57

@drawnonward Aye! Sorry, I thought it worked the same way. Thanks for correcting me.

jweyrich 2010-06-11 10:35:03

Note that `CSCopyUserName()` is _not_ a solution for finding a user's home folder. It won't find mine, for instance, which is at /Network/Users/leeg.

Graham Lee 2010-09-16 11:25:49

Answer 3

+1 A:

This should work under Linux, Unix and OS X, for Windows you need to make a slight modification.

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>    
#include <pwd.h>

int main(void)
{
    const char *homeDir = getenv("HOME");

    if !homeDir {
        struct passwd* pwd = getpwuid(getuid());
        if (pwd)
           homeDir = pwd->pw_dir;
    }
    printf("Home directory is %s\n", homeDir);
    return 0;
}

Sorin Sbarnea 2010-09-17 09:14:21

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Getting home directory in Mac OS X using C language

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