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stat(2)								       stat(2)

NAME
       stat, fstat, lstat - Provide information about a file

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

       int stat(
	       const char *path,
	       struct stat *buffer ); int lstat(
	       const char *path,
	       struct stat *buffer ); int fstat(
	       int filedes,
	       struct stat *buffer );

STANDARDS
       Interfaces  documented on this reference page conform to industry stan‐
       dards as follows:

       fstat(), stat(): POSIX.1, XSH4.0, XSH4.2, XSH5.0

       lstat(): POSIX.1, XSH4.2, XSH5.0

       Refer to the standards(5) reference page	 for  more  information	 about
       industry standards and associated tags.

PARAMETERS
       Specifies  the  pathname	 identifying  the  file.   Specifies  the file
       descriptor identifying the open file.  Points to the stat structure  in
       which  information  is returned. The stat structure is described in the
       <sys/stat.h> header file.

DESCRIPTION
       The stat() function obtains information about the  file	named  by  the
       path  parameter.	 Read, write, or execute permission for the named file
       is not required, but all directories listed in the pathname leading  to
       the  file  must	be  searchable. The file information is written to the
       area specified by the buffer parameter, which is a pointer  to  a  stat
       structure, defined in <sys/stat.h>.

       The  values  of	the  stat  structure's	member, mode_t, are defined in
       <sys/mode.h>.

       The fstat() function is like the stat() function except that the infor‐
       mation obtained is about an open file referenced by the filedes parame‐
       ter.

       The lstat() function is like the stat() function	 except	 in  the  case
       where  the  named  file	is  a symbolic link. In this case, the lstat()
       function returns information about  the	link,  while  the  stat()  and
       fstat()	functions  return  information	about the file the link refer‐
       ences. In the case of a symbolic link, the  stat()  functions  set  the
       st_size field of the stat structure to the length of the symbolic link,
       and sets the st_mode field to indicate the file type.

       The stat(), lstat(), and	 fstat()  functions  update  any  time-related
       fields associated with the file before writing into the stat structure.

       [Tru64  UNIX]  When  run on a file in an AdvFS clone fileset, the value
       returned in the st_blocks field is the number of blocks in the original
       file at the time the clone fileset was created.

NOTES
       Two  structure  members	in  <sys/stat.h> uniquely identify a file in a
       file system: st_ino, the file serial number, and st_dev, the device  id
       for the directory that contains the file.

       [Tru64  UNIX]  However,	in  the	 rare case when a user application has
       been deleting open files, and a file serial number is reused,  a	 third
       structure member in <sys/stat.h>, the file generation number, is needed
       to uniquely identify a file. This member, st_gen, is used  in  addition
       to st_ino and st_dev.

RETURN VALUES
       Upon successful completion, a value of 0 (zero) is returned. Otherwise,
       a value of -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS
       If the stat() or lstat() function fails, errno may be set to one of the
       following  values:  Search  permission is denied for a component of the
       path parameter.	[Tru64 UNIX]  Either the buffer parameter or the  path
       parameter  points  to a location outside of the allocated address space
       of the process.	An I/O error occurred while reading from the file sys‐
       tem.   Too many links were encountered in translating path.  The length
       of the path parameter exceeds  PATH_MAX	or  a  pathname	 component  is
       longer  than  NAME_MAX.	 The file named by the path parameter does not
       exist or is an empty string.  A component of the path parameter is  not
       a directory.

       [Tru64  UNIX]  For  NFS	file access, if the stat() or lstat() function
       fails, errno may also be set to one of the following values:  The  file
       position	 pointer  associated  with the filedes parameter was negative.
       Indicates either that the request was for a write access to a file  but
       the  specified file name was actually a directory, or that the function
       was trying to rename a directory as a file.  Indicates either that  the
       system  file  table is full, or that there are too many files currently
       open in the system.  Indicates a stale NFS file handle. An opened  file
       was  deleted  by	 the  server or another client; a client cannot open a
       file because the server has unmounted or unexported the	remote	direc‐
       tory;  or  the  directory  that	contains  an  opened  file  was either
       unmounted or unexported by the server.

       If the fstat() function fails, errno may be set to one of the following
       values:	The  filedes parameter is not a valid file descriptor.	[Tru64
       UNIX]  The buffer parameter points to a location outside of  the	 allo‐
       cated  address space of the process.  An I/O error occurred while read‐
       ing from the file system.

SEE ALSO
       Functions: chmod(2), chown(2),  link(2),	 mknod(2),  open(2),  pipe(2),
       symlink(2), utime(2)

       Standards: standards(5)

								       stat(2)
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