(libc.info.gz) Reading Attributes

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 14.9.2 Reading the Attributes of a File
 ---------------------------------------
 
 To examine the attributes of files, use the functions 'stat', 'fstat'
 and 'lstat'.  They return the attribute information in a 'struct stat'
 object.  All three functions are declared in the header file
 'sys/stat.h'.
 
  -- Function: int stat (const char *FILENAME, struct stat *BUF)
      Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe |  POSIX Safety
      Concepts.
 
      The 'stat' function returns information about the attributes of the
      file named by FILENAME in the structure pointed to by BUF.
 
      If FILENAME is the name of a symbolic link, the attributes you get
      describe the file that the link points to.  If the link points to a
      nonexistent file name, then 'stat' fails reporting a nonexistent
      file.
 
      The return value is '0' if the operation is successful, or '-1' on
      failure.  In addition to the usual file name errors ( File
      Name Errors, the following 'errno' error conditions are defined
      for this function:
 
      'ENOENT'
           The file named by FILENAME doesn't exist.
 
      When the sources are compiled with '_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64' this
      function is in fact 'stat64' since the LFS interface transparently
      replaces the normal implementation.
 
  -- Function: int stat64 (const char *FILENAME, struct stat64 *BUF)
      Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe |  POSIX Safety
      Concepts.
 
      This function is similar to 'stat' but it is also able to work on
      files larger than 2^31 bytes on 32-bit systems.  To be able to do
      this the result is stored in a variable of type 'struct stat64' to
      which BUF must point.
 
      When the sources are compiled with '_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64' this
      function is available under the name 'stat' and so transparently
      replaces the interface for small files on 32-bit machines.
 
  -- Function: int fstat (int FILEDES, struct stat *BUF)
      Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe |  POSIX Safety
      Concepts.
 
      The 'fstat' function is like 'stat', except that it takes an open
      file descriptor as an argument instead of a file name.  
      Low-Level I/O.
 
      Like 'stat', 'fstat' returns '0' on success and '-1' on failure.
      The following 'errno' error conditions are defined for 'fstat':
 
      'EBADF'
           The FILEDES argument is not a valid file descriptor.
 
      When the sources are compiled with '_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64' this
      function is in fact 'fstat64' since the LFS interface transparently
      replaces the normal implementation.
 
  -- Function: int fstat64 (int FILEDES, struct stat64 *BUF)
      Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe |  POSIX Safety
      Concepts.
 
      This function is similar to 'fstat' but is able to work on large
      files on 32-bit platforms.  For large files the file descriptor
      FILEDES should be obtained by 'open64' or 'creat64'.  The BUF
      pointer points to a variable of type 'struct stat64' which is able
      to represent the larger values.
 
      When the sources are compiled with '_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64' this
      function is available under the name 'fstat' and so transparently
      replaces the interface for small files on 32-bit machines.
 
  -- Function: int lstat (const char *FILENAME, struct stat *BUF)
      Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe |  POSIX Safety
      Concepts.
 
      The 'lstat' function is like 'stat', except that it does not follow
      symbolic links.  If FILENAME is the name of a symbolic link,
      'lstat' returns information about the link itself; otherwise
      'lstat' works like 'stat'.   Symbolic Links.
 
      When the sources are compiled with '_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64' this
      function is in fact 'lstat64' since the LFS interface transparently
      replaces the normal implementation.
 
  -- Function: int lstat64 (const char *FILENAME, struct stat64 *BUF)
      Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe |  POSIX Safety
      Concepts.
 
      This function is similar to 'lstat' but it is also able to work on
      files larger than 2^31 bytes on 32-bit systems.  To be able to do
      this the result is stored in a variable of type 'struct stat64' to
      which BUF must point.
 
      When the sources are compiled with '_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64' this
      function is available under the name 'lstat' and so transparently
      replaces the interface for small files on 32-bit machines.
 

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