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

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NAME

       file - Manipulate file names and attributes

SYNOPSIS

       file option name ?arg arg ...?
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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 associated with a file. The first form returns a list of the platform  spe-
	      cific flags and their values. The second form returns the value for the specific option. The third form sets one or more of the val-
	      ues. 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  sup-
	      port  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 equiv-
	      alent to 01755).

	      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. -read-
	      only 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 ?pattern?															   |
	      If pattern isn't specified, returns a list of names of all registered open channels in this interpreter.	If pattern  is	specified, |
	      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.  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 direc-
	      tory 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 join-
	      ing 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 ?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 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 unambigu-
	      ously 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 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
	      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									8.3								   file(n)