c++ - How to list files in a directory using the Windows API?

Question

I have this code and it displays the folder with the directory itself and not its contents. I want to display its contents. I don't want to use boost::filesystem.

How can I resolve this?

Code:

#include <windows.h>
#include <iostream>

int main()
{
    WIN32_FIND_DATA data;
    HANDLE hFind = FindFirstFile("C:\semester2", &data);      // DIRECTORY

    if ( hFind != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE ) {
        do {
            std::cout << data.cFileName << std::endl;
        } while (FindNextFile(hFind, &data));
        FindClose(hFind);
    }
}

Output:

semester2

Answer 1

HANDLE hFind = FindFirstFile("C:\semester2", &data);       // DIRECTORY

You got the directory because that's what you asked for. If you want the files, ask for them:

HANDLE hFind = FindFirstFile("C:\semester2\*", &data);  // FILES

(You can instead use *.* if you prefer, but apparently this only works because of a backwards compatibility hack so should probably be avoided. See comments and RbMm's answer.)