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stat Interpreting stat() results
Source code: Lib/stat.py
The stat module defines constants and functions for interpreting the
results of os.stat(), os.fstat() and os.lstat() (if they
exist). For complete details about the stat(), fstat() and
lstat() calls, consult the documentation for your system.
Changed in version 3.4: The stat module is backed by a C implementation.
The stat module defines the following functions to test for specific file
types:
Two additional functions are defined for more general manipulation of the files mode:
- stat.S_IMODE(mode)
Return the portion of the files mode that can be set by
os.chmod()that is, the files permission bits, plus the sticky bit, set-group-id, and set-user-id bits (on systems that support them).
- stat.S_IFMT(mode)
Return the portion of the files mode that describes the file type (used by the
S_IS*()functions above).
Normally, you would use the os.path.is*() functions for testing the type
of a file; the functions here are useful when you are doing multiple tests of
the same file and wish to avoid the overhead of the stat() system call
for each test. These are also useful when checking for information about a file
that isnt handled by os.path, like the tests for block and character
devices.
Example:
import os, sys
from stat import *
def walktree(top, callback):
'''recursively descend the directory tree rooted at top,
calling the callback function for each regular file'''
for f in os.listdir(top):
pathname = os.path.join(top, f)
mode = os.lstat(pathname).st_mode
if S_ISDIR(mode):
# It's a directory, recurse into it
walktree(pathname, callback)
elif S_ISREG(mode):
# It's a file, call the callback function
callback(pathname)
else:
# Unknown file type, print a message
print('Skipping %s' % pathname)
def visitfile(file):
print('visiting', file)
if __name__ == '__main__':
walktree(sys.argv[1], visitfile)
An additional utility function is provided to convert a files mode in a human readable string:
All the variables below are simply symbolic indexes into the 10-tuple returned
by os.stat(), os.fstat() or os.lstat().
- stat.ST_CTIME
The ctime as reported by the operating system. On some systems (like Unix) is the time of the last metadata change, and, on others (like Windows), is the creation time (see platform documentation for details).
The interpretation of file size changes according to the file type. For plain
files this is the size of the file in bytes. For FIFOs and sockets under most
flavors of Unix (including Linux in particular), the size is the number of
bytes waiting to be read at the time of the call to os.stat(),
os.fstat(), or os.lstat(); this can sometimes be useful, especially
for polling one of these special files after a non-blocking open. The meaning
of the size field for other character and block devices varies more, depending
on the implementation of the underlying system call.
The variables below define the flags used in the ST_MODE field.
Use of the functions above is more portable than use of the first set of flags:
Note
S_IFDOOR, S_IFPORT or S_IFWHT are defined as
0 when the platform does not have support for the file types.
The following flags can also be used in the mode argument of os.chmod():
- stat.S_ISGID
Set-group-ID bit. This bit has several special uses. For a directory it indicates that BSD semantics is to be used for that directory: files created there inherit their group ID from the directory, not from the effective group ID of the creating process, and directories created there will also get the
S_ISGIDbit set. For a file that does not have the group execution bit (S_IXGRP) set, the set-group-ID bit indicates mandatory file/record locking (see alsoS_ENFMT).
- stat.S_ISVTX
Sticky bit. When this bit is set on a directory it means that a file in that directory can be renamed or deleted only by the owner of the file, by the owner of the directory, or by a privileged process.
- stat.S_ENFMT
System V file locking enforcement. This flag is shared with
S_ISGID: file/record locking is enforced on files that do not have the group execution bit (S_IXGRP) set.
- stat.S_IREAD
Unix V7 synonym for
S_IRUSR.
- stat.S_IWRITE
Unix V7 synonym for
S_IWUSR.
- stat.S_IEXEC
Unix V7 synonym for
S_IXUSR.
The following flags can be used in the flags argument of os.chflags():
- stat.UF_DATAVAULT
The file needs an entitlement for reading or writing (macOS 10.13+)
Added in version 3.13.
- stat.SF_SUPPORTED
All super-user supported flags
Availability: macOS
Added in version 3.13.
- stat.SF_SYNTHETIC
All super-user read-only synthetic flags
Availability: macOS
Added in version 3.13.
See the *BSD or macOS systems man page chflags(2) for more information.
On Windows, the following file attribute constants are available for use when
testing bits in the st_file_attributes member returned by os.stat().
See the Windows API documentation
for more detail on the meaning of these constants.
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ARCHIVE
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_COMPRESSED
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DEVICE
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ENCRYPTED
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_INTEGRITY_STREAM
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NOT_CONTENT_INDEXED
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NO_SCRUB_DATA
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_OFFLINE
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_REPARSE_POINT
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SPARSE_FILE
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_TEMPORARY
- stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_VIRTUAL
Added in version 3.5.
On Windows, the following constants are available for comparing against the
st_reparse_tag member returned by os.lstat(). These are well-known
constants, but are not an exhaustive list.