.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991 Regents of the University of California.
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.\" @(#)stat.2 6.9 (Berkeley) 3/10/91
.Fd #include <sys/types.h>
.Fd #include <sys/stat.h>
.Fn stat "const char *path" "struct stat *buf"
.Fn lstat "const char *path" "struct stat *buf"
.Fn fstat "int fd" "struct stat *buf"
function obtains information about the file pointed to by
permission of the named file is not required, but all directories
listed in the path name leading to the file must be searchable.
except in the case where the named file is a symbolic link,
returns information about the link,
returns information about the file the link references.
obtains the same information about an open file
known by the file descriptor
and into which information is placed concerning the file.
dev_t st_dev; /* device inode resides on */
ino_t st_ino; /* inode's number */
mode_t st_mode; /* inode protection mode */
nlink_t st_nlink; /* number of hard links to the file */
uid_t st_uid; /* user-id of owner */
gid_t st_gid; /* group-id of owner */
dev_t st_rdev; /* device type, for special file inode */
off_t st_size; /* file size, in bytes */
time_t st_atime; /* time of last access */
time_t st_mtime; /* time of last data modification */
time_t st_ctime; /* time of last file status change */
long st_blksize;/* optimal file sys I/O ops blocksize */
long st_blocks; /* blocks allocated for file */
u_long st_flags; /* user defined flags for file */
u_long st_gen; /* file generation number */
The time-related fields of
.Bl -tag -width st_blocks
Time when file data last accessed. Changed by the following system
Time when file data last modified.
Changed by the following system calls:
Time when file status was last changed (inode data modification).
Changed by the following system calls:
The actual number of blocks allocated for the file in 512-byte units.
The status information word
#define S_IFMT 0170000 /* type of file */
#define S_IFIFO 0010000 /* named pipe (fifo) */
#define S_IFCHR 0020000 /* character special */
#define S_IFDIR 0040000 /* directory */
#define S_IFBLK 0060000 /* block special */
#define S_IFREG 0100000 /* regular */
#define S_IFLNK 0120000 /* symbolic link */
#define S_IFSOCK 0140000 /* socket */
#define S_ISUID 0004000 /* set user id on execution */
#define S_ISGID 0002000 /* set group id on execution */
#define S_ISVTX 0001000 /* save swapped text even after use */
#define S_IRUSR 0000400 /* read permission, owner */
#define S_IWUSR 0000200 /* write permission, owner */
#define S_IXUSR 0000100 /* execute/search permission, owner */
For a list of access modes, see
Upon successful completion a value of 0 is returned.
Otherwise, a value of -1 is returned and
is set to indicate the error.
.Bl -tag -width ENAMETOOLONGAA
A component of the path prefix is not a directory.
The pathname contains a character with the high-order bit set.
A component of a pathname exceeded 255 characters,
or an entire path name exceeded 1023 characters.
The named file does not exist.
Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix.
Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname.
points to an invalid address.
An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system.
is not a valid open file descriptor.
points to an invalid address.
An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system.
The fields in the stat structure currently marked
are present in preparation for inode time stamps expanding
to 64 bits. This, however, can break certain programs that
depend on the time stamps being contiguous (in calls to
to a socket (and thus to a pipe)
except for the blocksize field,
and a unique device and inode number.
function calls are expected to
conform to IEEE Std 1003.1-1988
function call appeared in
projects / unix-history / blob