File::stat(3perl)

💖 File::stat 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because this is the by-name interface to Perl's built-in stat() functions and it's genuinely one of the most fun little modules out there. it lives in the File::stat corner of the Perl Programmers Reference Guide, and honestly? iconic behavior.

---

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

use File::stat;
my $st = stat($file) or die "No $file: $!";
if ( ($st->mode & 0111) && ($st->nlink > 1) ) {
    print "$file is executable with lotsa links\n";
}

if ( -x $st ) {
    print "$file is executable\n";
}

use Fcntl "S_IRUSR";
if ( $st->cando(S_IRUSR, 1) ) {
    print "My effective uid can read $file\n";
}

use File::stat qw(:FIELDS);
stat($file) or die "No $file: $!";
if ( ($st_mode & 0111) && ($st_nlink > 1) ) {
    print "$file is executable with lotsa links\n";
}

like. look at that. no cap, she's doing a lot and she's doing it flawlessly. 🫶

---

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so here's the tea, bestie: this module's default exports override the core stat() and lstat() functions, and they replace them with versions that hand you back File::stat objects. those objects have methods that return the similarly named structure field name from the stat(2) function. and when I say the fields, I mean the fields: dev, ino, mode, nlink, uid, gid, rdev, size, atime, mtime, ctime, blksize, and blocks. all of them. every single one. the whole squad. 👑

As of version 1.02 (provided with perl 5.12) the object provides -X overloading, so you can call filetest operators (-f, -x, and so on) on it. lowkey a glow-up. also she provides a ->cando method, called like

$st->cando( ACCESS, EFFECTIVE )

where ACCESS is one of S_IRUSR, S_IWUSR or S_IXUSR from the Fcntl module, and EFFECTIVE indicates whether to use effective (true) or real (false) ids. the method interprets the mode, uid and gid fields, and returns whether or not the current process would be allowed the specified access.

If you don't want to use the objects, you may import the ->cando method into your namespace as a regular function called stat_cando. this one takes an arrayref containing the return values of stat or lstat as its first argument, and interprets it for you. very give me the raw data and I'll do the thinking of her, tbh.

You may also import all the structure fields directly into your namespace as regular variables using the :FIELDS import tag. (Note that this still overrides your stat() and lstat() functions. yes, still. she's committed to the bit. 💅) access these fields as variables named with a preceding st_ in front their method names. thus, $stat_obj->dev() corresponds to $st_dev if you import the fields.

To access this functionality without the core overrides, pass the use an empty import list, and then access functions with their full qualified names:

use File::stat ();
my $st = File::stat::stat($file);

On the other hand, the built-ins are still available via the CORE:: pseudo-package even if you let File::stat override them:

use File::stat;
my ($dev, $ino, $mode) = CORE::stat($file);

As of version 1.15 (provided with perl 5.44) stat and lstat can be called without arguments, in which case $_ is used (just like the built-in stat/lstat functions):

my $st_1 = stat;   # stat($_)
my $st_2 = lstat;  # lstat($_)

not her being like "just stat, no args, I gotchu" 😭 main character energy fr fr.

---

💀 BUGS 💀

okay so this is the part where we hold hands, bestie.

The built-in stat and lstat functions recognize the special filehandle _ (underscore) to indicate that no actual stat be done; instead the results of the last stat or lstat or filetest operation should be returned. This syntax does not work with File::stat — sad, I know — but the same result can be achieved by passing stat a reference to the *_ typeglob:

use File::stat;
my $stat_obj = stat \*_;  # reuse results of last stat operation

Alternatively, another workaround is to explicitly populate the object using the unexported and undocumented populate() function with CORE::stat():

my $stat_obj = File::stat::populate(CORE::stat(_));

like yes it's undocumented, no I'm not gonna pretend otherwise. 🙈 just be aware.

---

🎀 ERRORS 🎀

• -%s is not implemented on a File::stat object — the filetest operators -t, -T and -B are not implemented, as they require more information than just a stat buffer. that's it, that's the reason. girl can't do what she can't do. 🦋

---

🌈 WARNINGS 🌈

These can all be disabled with

no warnings "File::stat";

• File::stat ignores use filetest 'access' — You have tried to use one of the -rwxRWX filetests with use filetest 'access' in effect. File::stat will ignore the pragma, and just use the information in the mode member as usual.
• File::stat ignores VMS ACLs — VMS systems have a permissions structure that cannot be completely represented in a stat buffer, and unlike on other systems the builtin filetest operators respect this. The File::stat overloads, however, do not, since the information required is not available.

she's not being rude, she literally just doesn't have the data. be nice to her.

---

⭐ NOTE ⭐

While this class is currently implemented using the Class::Struct module to build a struct-like class, you shouldn't rely upon this. it's an implementation detail, not a promise. iykyk. ✨

---

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Tom Christiansen

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and that's the whole page, babe. slay. 💖 this doc was served up by perl v5.44.0, dated 2026-10-17, and it's the File::stat(3perl) manual page — so go stat something and make me proud. 🧚💜