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file(n)			     Tcl Built-In Commands		       file(n)

______________________________________________________________________________

NAME
       file - Manipulate file names and attributes

SYNOPSIS
       file option name ?arg arg ...?
_________________________________________________________________

DESCRIPTION
       This   command	provides  several  operations  on  a  file's  name  or
       attributes.  Name is the name of a file; if it  starts  with  a	tilde,
       then  tilde  substitution is done before executing the command (see the
       manual entry for filename for details).	Option indicates  what	to  do
       with  the file name.  Any unique abbreviation for option is acceptable.
       The valid options are:

       file atime name ?time?
	      Returns a decimal string giving the time at which file name  was
	      last  accessed.	If  time is specified, it is an access time to
	      set for the file.	 The time is measured in  the  standard	 POSIX
	      fashion  as seconds from a fixed starting time (often January 1,
	      1970).  If the file doesn't exist or its access time  cannot  be
	      queried or set then an error is generated.  On Windows, FAT file
	      systems do not support access time.

       file attributes name

       file attributes name ?option?

       file attributes name ?option value option value...?
	      This subcommand returns or sets platform specific values associ-
	      ated  with a file. The first form returns a list of the platform
	      specific flags and their values. The  second  form  returns  the
	      value  for  the specific option. The third form sets one or more
	      of the values. The values are as follows:

	      On Unix, -group gets or sets the group  name  for	 the  file.  A
	      group  id	 can  be  given to the command, but it returns a group
	      name. -owner gets or sets the user name  of  the	owner  of  the
	      file.  The  command returns the owner name, but the numerical id
	      can be passed when  setting  the	owner.	-permissions  sets  or
	      retrieves	 the octal code that chmod(1) uses.  This command does
	      also  has	 limited  support  for	setting	 using	the   symbolic
	      attributes for chmod(1), of the form [ugo]?[[+-=][rwxst],[...]],
	      where multiple symbolic attributes can be	 separated  by	commas
	      (example:	 u+s,go-rw  add	 sticky	 bit for user, remove read and
	      write permissions for group and other).  A simplified  ls	 style
	      string,  of  the	form rwxrwxrwx (must be 9 characters), is also
	      supported (example: rwxr-xr-t is equivalent to 01755).

	      On Windows, -archive gives the value or sets or clears  the  ar-
	      chive  attribute of the file. -hidden gives the value or sets or
	      clears the hidden attribute of the file. -longname  will	expand
	      each  path element to its long version. This attribute cannot be
	      set. -readonly gives the value or sets or	 clears	 the  readonly
	      attribute	 of  the  file.	 -shortname gives a string where every
	      path element is replaced with its short  (8.3)  version  of  the
	      name.  This  attribute  cannot  be set. -system gives or sets or
	      clears the value of the system attribute of the file.

	      On Macintosh, -creator gives or sets the Finder creator type  of
	      the  file.  -hidden gives or sets or clears the hidden attribute
	      of the file. -readonly gives or  sets  or	 clears	 the  readonly
	      attribute	 of the file. Note that directories can only be locked
	      if File Sharing is turned on. -type gives	 or  sets  the	Finder
	      file type for the file.

       file channels ?pat-						       |
       tern?						     |		       |
	      If pattern isn't specified, returns a list of names of all  reg- |
	      istered open channels in this interpreter.  If pattern is speci- |
	      fied, only those names matching pattern are returned.   Matching |
	      is determined using the same rules as for string match.

       file copy ?-force? ?--? source target

       file copy ?-force? ?--? source ?source ...? targetDir
	      The  first  form	makes  a  copy of the file or directory source
	      under the pathname target. If target is an  existing  directory,
	      then  the	 second	 form  is  used.  The second form makes a copy
	      inside targetDir of each source file listed.  If a directory  is
	      specified	 as  a source, then the contents of the directory will
	      be recursively copied into targetDir. Existing files will not be
	      overwritten unless the -force option is specified.  When copying
	      within a single filesystem, file copy will copy soft links (i.e.
	      the  links themselves are copied, not the things they point to).
	      Trying to overwrite a non-empty directory, overwrite a directory
	      with  a  file,  or  overwrite  a	file with a directory will all
	      result in errors even if -force was  specified.	Arguments  are
	      processed in the order specified, halting at the first error, if
	      any.  A -- marks the end of switches; the argument following the
	      -- will be treated as a source even if it starts with a -.

