How can I check whether a file exists? []

How can I find out the size of a file, prior to reading it in? []

How can my program discover the complete pathname to the executable from which it was invoked? []

Unix Programming FAQ How do I use poll()? []

Unix Programming FAQ How do I 'lock' a file? []

Unix Programming FAQ How can I find out if someone else has a file open? []

Unix Programming FAQ How do I find the size of a file? []

Unix Programming FAQ How do I find out if a file has been updated by another process? []

Unix Programming FAQ How do I expand '~' in a filename like the shell does? []

Unix Programming FAQ How do I compare strings using filename patterns? []

Questions and Answers

file(1) - determine file type {oss}

fstat(1) - file status {oss}

locate(1) - find filenames quickly {oss}

mv(1) - move files {oss}

readlink(1) - display target of symbolic link on standard output {oss}

rm(1) - remove directory entries {oss}

ln(1) - make links {oss}

chflags(1) - change file flags {oss}

chgrp(1) - change group {oss}

chmod(1) - change file modes {oss}

touch(1) - change file access and modification times {oss}

find(1) - walk a file hierarchy {oss}

whatis(1) - describe what a command is {oss}

whereis(1) - locate programs {oss}

which(1) - locate a program file (or files) in the path {oss}

ncheck_ffs(8) - generate names from inode-numbers {oss}

Fileutils - are: 'chgrp', 'chmod', 'chown', 'cp', 'dd', 'df', 'dir', 'dircolors', 'du', 'install', 'ln', 'ls', 'mkdir', 'mkfifo', 'mknod', 'mv', 'rm', 'rmdir', 'sync', 'touch', and 'vdir'. {GPL,GNU}

wc - print the number of bytes, words, and lines in files {GPL,GNU}

fhist-1.6 - Utilities to maintain file history, do file comparisions and merges

gwhich-2.12 - GNU Which - Everything you never wanted in a which

ftrace-0.9a - A file modification/creation watcher

fampp-1.1 - A C++ wrapper for fam from SGI

p5-BSD-stat-1.21 - A stat() with BSD 4.4 extentions

cpmod - Copy modes/ownerships/times {oss}

give - Give away ownership of files (System III/V specific) {oss}

file - Replacement for the file(1) command {oss}

retouch - Retouch(1): force changed date {oss}

rename (2) - change the name of a file {oss}

readlink (2) - read value of a symbolic link {oss}

getfh (2) - get file handle {oss}

access (2) - check access permissions of a file or pathname {oss}

stat lstat fstat (2) - get file status {oss}

utime (3) - set file times {oss}

utimes (2) - set file access and modification times {oss}

getfsent getfsspec getfsfile setfsent endfsent (3) - get file system descriptor file entry {oss}

strmode (3) - convert inode status information into a symbolic string {oss}

p5-File-MMagic-1.12 - Perl5 module to guess file type like file(1)

p5-File-Spec-0.82 - A Perl module for portably manipulating file specifications

Ansiflen.C - ANSI-compliant file size function in C and C++ {oss}

Fdate.C - Return DOS file date as a scalar value {oss}

Isfopen.C - Is a FILE * in use? {oss,msdos}

What.C - DOS version of Unix what {oss}

Chmod.C - Change DOS file attributes - wildcards, etc. {oss}

Seqtouch.C - Sequentially time/date stamp files in a directory {oss}

Setimeto.C - Set a file's time/datestamp to match another's {oss}

Touch.C - TC/TC++/BC++ set file time/date stamp {oss}

Libraries and Functions

(The following links to subjects at this site retain your personalized selections.)

See also: File System Information - Obtaining information of the filesystem as a whole. Status of disk subsystems, capacity, etc.

See also: File Access Limits - Limiting access to files (permissions, locking, et al)

See also: File Access - Operations affecting a file as a whole. (delete files, rename, truncate, etc.)

See also: File Viewers - Viewing the contents of files in various forms.

For file name operations, see File Path Name Strings - Operations on hierarchical names (paths, files, identifiers)

Up to File System Access - Gateway topic to file system (files and directory) access and operations.