Man Linux: Main Page and Category List

NAME

       sys/stat.h - data returned by the stat() function

SYNOPSIS

       #include <sys/stat.h>

DESCRIPTION

       The <sys/stat.h> header shall define the structure of the data returned
       by the functions fstat(), lstat(), and stat().

       The stat structure shall contain at least the following members:

              dev_t     st_dev     Device ID of device containing file.
              ino_t     st_ino     File serial number.
              mode_t    st_mode    Mode of file (see below).
              nlink_t   st_nlink   Number of hard links to the file.
              uid_t     st_uid     User ID of file.
              gid_t     st_gid     Group ID of file.

              dev_t     st_rdev    Device ID (if file is character or block special).

              off_t     st_size    For regular files, the file size in bytes.
                                   For symbolic links, the length in bytes of the
                                   pathname contained in the symbolic link.

                                   For a shared memory object, the length in bytes.

                                   For a typed memory object, the length in bytes.

                                   For other file types, the use of this field is
                                   unspecified.
              time_t    st_atime   Time of last access.
              time_t    st_mtime   Time of last data modification.
              time_t    st_ctime   Time of last status change.

              blksize_t st_blksize A file system-specific preferred I/O block size for
                                   this object. In some file system types, this may
                                   vary from file to file.
              blkcnt_t  st_blocks  Number of blocks allocated for this object.

       The st_ino and st_dev fields taken together uniquely identify the  file
       within  the  system.  The  blkcnt_t,  blksize_t,  dev_t, ino_t, mode_t,
       nlink_t, uid_t, gid_t, off_t, and time_t  types  shall  be  defined  as
       described  in <sys/types.h> . Times shall be given in seconds since the
       Epoch.

       Unless otherwise specified,  the  structure  members  st_mode,  st_ino,
       st_dev,  st_uid,  st_gid,  st_atime,  st_ctime, and st_mtime shall have
       meaningful values for all file types defined in IEEE Std 1003.1-2001.

       For  symbolic  links,  the  st_mode  member  shall  contain  meaningful
       information,  which  can  be  used  with the file type macros described
       below, that take a mode argument. The st_size member shall contain  the
       length,  in bytes, of the pathname contained in the symbolic link. File
       mode bits and the  contents  of  the  remaining  members  of  the  stat
       structure  are  unspecified.  The  value  returned in the st_size field
       shall be the length of the contents of the symbolic link, and shall not
       count a trailing null if one is present.

       The  following  symbolic names for the values of type mode_t shall also
       be defined.

       File type:

       S_IFMT Type of file.

       S_IFBLK
              Block special.

       S_IFCHR
              Character special.

       S_IFIFO
              FIFO special.

       S_IFREG
              Regular.

       S_IFDIR
              Directory.

       S_IFLNK
              Symbolic link.

       S_IFSOCK
              Socket.

       File mode bits:

       S_IRWXU
              Read, write, execute/search by owner.

       S_IRUSR
              Read permission, owner.

       S_IWUSR
              Write permission, owner.

       S_IXUSR
              Execute/search permission, owner.

       S_IRWXG
              Read, write, execute/search by group.

       S_IRGRP
              Read permission, group.

       S_IWGRP
              Write permission, group.

       S_IXGRP
              Execute/search permission, group.

       S_IRWXO
              Read, write, execute/search by others.

       S_IROTH
              Read permission, others.

       S_IWOTH
              Write permission, others.

       S_IXOTH
              Execute/search permission, others.

       S_ISUID
              Set-user-ID on execution.

       S_ISGID
              Set-group-ID on execution.

       S_ISVTX
              On directories, restricted deletion flag.

       The bits  defined  by  S_IRUSR,  S_IWUSR,  S_IXUSR,  S_IRGRP,  S_IWGRP,
       S_IXGRP,  S_IROTH,  S_IWOTH,  S_IXOTH, S_ISUID, S_ISGID,    and S_ISVTX
        shall be unique.

       S_IRWXU is the bitwise-inclusive OR of S_IRUSR, S_IWUSR, and S_IXUSR.

       S_IRWXG is the bitwise-inclusive OR of S_IRGRP, S_IWGRP, and S_IXGRP.

       S_IRWXO is the bitwise-inclusive OR of S_IROTH, S_IWOTH, and S_IXOTH.

       Implementations may OR other implementation-defined bits into  S_IRWXU,
       S_IRWXG,  and S_IRWXO, but they shall not overlap any of the other bits
       defined in this volume of  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001.  The  file  permission
       bits  are defined to be those corresponding to the bitwise-inclusive OR
       of S_IRWXU, S_IRWXG, and S_IRWXO.