       file delete ?-force? ?--? pathname ?pathname ... ?
	      Removes  the  file or directory specified by each pathname argu-
	      ment.  Non-empty directories will be removed only if the	-force
	      option  is  specified.   When  operating	on symbolic links, the
	      links themselves will be deleted, not the objects they point to.
	      Trying to delete a non-existent file is not considered an error.
	      Trying to delete a read-only file will  cause  the  file	to  be
	      deleted,	even  if  the  -force  flags is not specified.	If the
	      -force option is specified on a directory, Tcl will attempt both
	      to  change  permissions and move the current directory 'pwd' out
	      of the given path if that is necessary to allow the deletion  to
	      proceed.	 Arguments are processed in the order specified, halt-
	      ing at the first error, if any.  A -- marks the end of switches;
	      the argument following the -- will be treated as a pathname even
	      if it starts with a -.

       file dirname name
	      Returns a name comprised of all of the path components  in  name
	      excluding the last element.  If name is a relative file name and
	      only contains one path element, then returns ``.'' (or ``:''  on
	      the  Macintosh).	 If  name refers to a root directory, then the
	      root directory is returned.  For example,
		     file dirname c:/
	      returns c:/.

	      Note that tilde substitution will only be	 performed  if	it  is
	      necessary to complete the command. For example,
		     file dirname ~/src/foo.c
	      returns ~/src, whereas
		     file dirname ~
	      returns /home (or something similar).

       file executable name
	      Returns 1 if file name is executable by the current user, 0 oth-
	      erwise.

       file exists name
	      Returns 1 if file name exists and the current  user  has	search
	      privileges for the directories leading to it, 0 otherwise.

       file extension name
	      Returns  all  of	the characters in name after and including the
	      last dot in the last element of name.  If there is no dot in the
	      last element of name then returns the empty string.

       file isdirectory name
	      Returns 1 if file name is a directory, 0 otherwise.

       file isfile name
	      Returns 1 if file name is a regular file, 0 otherwise.

       file join name ?name ...?
	      Takes  one  or more file names and combines them, using the cor-
	      rect path separator for the current platform.  If	 a  particular
	      name  is	relative,  then it will be joined to the previous file
	      name argument.  Otherwise, any earlier arguments	will  be  dis-
	      carded, and joining will proceed from the current argument.  For
	      example,
		     file join a b /foo bar
	      returns /foo/bar.

	      Note that any of the names can contain separators, and that  the
	      result  is always canonical for the current platform: / for Unix
	      and Windows, and : for Macintosh.

       file link ?-linktype? linkName ?target?
	      If only one argument is given, that argument is  assumed	to  be
	      linkName,	 and  this command returns the value of the link given
	      by linkName (i.e. the name  of  the  file	 it  points  to).   If
	      linkName isn't a link or its value cannot be read (as, for exam-
	      ple, seems to be the case with hard links, which look just  like
	      ordinary	files), then an error is returned.  If 2 arguments are
	      given, then these are assumed to	be  linkName  and  target.  If
	      linkName	already	 exists,  or if target doesn't exist, an error
	      will be returned.	 Otherwise, Tcl	 creates  a  new  link	called
	      linkName	which points to the existing filesystem object at tar-
	      get, where the type of the link is platform-specific (on Unix  a
	      symbolic link will be the default).  This is useful for the case
	      where the user wishes to create a link in a cross-platform  way,
	      and  doesn't  care  what	type  of link is created.  If the user
	      wishes to make a link of a specific type only,  (and  signal  an
	      error  if	 for  some  reason  that  is  not  possible), then the
	      optional -linktype argument should be  given.   Accepted	values
	      for  -linktype are "-symbolic" and "-hard".  When creating links
	      on filesystems that either do not support any links, or  do  not
	      support  the  specific  type requested, an error message will be
	      returned.	 In particular Windows 95, 98 and ME  do  not  support
	      any  links at present, but most Unix platforms support both sym-
	      bolic and hard links (the latter for files only), MacOS supports
	      symbolic	links  and Windows NT/2000/XP (on NTFS drives) support
	      symbolic directory links and hard file links.

