NAME

stat, lstat, fstat − get file status

SYNOPSIS

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>

int stat (path, buf)
char ∗path;
struct stat ∗buf;

int lstat (path, buf)
char ∗path;
struct stat ∗buf;

int fstat (fildes, buf)
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 information returned by stat depends upon the user/group mapping set up between the local and remote computers. [See idload(1M)]. 

lstat is like stat except when the named file is a symbolic link, in which 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:

ino_tst_ino;/∗ Inode number ∗/
ushortst_mode;/∗ File mode [see mknod(2)] ∗/
dev_tst_dev;/∗ ID of device containing ∗/
/∗ a directory entry for this file ∗/
dev_tst_rdev;/∗ ID of device ∗/
/∗ This entry is defined only for ∗/
/∗ character special or block special files ∗/
shortst_nlink;/∗ Number of links ∗/
ushortst_uid;/∗ User ID of the file’s owner ∗/
ushortst_gid;/∗ Group ID of the file’s group ∗/
off_tst_size;/∗ File size in bytes ∗/
time_tst_atime;/∗ Time of last access ∗/
time_tst_mtime;/∗ Time of last data modification ∗/
time_tst_ctime;/∗ Time of last file status change ∗/
/∗ Times measured in seconds since ∗/
/∗ 00:00:00 GMT, Jan. 1, 1970 ∗/

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_mode The mode of the file as described in the mknod(2) system call. 

st_dev This field uniquely identifies the file system that contains the file.  Its value may be used as input to the ustat(2) 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 or character special files and only has meaning on the system where the file was configured. 

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 or character special, this is not defined. 

st_atime Time when file data was last accessed.  Changed by the following system calls: creat(2), mknod(2), pipe(2), utime(2), and read(2).

st_mtime
Time when data was last modified. Changed by the following system calls: creat(2), mknod(2), pipe(2), utime(2), and write(2).

st_ctime Time when file status was last changed.  Changed by the following system calls: chmod(2), chown(2), creat(2), link(2), mknod(2), pipe(2), unlink(2), utime(2), and write(2).

stat and lstat fail if one or more of the following are true:

­[ENOTDIR] A component of the path prefix is not a directory. 

­[ENOENT] The named file does not exist. 

­[EACCES] Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix. 

­[EFAULT] buf or path points to an invalid address. 

­[EINTR] A signal was caught during the stat system call. 

­[ENOLINK] path points to a remote machine and the link to that machine is no longer active. 

­[EMULTIHOP] Components of path require hopping to multiple remote machines. 

fstat fail if one or more of the following are true:

­[EBADF] fildes is not a valid open file descriptor. 

­[EFAULT] buf points to an invalid address. 

­[ENOLINK] fildes points to a remote machine and the link to that machine is no longer active. 

SEE ALSO

chmod(2), chown(2), creat(2), link(2), mknod(2), pipe(2), read(2), time(2), unlink(2), utime(2), write(2). 

DIAGNOSTICS

Upon successful completion a value of 0 is returned.  Otherwise, a value of −1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the error. 

September 02, 1992