NAME¶
File::stat - by-name interface to Perl's built-in stat() functions
SYNOPSIS¶
use File::stat;
$st = stat($file) or die "No $file: $!";
if ( ($st->mode & 0111) && $st->nlink > 1) ) {
print "$file is executable with lotsa links\n";
}
if ( -x $st ) {
print "$file is executable\n";
}
use Fcntl "S_IRUSR";
if ( $st->cando(S_IRUSR, 1) ) {
print "My effective uid can read $file\n";
}
use File::stat qw(:FIELDS);
stat($file) or die "No $file: $!";
if ( ($st_mode & 0111) && ($st_nlink > 1) ) {
print "$file is executable with lotsa links\n";
}
DESCRIPTION¶
This module's default exports override the core
stat() and
lstat()
functions, replacing them with versions that return "File::stat"
objects. This object has methods that return the similarly named structure
field name from the
stat(2) function; namely, dev, ino, mode, nlink,
uid, gid, rdev, size, atime, mtime, ctime, blksize, and blocks.
As of version 1.02 (provided with perl 5.12) the object provides "-X"
overloading, so you can call filetest operators ("-f",
"-x", and so on) on it. It also provides a "->cando"
method, called like
$st->cando( ACCESS, EFFECTIVE )
where
ACCESS is one of "S_IRUSR", "S_IWUSR" or
"S_IXUSR" from the Fcntl module, and
EFFECTIVE indicates
whether to use effective (true) or real (false) ids. The method interprets the
"mode", "uid" and "gid" fields, and returns
whether or not the current process would be allowed the specified access.
If you don't want to use the objects, you may import the "->cando"
method into your namespace as a regular function called
"stat_cando". This takes an arrayref containing the return values of
"stat" or "lstat" as its first argument, and interprets it
for you.
You may also import all the structure fields directly into your namespace as
regular variables using the :FIELDS import tag. (Note that this still
overrides your
stat() and
lstat() functions.) Access these
fields as variables named with a preceding "st_" in front their
method names. Thus, "$stat_obj->dev()" corresponds to $st_dev if
you import the fields.
To access this functionality without the core overrides, pass the
"use" an empty import list, and then access function functions with
their full qualified names. On the other hand, the built-ins are still
available via the "CORE::" pseudo-package.
BUGS¶
As of Perl 5.8.0 after using this module you cannot use the implicit $_ or the
special filehandle "_" with
stat() or
lstat(), trying
to do so leads into strange errors. The workaround is for $_ to be explicit
my $stat_obj = stat $_;
and for "_" to explicitly populate the object using the unexported and
undocumented
populate() function with
CORE::stat():
my $stat_obj = File::stat::populate(CORE::stat(_));
ERRORS¶
- -%s is not implemented on a File::stat object
- The filetest operators "-t", "-T" and "-B"
are not implemented, as they require more information than just a stat
buffer.
WARNINGS¶
These can all be disabled with
no warnings "File::stat";
- File::stat ignores use filetest 'access'
- You have tried to use one of the "-rwxRWX" filetests with
"use filetest 'access'" in effect. "File::stat" will
ignore the pragma, and just use the information in the "mode"
member as usual.
- File::stat ignores VMS ACLs
- VMS systems have a permissions structure that cannot be completely
represented in a stat buffer, and unlike on other systems the builtin
filetest operators respect this. The "File::stat" overloads,
however, do not, since the information required is not available.
NOTE¶
While this class is currently implemented using the Class::Struct module to
build a struct-like class, you shouldn't rely upon this.
AUTHOR¶
Tom Christiansen