       The following macros shall be provided to test whether a file is of the
       specified  type.  The  value  m  supplied to the macros is the value of
       st_mode from a stat structure.  The macro shall evaluate to a  non-zero
       value if the test is true; 0 if the test is false.

       S_ISBLK(m)
              Test for a block special file.

       S_ISCHR(m)
              Test for a character special file.

       S_ISDIR(m)
              Test for a directory.

       S_ISFIFO(m)
              Test for a pipe or FIFO special file.

       S_ISREG(m)
              Test for a regular file.

       S_ISLNK(m)
              Test for a symbolic link.

       S_ISSOCK(m)
              Test for a socket.

       The  implementation may implement message queues, semaphores, or shared
       memory objects as distinct file types. The following  macros  shall  be
       provided  to test whether a file is of the specified type. The value of
       the buf argument supplied  to  the  macros  is  a  pointer  to  a  stat
       structure.  The  macro  shall  evaluate  to  a  non-zero  value  if the
       specified object is  implemented  as  a  distinct  file  type  and  the
       specified  file  type  is contained in the stat structure referenced by
       buf. Otherwise, the macro shall evaluate to zero.

       S_TYPEISMQ(buf)
              Test for a message queue.

       S_TYPEISSEM(buf)
              Test for a semaphore.

       S_TYPEISSHM(buf)
              Test for a shared memory object.

       The implementation may implement typed memory objects as distinct  file
       types,  and  the  following  macro  shall test whether a file is of the
       specified type. The value of the buf argument supplied to the macros is
       a  pointer to a stat structure.  The macro shall evaluate to a non-zero
       value if the specified object is implemented as a  distinct  file  type
       and  the  specified  file  type  is  contained  in  the  stat structure
       referenced by buf.  Otherwise, the macro shall evaluate to zero.

       S_TYPEISTMO(buf)
              Test macro for a typed memory object.

       The following shall be declared as functions and may also be defined as
       macros. Function prototypes shall be provided.

              int    chmod(const char *, mode_t);
              int    fchmod(int, mode_t);
              int    fstat(int, struct stat *);
              int    lstat(const char *restrict, struct stat *restrict);
              int    mkdir(const char *, mode_t);
              int    mkfifo(const char *, mode_t);

              int    mknod(const char *, mode_t, dev_t);

              int    stat(const char *restrict, struct stat *restrict);
              mode_t umask(mode_t);

       The following sections are informative.

APPLICATION USAGE

       Use of the macros is recommended for determining the type of a file.

RATIONALE

       A  conforming  C-language  application  must  include  <sys/stat.h> for
       functions that have arguments or return values of type mode_t, so  that
       symbolic  values for that type can be used.  An alternative would be to
       require  that  these  constants   are   also   defined   by   including
       <sys/types.h>.

       The  S_ISUID  and S_ISGID bits may be cleared on any write, not just on
       open(), as some historical implementations do.

       System calls that update the time entry fields in  the  stat  structure
       must  be  documented  by  the  implementors.   POSIX-conforming systems
       should not update the time entry fields for  functions  listed  in  the
       System  Interfaces  volume  of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 unless the standard
       requires that they do, except in the case of documented  extensions  to
       the standard.

       Note  that st_dev must be unique within a Local Area Network (LAN) in a
       ‘‘system’’ made up of multiple computers’ file systems connected  by  a
       LAN.

       Networked  implementations  of a POSIX-conforming system must guarantee
       that all files visible within the file tree  (including  parts  of  the
       tree  that  may be remotely mounted from other machines on the network)
       on each individual processor are uniquely identified by the combination
       of the st_ino and st_dev fields.

       The  unit for the st_blocks member of the stat structure is not defined
       within IEEE Std 1003.1-2001. In some implementations it is  512  bytes.
       It  may  differ on a file system basis. There is no correlation between
       values  of  the  st_blocks  and  st_blksize,  and  the  f_bsize   (from
       <sys/statvfs.h>) structure members.

       Traditionally,   some   implementations   defined  the  multiplier  for
       st_blocks in <sys/param.h> as the symbol DEV_BSIZE.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       No new S_IFMT symbolic names for the file type values of mode_t will be
       defined  by  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001; if new file types are required, they
       will only be testable through S_ISxx() or S_TYPEISxxx() macros instead.

SEE ALSO

       <sys/statvfs.h>  ,  <sys/types.h>  ,  the  System  Interfaces volume of
       IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, chmod(),  fchmod(),  fstat(),  lstat(),  mkdir(),
       mkfifo(), mknod(), stat(), umask()

COPYRIGHT

       Portions  of  this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
       --  Portable  Operating  System  Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
       Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003  by  the  Institute  of
       Electrical  and  Electronics  Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
       The  Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
       is the referee document. The original Standard can be  obtained  online
       at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .