file (n)
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
Returns a decimal string giving the time at which file name
was last accessed. 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 then an
error is generated.
file attributes name
file attributes name ?option?
file attributes name ?option value option value...?
This subcommand returns or sets platform specific values associated
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 not support the symbolic
attributes for chmod(1) at this time.
On Windows, -archive gives the value or sets or clears the
archive 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 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. Trying to
overwrite a non-empty directory, overwrite a directory with a file, or 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 argument.
Non-empty directories will be removed only if the -force option is
specified. Trying to delete a non-existant 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. 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 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 otherwise.
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 correct 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 discarded, 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 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 symbolic link the information returned in varName
is for the link rather than the file it refers to. On systems that
don't support symbolic links this option behaves exactly the same
as the stat option.
file mkdir dir ?dir ...?
Creates each directory specified. For each pathname dir specified,
this command will create all non-existing parent directories as
well as dir itself. If an existing directory is specified, 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
Returns a decimal string giving the time at which file name was
last modified. 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 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 owned name
Returns 1 if file name is owned by the current user, 0
otherwise.
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
current 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 file type is volumerelative.
file readable name
Returns 1 if file name is readable by the current user,
0 otherwise.
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 systems 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
targetDir. Existing files will not be overwritten unless the
-force option is specified. 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 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 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 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 /\0\0foo\0\0./~bar\0\0baz to ensure that later commands
that use the third component do not attempt to perform tilde
substitution.
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 following 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 element gives the type of the file in the same
form returned by the command file type. This command returns an
empty string.
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 volume
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 otherwise.
PORTABILITY ISSUES
Unix\0\0\0\0\0\0\0
These commands always operate using the real user and group identifiers,
not the effective ones.
SEE ALSO
KEYWORDS
attributes, copy files, delete files, directory, file, move files, name, rename files, stat
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