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+'\"
+'\" Copyright (c) 1993 The Regents of the University of California.
+'\" Copyright (c) 1994-1996 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
+'\"
+'\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution
+'\" of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.
+'\"
+.TH file n 8.3 Tcl "Tcl Built-In Commands"
+.so man.macros
+.BS
+'\" Note: do not modify the .SH NAME line immediately below!
+.SH NAME
+file \- Manipulate file names and attributes
+.SH SYNOPSIS
+\fBfile \fIoption\fR \fIname\fR ?\fIarg arg ...\fR?
+.BE
+.SH DESCRIPTION
+.PP
+This command provides several operations on a file's name or attributes.
+\fIName\fR 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
+\fBfilename\fR for details). \fIOption\fR indicates what to do with the
+file name. Any unique abbreviation for \fIoption\fR is acceptable. The
+valid options are:
+.TP
+\fBfile atime \fIname\fR ?\fItime\fR?
+.
+Returns a decimal string giving the time at which file \fIname\fR was last
+accessed. If \fItime\fR 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
+does not 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.
+.TP
+\fBfile attributes \fIname\fR
+.TP
+\fBfile attributes \fIname\fR ?\fIoption\fR?
+.TP
+\fBfile attributes \fIname\fR ?\fIoption value option value...\fR?
+.
+This subcommand returns or sets platform specific values associated
+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:
+.RS
+.PP
+On Unix, \fB\-group\fR gets or sets the group name for the file. A group id
+can be given to the command, but it returns a group name. \fB\-owner\fR 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. \fB\-permissions\fR sets or retrieves the octal code that chmod(1)
+uses. This command does also has limited support for setting using the
+symbolic attributes for chmod(1), of the form [ugo]?[[+\-=][rwxst],[...]],
+where multiple symbolic attributes can be separated by commas (example:
+\fBu+s,go\-rw\fR add sticky bit for user, remove read and write
+permissions for group and other). A simplified \fBls\fR style string,
+of the form rwxrwxrwx (must be 9 characters), is also supported
+(example: \fBrwxr\-xr\-t\fR is equivalent to 01755).
+On versions of Unix supporting file flags, \fB\-readonly\fR gives the
+value or sets or clears the readonly attribute of the file,
+i.e. the user immutable flag \fBuchg\fR to chflags(1).
+.PP
+On Windows, \fB\-archive\fR gives the value or sets or clears the
+archive attribute of the file. \fB\-hidden\fR gives the value or sets
+or clears the hidden attribute of the file. \fB\-longname\fR will
+expand each path element to its long version. This attribute cannot be
+set. \fB\-readonly\fR gives the value or sets or clears the readonly
+attribute of the file. \fB\-shortname\fR gives a string where every
+path element is replaced with its short (8.3) version of the
+name. This attribute cannot be set. \fB\-system\fR gives or sets or
+clears the value of the system attribute of the file.
+.PP
+On Mac OS X and Darwin, \fB\-creator\fR gives or sets the
+Finder creator type of the file. \fB\-hidden\fR gives or sets or clears
+the hidden attribute of the file. \fB\-readonly\fR gives or sets or
+clears the readonly attribute of the file. \fB\-rsrclength\fR gives
+the length of the resource fork of the file, this attribute can only be
+set to the value 0, which results in the resource fork being stripped
+off the file.
+.RE
+.TP
+\fBfile channels\fR ?\fIpattern\fR?
+.
+If \fIpattern\fR is not specified, returns a list of names of all
+registered open channels in this interpreter. If \fIpattern\fR is
+specified, only those names matching \fIpattern\fR are returned. Matching
+is determined using the same rules as for \fBstring match\fR.
+.TP
+\fBfile copy \fR?\fB\-force\fR? ?\fB\-\|\-\fR? \fIsource\fR \fItarget\fR
+.TP
+\fBfile copy \fR?\fB\-force\fR? ?\fB\-\|\-\fR? \fIsource\fR ?\fIsource\fR ...? \fItargetDir\fR
+.
+The first form makes a copy of the file or directory \fIsource\fR under
+the pathname \fItarget\fR. If \fItarget\fR is an existing directory,
+then the second form is used. The second form makes a copy inside
+\fItargetDir\fR of each \fIsource\fR file listed. If a directory is
+specified as a \fIsource\fR, then the contents of the directory will be
+recursively copied into \fItargetDir\fR. Existing files will not be
+overwritten unless the \fB\-force\fR option is specified (when Tcl will
+also attempt to adjust permissions on the destination file or directory
+if that is necessary to allow the copy to proceed). When copying
+within a single filesystem, \fIfile copy\fR will copy soft links (i.e.
