stat(2) SYSTEM CALLS stat(2)
NAME
stat, lstat, fstat - get file status
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
int stat (const char *path, struct stat *buf);
int lstat (const char *path, struct stat *buf);
int fstat (int fildes, struct stat *buf);
DESCRIPTION
path points to a path name naming a file. Read, write, or
execute permission of the named file is not required, but
all directories listed in the path name leading to the file
must be searchable. stat obtains information about the
named file.
Note that in a Remote File Sharing environment, the informa-
tion returned by stat depends on the user/group mapping set
up between the local and remote computers. [See idload(1M).]
lstat obtains file attributes similar to stat, except when
the named file is a symbolic link; in that case lstat
returns information about the link, while stat returns
information about the file the link references.
fstat obtains information about an open file known by the
file descriptor fildes, obtained from a successful open,
creat, dup, fcntl, or pipe system call.
buf is a pointer to a stat structure into which information
is placed concerning the file.
The contents of the structure pointed to by buf include the
following members:
mode_t st_mode; /* File mode [see mknod(2)] */
ino_t st_ino; /* Inode number */
dev_t st_dev; /* ID of device containing */
/* a directory entry for this file */
dev_t st_rdev; /* ID of device */
/* This entry is defined only for */
/* character special files */,
/* XENIX special named files or block
/* special files */
nlink_t st_nlink; /* Number of links */
uid_t st_uid; /* User ID of the file's owner */
gid_t st_gid; /* Group ID of the file's group */
off_t st_size; /* File size in bytes */
time_t st_atime; /* Time of last access */
Last change: XENIX Compatibility Package 1
stat(2) SYSTEM CALLS stat(2)
time_t st_mtime; /* Time of last data modification */
time_t st_ctime; /* Time of last file status change */
/* Times measured in seconds since */
/* 00:00:00 GMT, Jan. 1, 1970 */
Last change: XENIX Compatibility Package 2
stat(2) SYSTEM CALLS stat(2)
st_mode The mode of the file as described in mknod(2).
st_ino This field uniquely identifies the file in a given
file system. The pair st_ino and st_dev uniquely
identifies regular files.
st_dev This field uniquely identifies the file system
that contains the file. Its value may be used as
input to the ustat system call to determine more
information about this file system. No other
meaning is associated with this value.
st_rdev This field should be used only by administrative
commands. It is valid only for block special
files or character special files or XENIX special
named files. The st_rdev field for block special
and character special files only has meaning on
the system where the file was configured.
If the file is a XENIX special named file, it con-
tains the type code [see stat(4) for the XENIX
semaphore and shared data type code values S_INSEM
and S_INSHD].
st_nlink This field should be used only by administrative
commands.
st_uid The user ID of the file's owner.
st_gid The group ID of the file's group.
st_size For regular files, this is the address of the end
of the file. For pipes or FIFOs, this is the
count of the data currently in the file. For
block special character special, or XENIX special
named files. this is not defined.
st_atime Time when file data was last accessed. Changed by
the following system calls: creat, mknod, pipe,
utime, read, creatsem, opensem, sigsem, waitsem,
sdget and sdfree.
st_mtime Time when data was last modified. Changed by the
following system calls: creat, mknod, pipe,
utime, write.
st_ctime Time when file status was last changed. Changed
by the following system calls: chmod, chown,
creat, link, mknod, pipe, unlink, utime, write,
creatsem, sdget and sdfree.
Last change: XENIX Compatibility Package 3
stat(2) SYSTEM CALLS stat(2)
stat and lstat fail if one or more of the following are
true:
EACCES Search permission is denied for a com-
ponent of the path prefix.
EBADF fildes is not a valid open file descrip-
tor.
EFAULT buf or path points to an invalid
address.
EINTR A signal was caught during the stat sys-
tem call.
ELOOP Too many symbolic links were encountered
in translating path.
EMULTIHOP Components of path require hopping to
multiple remote machines.
ENAMETOOLONG The length of the path argument exceeds
{PATH_MAX}, or the length of a path com-
ponent exceeds {NAME_MAX} while
(_POSIX_NO_TRUNC) is in effect.
ENOENT The named file does not exist or is the
null pathname.
ENOTDIR A component of the path prefix is not a
directory.
ENOLINK path points to a remote machine and the
link to that machine is no longer
active.
EOVERFLOW A component is too large to store in the
structure pointed to by buf.
fstat fails if one or more of the following are true:
ENOLINK fildes points to a remote machine and
the link to that machine is no longer
active.
EOVERFLOW A component is too large to store in the
structure pointed to by buf.
SEE ALSO
chmod(2), chown(2), creat(2), link(2), mknod(2), pipe(2),
read(2), time(2), unlink(2), utime(2), write(2), stat(5).
Last change: XENIX Compatibility Package 4
stat(2) SYSTEM CALLS stat(2)
DIAGNOSTICS
Upon successful completion a value of 0 is returned. Other-
wise, a value of -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate
the error.
Last change: XENIX Compatibility Package 5