TIFFSETDIRECTORY(3tiff)

NAME
TIFFSetDirectory - set the current directory for an open TIFF file

SYNOPSIS

            #include <tiffio.h>

    int TIFFSetDirectory(TIFF *tif, tdir_t dirnum)

    int TIFFSetSubDirectory(TIFF *tif, uint64_t diroff)

DESCRIPTION

TIFFSetDirectory() changes the current directory and reads its contents with TIFFReadDirectory() <#c.TIFFReadDirectory>. The parameter dirnum specifies the subfile/directory as an integer number, with the first directory numbered zero. TIFFSetDirectory() only works with main-IFD chains because always starts with the first main-IFD and thus is able to reset the SubIFD reading chain to the main-IFD chain.

TIFFSetSubDirectory() acts like TIFFSetDirectory(), except the directory is specified as a file offset instead of an index; this is required for accessing subdirectories linked through a SubIFD tag. (see MultiPage SubIFD <#subifdaccess>)

Directory query functions TIFFCurrentDirectory() <#c.TIFFCurrentDirectory>, TIFFCurrentDirOffset() <#c.TIFFCurrentDirOffset>, TIFFLastDirectory() <#c.TIFFLastDirectory> and TIFFNumberOfDirectories() <#c.TIFFNumberOfDirectories> retrieve information about directories in an open TIFF file. Be aware that until a directory is not written to file AND read back, the query functions won't retrieve the correct information!

RETURN VALUES

On successful return 1 is returned. Otherwise, 0 is returned if dirnum or diroff specifies a non-existent directory, or if an error was encountered while reading the directory's contents.

DIAGNOSTICS

All error messages are directed to the TIFFErrorExtR() <#c.TIFFErrorExtR> routine.

"%s: Error fetching directory count":
        An error was encountered while reading the "directory count" field.

"%s: Error fetching directory link":
        An error was encountered while reading the "link value" that points to the next directory in a file.

SEE ALSO

TIFFquery <> (3tiff), TIFFOpen <> (3tiff), TIFFCreateDirectory <> (3tiff), TIFFCustomDirectory <> (3tiff), TIFFWriteDirectory <> (3tiff), TIFFReadDirectory <> (3tiff), Multi Page / Multi Image TIFF <>, libtiff <> (3tiff)

Author
LibTIFF contributors

Copyright
1988-2025, LibTIFF contributors