+the links themselves are copied, not the things they point to). Trying
+to overwrite a non-empty directory, overwrite a directory with a file,
+or overwrite a file with a directory will all result in errors even if
+\fB\-force\fR was specified. Arguments are processed in the order
+specified, halting at the first error, if any. A \fB\-\|\-\fR marks
+the end of switches; the argument following the \fB\-\|\-\fR will be
+treated as a \fIsource\fR even if it starts with a \fB\-\fR.
+.TP
+\fBfile delete \fR?\fB\-force\fR? ?\fB\-\|\-\fR? ?\fIpathname\fR ... ?
+.
+Removes the file or directory specified by each \fIpathname\fR
+argument. Non-empty directories will be removed only if the
+\fB\-force\fR option is specified. When operating on symbolic links,
+the links themselves will be deleted, not the objects they point to.
+Trying to delete a non-existent file is not considered an error.
+Trying to delete a read-only file will cause the file to be deleted,
+even if the \fB\-force\fR flags is not specified. If the \fB\-force\fR
+option is specified on a directory, Tcl will attempt both to change
+permissions and move the current directory
+.QW pwd
+out of the given path if that is necessary to allow the deletion to
+proceed. Arguments are processed in the order specified, halting at
+the first error, if any.
+A \fB\-\|\-\fR marks the end of switches; the argument following the
+\fB\-\|\-\fR will be treated as a \fIpathname\fR even if it starts with
+a \fB\-\fR.
+.TP
+\fBfile dirname \fIname\fR
+Returns a name comprised of all of the path components in \fIname\fR
+excluding the last element. If \fIname\fR is a relative file name and
+only contains one path element, then returns
+.QW \fB.\fR .
+If \fIname\fR refers to a root directory, then the root directory is
+returned. For example,
+.RS
+.PP
+.CS
+\fBfile dirname\fR c:/
+.CE
+.PP
+returns \fBc:/\fR.
+.PP
+Note that tilde substitution will only be
+performed if it is necessary to complete the command. For example,
+.PP
+.CS
+\fBfile dirname\fR ~/src/foo.c
+.CE
+.PP
+returns \fB~/src\fR, whereas
+.PP
+.CS
+\fBfile dirname\fR ~
+.CE
+.PP
+returns \fB/home\fR (or something similar).
+.RE
+.TP
+\fBfile executable \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns \fB1\fR if file \fIname\fR is executable by the current user,
+\fB0\fR otherwise. On Windows, which does not have an executable attribute,
+the command treats all directories and any files with extensions
+\fBexe\fR, \fBcom\fR, \fBcmd\fR or \fBbat\fR as executable.
+.TP
+\fBfile exists \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns \fB1\fR if file \fIname\fR exists and the current user has
+search privileges for the directories leading to it, \fB0\fR otherwise.
+.TP
+\fBfile extension \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns all of the characters in \fIname\fR after and including the last
+dot in the last element of \fIname\fR. If there is no dot in the last
+element of \fIname\fR then returns the empty string.
+.TP
+\fBfile isdirectory \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns \fB1\fR if file \fIname\fR is a directory, \fB0\fR otherwise.
+.TP
+\fBfile isfile \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns \fB1\fR if file \fIname\fR is a regular file, \fB0\fR otherwise.
+.TP
+\fBfile join \fIname\fR ?\fIname ...\fR?
+.
+Takes one or more file names and combines them, using the correct path
+separator for the current platform. If a particular \fIname\fR is
+relative, then it will be joined to the previous file name argument.
+Otherwise, any earlier arguments will be discarded, and joining will
+proceed from the current argument. For example,
+.RS
+.PP
+.CS
+\fBfile join\fR a b /foo bar
+.CE
+.PP
+returns \fB/foo/bar\fR.
+.PP
+Note that any of the names can contain separators, and that the result
+is always canonical for the current platform: \fB/\fR for Unix and
+Windows.
+.RE
+.TP
+\fBfile link\fR ?\fI\-linktype\fR? \fIlinkName\fR ?\fItarget\fR?
+.
