file(n) Tcl Built-In Commands file(n)______________________________________________________________________________NAMEfile - Manipulate file names and attributes
SYNOPSISfile 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 fash‐
ion 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 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 │
not support the symbolic attributes for chmod(1) at this time. │
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 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 argu‐
ment. 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 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 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
Returns a decimal string giving the time at which file name was
last modified. The time is measured in the standard POSIX fash‐
ion 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 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 file 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. 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 / 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 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 other‐
wise.
PORTABILITY ISSUES
Unix
These commands always operate using the real user and group
identifiers, not the effective ones.
SEE ALSO
filename
KEYWORDS
attributes, copy files, delete files, directory, file, move files,
name, rename files, stat
Tcl 7.6 file(n)