       file lstat name varName
	      Same as stat option (see below) except  uses  the	 lstat	kernel
	      call  instead of stat.  This means that if name refers to a sym-
	      bolic link the information returned in varName is for  the  link
	      rather  than  the file it refers to.  On systems that don't sup-
	      port symbolic links this option behaves exactly the same as  the
	      stat option.

       file mkdir dir ?dir ...?
	      Creates  each directory specified.  For each pathname dir speci-
	      fied, this command will create all non-existing parent  directo-
	      ries  as well as dir itself.  If an existing directory is speci-
	      fied, then no action is taken and no error is returned.	Trying
	      to overwrite an existing file with a directory will result in an
	      error.  Arguments are processed in the order specified,  halting
	      at the first error, if any.

       file mtime name ?time?
	      Returns  a decimal string giving the time at which file name was
	      last modified.  If time is specified, it is a modification  time
	      to  set  for  the	 file (equivalent to Unix touch).  The time is
	      measured in the standard POSIX fashion as seconds from  a	 fixed
	      starting	time  (often  January  1,  1970).  If the file doesn't
	      exist or its modified time cannot be  queried  or	 set  then  an
	      error is generated.

       file nativename name
	      Returns  the  platform-specific name of the file. This is useful
	      if the filename is needed to pass to a  platform-specific	 call,
	      such as exec under Windows or AppleScript on the Macintosh.

       file normalize name
	      Returns  a  unique  normalized path representation for the file-
	      system object (file, directory, link, etc), whose	 string	 value
	      can be used as a unique identifier for it.  A normalized path is
	      an absolute path which has all '../', './' removed.  Also it  is
	      one which is in the ``standard'' format for the native platform.
	      On MacOS, Unix, this means the segments leading up to  the  path
	      must  be	free of symbolic links/aliases (but the very last path
	      component may be a symbolic link), and on Windows it also	 means
	      we  want	the  long form with that form's case-dependence (which
	      gives us a unique, case-dependent path).	The one exception con-
	      cerning  the  last link in the path is necessary, because Tcl or
	      the user may wish to operate on the actual symbolic link	itself
	      (for  example  'file  delete',  'file  rename',  'file copy' are
	      defined to operate on symbolic links, not	 on  the  things  that
	      they point to).

       file owned name
	      Returns  1  if  file name is owned by the current user, 0 other-
	      wise.

       file pathtype name
	      Returns one of  absolute,	 relative,  volumerelative.   If  name
	      refers  to  a  specific file on a specific volume, the path type
	      will be absolute.	 If name refers to a file relative to the cur-
	      rent working directory, then the path type will be relative.  If
	      name refers to a file relative to the current working  directory
	      on  a  specified	volume,	 or  to a specific file on the current
	      working volume, then the path type is volumerelative.

       file readable name
	      Returns 1 if file name is readable by the current user, 0 other-
	      wise.

       file readlink name
	      Returns  the  value of the symbolic link given by name (i.e. the
	      name of the file it points to).  If name isn't a	symbolic  link
	      or its value cannot be read, then an error is returned.  On sys-
	      tems that don't support symbolic links this option is undefined.

       file rename ?-force? ?--? source target

       file rename ?-force? ?--? source ?source ...? targetDir
	      The first form takes the file or directory specified by pathname
	      source and renames it to target, moving the file if the pathname
	      target  specifies a name in a different directory.  If target is
	      an existing directory, then the second form is used.  The second
	      form moves each source file or directory into the directory tar-
	      getDir. Existing files will not be overwritten unless the -force
	      option is specified.  When operating inside a single filesystem,
	      Tcl will rename symbolic links rather than the things that  they
	      point  to.  Trying to overwrite a non-empty directory, overwrite
	      a directory with a file, or a file with  a  directory  will  all
	      result  in  errors.  Arguments are processed in the order speci-
	      fied, halting at the first error, if any.	 A -- marks the end of
	      switches;	 the  argument	following  the -- will be treated as a
	      source even if it starts with a -.

       file rootname name
	      Returns all of the characters in name up to  but	not  including
	      the  last ``.'' character in the last component of name.	If the
	      last component of name doesn't contain a dot, then returns name.

       file separator ?name?
	      If  no argument is given, returns the character which is used to
	      separate path segments for native files on this platform.	 If  a
	      path is given, the filesystem responsible for that path is asked
	      to return its separator character.  If no	 file  system  accepts
	      name, an error is generated.

       file size name
	      Returns  a decimal string giving the size of file name in bytes.
	      If the file doesn't exist or its size cannot be queried then  an
	      error is generated.

       file split name
	      Returns  a  list whose elements are the path components in name.
	      The first element of the list will have the same	path  type  as
	      name.   All  other  elements  will be relative.  Path separators
	      will be discarded unless they are needed ensure that an  element
	      is unambiguously relative.  For example, under Unix
		     file split /foo/~bar/baz
	      returns  /  foo  ./~bar  baz  to ensure that later commands that
	      use the third component do not attempt to perform tilde  substi-
	      tution.

       file stat  name varName
	      Invokes  the  stat  kernel  call	on name, and uses the variable
	      given by varName to hold information returned  from  the	kernel
	      call.   VarName is treated as an array variable, and the follow-
	      ing elements of that variable are set: atime, ctime,  dev,  gid,
	      ino,  mode,  mtime, nlink, size, type, uid.  Each element except
	      type is a decimal string with the	 value	of  the	 corresponding
	      field  from  the stat return structure; see the manual entry for
	      stat for details on the meanings of the values.  The  type  ele-
	      ment gives the type of the file in the same form returned by the
	      command file type.  This command returns an empty string.

       file system name
	      Returns a list of two elements, the first of which is  the  name
	      of  the  filesystem to use for the file, and the second an arbi-
	      trary string representing the filesystem-specific nature or type
	      of  the  location	 within that filesystem.  If a filesystem only
	      supports one type of file, the second element may be null.   For
	      example  the  native  files have a first element 'native', and a
	      second element which is a platform-specific type	name  for  the
	      file's  system  (e.g. 'NTFS', 'FAT', etc), or possibly the empty
	      string if no further information is available or if this is  not
	      implemented.   A	generic	 virtual  file system might return the
	      list 'vfs ftp' to represent a file on a remote ftp site  mounted
	      as  a  virtual filesystem through an extension called 'vfs'.  If
	      the file does not belong to any filesystem, an error  is	gener-
	      ated.

       file tail name
	      Returns  all  of the characters in name after the last directory
	      separator.  If name contains no separators then returns name.

       file type name
	      Returns a string giving the type of file name, which will be one
	      of  file, directory, characterSpecial, blockSpecial, fifo, link,
	      or socket.

       file volumes
	      Returns the absolute paths to the volumes mounted on the system,
	      as  a proper Tcl list.  On the Macintosh, this will be a list of
	      the mounted drives, both local and network.  N.B. if two	drives
	      have  the	 same  name, they will both appear on the volume list,
	      but there is currently no way, from Tcl, to access any  but  the
	      first  of these drives.  On UNIX, the command will always return
	      "/", since all filesystems are locally mounted.  On Windows,  it
	      will  return  a  list  of	 the available local drives (e.g. {a:/
	      c:/}).

       file writable name
	      Returns 1 if file name is writable by the current user, 0 other-
	      wise.

PORTABILITY ISSUES
       Unix
	      These  commands  always  operate	using  the real user and group
	      identifiers, not the effective ones.

EXAMPLES
       This procedure shows how to search for C files  in  a  given  directory
       that have a correspondingly-named object file in the current directory:
	      proc findMatchingCFiles {dir} {
		 set files {}
		 switch $::tcl_platform(platform) {
		    windows {
		       set ext .obj
		    }
		    unix {
		       set ext .o
		    }
		 }
		 foreach file [glob -nocomplain -directory $dir *.c] {
		    set objectFile [file tail [file rootname $file]]$ext
		    if {[file exists $objectFile]} {
		       lappend files $file
		    }
		 }
		 return $files
	      }

       Rename a file and leave a symbolic link pointing from the old  location
       to the new place:
	      set oldName foobar.txt
	      set newName foo/bar.txt
	      # Make sure that where we're going to move to exists...
	      if {![file isdirectory [file dirname $newName]]} {
		 file mkdir [file dirname $newName]
	      }
	      file rename $oldName $newName
	      file link -symbolic $oldName $newName

SEE ALSO
       filename(n),  open(n),  close(n),  eof(n),  gets(n),  tell(n), seek(n),
       fblocked(n), flush(n)

KEYWORDS
       attributes, copy files, delete  files,  directory,  file,  move	files,
       name, rename files, stat

Tcl				      8.3			       file(n)
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