+If only one argument is given, that argument is assumed to be
+\fIlinkName\fR, and this command returns the value of the link given by
+\fIlinkName\fR (i.e. the name of the file it points to). If
+\fIlinkName\fR is not a link or its value cannot be read (as, for example,
+seems to be the case with hard links, which look just like ordinary
+files), then an error is returned.
+.RS
+.PP
+If 2 arguments are given, then these are assumed to be \fIlinkName\fR
+and \fItarget\fR. If \fIlinkName\fR already exists, or if \fItarget\fR
+does not exist, an error will be returned. Otherwise, Tcl creates a new
+link called \fIlinkName\fR which points to the existing filesystem
+object at \fItarget\fR (which is also the returned value), where the
+type of the link is platform-specific (on Unix a symbolic link will be
+the default). This is useful for the case where the user wishes to
+create a link in a cross-platform way, and does not care what type of
+link is created.
+.PP
+If the user wishes to make a link of a specific type only, (and signal an
+error if for some reason that is not possible), then the optional
+\fI\-linktype\fR argument should be given. Accepted values for
+\fI\-linktype\fR are
+.QW \fB\-symbolic\fR
+and
+.QW \fB\-hard\fR .
+.PP
+On Unix, symbolic links can be made to relative paths, and those paths
+must be relative to the actual \fIlinkName\fR's location (not to the
+cwd), but on all other platforms where relative links are not supported,
+target paths will always be converted to absolute, normalized form
+before the link is created (and therefore relative paths are interpreted
+as relative to the cwd). Furthermore,
+.QW ~user
+paths are always expanded
+to absolute form. When creating links on filesystems that either do not
+support any links, or do not support the specific type requested, an
+error message will be returned. Most Unix platforms support both
+symbolic and hard links (the latter for files only). Windows
+supports symbolic directory links and hard file links on NTFS drives.
+.RE
+.TP
+\fBfile lstat \fIname varName\fR
+.
+Same as \fBstat\fR option (see below) except uses the \fIlstat\fR
+kernel call instead of \fIstat\fR. This means that if \fIname\fR
+refers to a symbolic link the information returned in \fIvarName\fR
+is for the link rather than the file it refers to. On systems that
+do not support symbolic links this option behaves exactly the same
+as the \fBstat\fR option.
+.TP
+\fBfile mkdir\fR ?\fIdir\fR ...?
+.
+Creates each directory specified. For each pathname \fIdir\fR specified,
+this command will create all non-existing parent directories as
+well as \fIdir\fR 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.
+.TP
+\fBfile mtime \fIname\fR ?\fItime\fR?
+.
+Returns a decimal string giving the time at which file \fIname\fR was last
+modified. If \fItime\fR is specified, it is a modification time to set for
+the file (equivalent to Unix \fBtouch\fR). The time is measured in the
+standard POSIX fashion as seconds from a fixed starting time (often January
+1, 1970). If the file does not exist or its modified time cannot be queried
+or set then an error is generated.
+.TP
+\fBfile nativename \fIname\fR
+.
+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 to a
+subprocess via \fBexec\fR under Windows (see \fBEXAMPLES\fR below).
+.TP
+\fBfile normalize \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns a unique normalized path representation for the file-system
+object (file, directory, link, etc), whose string value can be used as a
+unique identifier for it. A normalized path is an absolute path which has
+all
+.QW ../
+and
+.QW ./
+removed. Also it is one which is in the
+.QW standard
+format for the native platform. On Unix, this means the segments
+leading up to the path must be free of symbolic links/aliases (but the
+very last path component may be a symbolic link), and on Windows it also
+means we want the long form with that form's case-dependence (which
+gives us a unique, case-dependent path). The one exception concerning the
+last link in the path is necessary, because Tcl or the user may wish to
+operate on the actual symbolic link itself (for example \fBfile delete\fR,
+\fBfile rename\fR, \fBfile copy\fR are defined to operate on symbolic
+links, not on the things that they point to).
+.TP
+\fBfile owned \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns \fB1\fR if file \fIname\fR is owned by the current user, \fB0\fR
+otherwise.
+.TP
+\fBfile pathtype \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns one of \fBabsolute\fR, \fBrelative\fR, \fBvolumerelative\fR. If
+\fIname\fR refers to a specific file on a specific volume, the path type will
+be \fBabsolute\fR. If \fIname\fR refers to a file relative to the current
+working directory, then the path type will be \fBrelative\fR. If \fIname\fR
+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 path
+type is \fBvolumerelative\fR.
