How can i determine if a directory exist using plsql

Question

i want to determine if a directory exist
e.g
directory in variable dir_source:= 'xc/folderName/SubFolder'
i want find how to determine if the above exist on my server using plsql
Edited by: kama021 on Jun 24, 2009 2:21 AM
i don't want to create a direcotry if it exist already so how do i do this
if the below directory exist then don't create how do this
'xc/folderName/SubFolder'
Edited by: kama021 on Jun 24, 2009 3:26 AM

Answer 1

What OS? The trick is to use a known special file that always exists in every folder. On Windows an example of this is NUL. It's the equivalent of /dev/null but exists in every directory automagically. That means you can do this:
SQL> create directory temp as 'C:\TEMP';
Directory created.
SQL> select dbms_lob.fileexists(bfilename('TEMP', 'NUL')) from dual;
DBMS_LOB.FILEEXISTS(BFILENAME('TEMP','NUL'))
                                           1
1 row selected.
SQL> create directory test as 'C:\NOTREAL';
Directory created.
SQL> select dbms_lob.fileexists(bfilename('TEST', 'NUL')) from dual;
DBMS_LOB.FILEEXISTS(BFILENAME('TEST','NUL'))
                                           0
1 row selected.