+.TP
+\fBfile readable \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns \fB1\fR if file \fIname\fR is readable by the current user,
+\fB0\fR otherwise.
+.TP
+\fBfile readlink \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns the value of the symbolic link given by \fIname\fR (i.e. the name
+of the file it points to). If \fIname\fR is not a symbolic link or its
+value cannot be read, then an error is returned. On systems that do not
+support symbolic links this option is undefined.
+.TP
+\fBfile rename \fR?\fB\-force\fR? ?\fB\-\|\-\fR? \fIsource\fR \fItarget\fR
+.TP
+\fBfile rename \fR?\fB\-force\fR? ?\fB\-\|\-\fR? \fIsource\fR ?\fIsource\fR ...? \fItargetDir\fR
+.
+The first form takes the file or directory specified by pathname
+\fIsource\fR and renames it to \fItarget\fR, moving the file if the
+pathname \fItarget\fR specifies a name in a different directory. If
+\fItarget\fR is an existing directory, then the second form is used.
+The second form moves each \fIsource\fR file or directory into the
+directory \fItargetDir\fR. Existing files will not be overwritten
+unless the \fB\-force\fR option is specified. When operating inside a
+single filesystem, Tcl will rename symbolic links rather than the
+things that they point to. 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 \fB\-\|\-\fR marks the end of
+switches; the argument following the \fB\-\|\-\fR will be treated as a
+\fIsource\fR even if it starts with a \fB\-\fR.
+.TP
+\fBfile rootname \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns all of the characters in \fIname\fR up to but not including the
+last
+.QW .
+character in the last component of name. If the last
+component of \fIname\fR does not contain a dot, then returns \fIname\fR.
+.TP
+\fBfile separator\fR ?\fIname\fR?
+.
+If no argument is given, returns the character which is used to separate
+path segments for native files on this platform. If a path is given,
+the filesystem responsible for that path is asked to return its
+separator character. If no file system accepts \fIname\fR, an error
+is generated.
+.TP
+\fBfile size \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns a decimal string giving the size of file \fIname\fR in bytes. If
+the file does not exist or its size cannot be queried then an error is
+generated.
+.TP
+\fBfile split \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns a list whose elements are the path components in \fIname\fR. The
+first element of the list will have the same path type as \fIname\fR.
+All other elements will be relative. Path separators will be discarded
+unless they are needed to ensure that an element is unambiguously relative.
+For example, under Unix
+.RS
+.PP
+.CS
+\fBfile split\fR /foo/~bar/baz
+.CE
+.PP
+returns
+.QW \fB/\0\0foo\0\0./~bar\0\0baz\fR
+to ensure that later commands
+that use the third component do not attempt to perform tilde
+substitution.
+.RE
+.TP
+\fBfile stat \fIname varName\fR
+.
+Invokes the \fBstat\fR kernel call on \fIname\fR, and uses the variable
+given by \fIvarName\fR to hold information returned from the kernel call.
+\fIVarName\fR is treated as an array variable, and the following elements
+of that variable are set: \fBatime\fR, \fBctime\fR, \fBdev\fR, \fBgid\fR,
+\fBino\fR, \fBmode\fR, \fBmtime\fR, \fBnlink\fR, \fBsize\fR, \fBtype\fR,
+\fBuid\fR. Each element except \fBtype\fR is a decimal string with the
+value of the corresponding field from the \fBstat\fR return structure;
+see the manual entry for \fBstat\fR for details on the meanings of the
+values. The \fBtype\fR element gives the type of the file in the same
+form returned by the command \fBfile type\fR. This command returns an
+empty string.
+.TP
+\fBfile system \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns a list of one or two elements, the first of which is the name of
+the filesystem to use for the file, and the second, if given, an
+arbitrary string representing the filesystem-specific nature or type of
+the location within that filesystem. If a filesystem only supports one
+type of file, the second element may not be supplied. For example the
+native files have a first element
+.QW native ,
+and a second element which when given is a platform-specific type name
+for the file's system (e.g.
+.QW NTFS ,
+.QW FAT ,
+on Windows). A generic virtual file system might return
+the list
+.QW "vfs ftp"
+to represent a file on a remote ftp site mounted as a
+virtual filesystem through an extension called
+.QW vfs .
+If the file does not belong to any filesystem, an error is generated.
+.TP
+\fBfile tail \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns all of the characters in the last filesystem component of
+\fIname\fR. Any trailing directory separator in \fIname\fR is ignored.
+If \fIname\fR contains no separators then returns \fIname\fR. So,
+\fBfile tail a/b\fR, \fBfile tail a/b/\fR and \fBfile tail b\fR all
+return \fBb\fR.
+.TP
+\fBfile tempfile\fR ?\fInameVar\fR? ?\fItemplate\fR?
+'\" TIP #210
+.VS 8.6
+Creates a temporary file and returns a read-write channel opened on that file.
+If the \fInameVar\fR is given, it specifies a variable that the name of the
+temporary file will be written into; if absent, Tcl will attempt to arrange
+for the temporary file to be deleted once it is no longer required. If the
+\fItemplate\fR is present, it specifies parts of the template of the filename
+to use when creating it (such as the directory, base-name or extension) though
+some platforms may ignore some or all of these parts and use a built-in
+default instead.
+.RS
+.PP
+Note that temporary files are \fIonly\fR ever created on the native
+filesystem. As such, they can be relied upon to be used with operating-system
+native APIs and external programs that require a filename.
+.RE
+.VE 8.6
+.TP
+\fBfile type \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns a string giving the type of file \fIname\fR, which will be one of
+\fBfile\fR, \fBdirectory\fR, \fBcharacterSpecial\fR, \fBblockSpecial\fR,
+\fBfifo\fR, \fBlink\fR, or \fBsocket\fR.
+.TP
+\fBfile volumes\fR
+.
+Returns the absolute paths to the volumes mounted on the system, as a
+proper Tcl list. Without any virtual filesystems mounted as root
+volumes, on UNIX, the command will always return
+.QW / ,
+since all filesystems are locally mounted.
+On Windows, it will return a list of the available local drives
+(e.g.
+.QW "a:/ c:/" ).
+If any virtual filesystem has mounted additional
+volumes, they will be in the returned list.
+.TP
+\fBfile writable \fIname\fR
+.
+Returns \fB1\fR if file \fIname\fR is writable by the current user,
+\fB0\fR otherwise.
+.SH "PORTABILITY ISSUES"
+.TP
+\fBUnix\fR\0\0\0\0\0\0\0
+.
+These commands always operate using the real user and group identifiers,
+not the effective ones.
+.TP
+\fBWindows\fR\0\0\0\0
+.
+The \fBfile owned\fR subcommand uses the user identifier (SID) of
+the process token, not the thread token which may be impersonating
+some other user.
+.SH EXAMPLES
+.PP
+This procedure shows how to search for C files in a given directory
+that have a correspondingly-named object file in the current
+directory:
+.PP
+.CS
+proc findMatchingCFiles {dir} {
+ set files {}
+ switch $::tcl_platform(platform) {
+ windows {
+ set ext .obj
+ }
+ unix {
+ set ext .o
+ }
+ }
+ foreach file [glob \-nocomplain \-directory $dir *.c] {
+ set objectFile [\fBfile tail\fR [\fBfile rootname\fR $file]]$ext
+ if {[\fBfile exists\fR $objectFile]} {
+ lappend files $file
+ }
+ }
+ return $files
+}
+.CE
+.PP
+Rename a file and leave a symbolic link pointing from the old location
+to the new place:
+.PP
+.CS
+set oldName foobar.txt
+set newName foo/bar.txt
+# Make sure that where we're going to move to exists...
+if {![\fBfile isdirectory\fR [\fBfile dirname\fR $newName]]} {
+ \fBfile mkdir\fR [\fBfile dirname\fR $newName]
+}
+\fBfile rename\fR $oldName $newName
+\fBfile link\fR \-symbolic $oldName $newName
+.CE
+.PP
+On Windows, a file can be
+.QW started
+easily enough (equivalent to double-clicking on it in the Explorer
+interface) but the name passed to the operating system must be in
+native format:
+.PP
+.CS
+exec {*}[auto_execok start] {} [\fBfile nativename\fR ~/example.txt]
+.CE
+.SH "SEE ALSO"
+filename(n), open(n), close(n), eof(n), gets(n), tell(n), seek(n),
+fblocked(n), flush(n)
+.SH KEYWORDS
+attributes, copy files, delete files, directory, file, move files, name,
+rename files, stat, user
+'\" Local Variables:
+'\" mode: nroff
+'\" fill-column: 78
+'\" End: