#### 14.9.2 Reading the Attributes of a File

To examine the attributes of files, use the functions `stat`, `fstat` and `lstat`. They return the attribute information in a `struct stat` object. All three functions are declared in the header file `sys/stat.h`.

— Function: int stat (const char *filename, struct stat *buf)

> The `stat` function returns information about the attributes of the file named by filename in the structure pointed to by buf.

> If filename is the name of a symbolic link, the attributes you get describe the file that the link points to. If the link points to a nonexistent file name, then `stat` fails reporting a nonexistent file.

> The return value is `0` if the operation is successful, or `-1` on failure. In addition to the usual file name errors (see File Name Errors, the following `errno` error conditions are defined for this function:

> `ENOENT`
>   The file named by filename doesn't exist.

> When the sources are compiled with `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64` this function is in fact `stat64` since the LFS interface transparently replaces the normal implementation.

— Function: int stat64 (const char *filename, struct stat64 *buf)

> This function is similar to `stat` but it is also able to work on files larger then 2^31 bytes on 32-bit systems. To be able to do this the result is stored in a variable of type `struct stat64` to which buf must point.

> When the sources are compiled with `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64` this function is available under the name `stat` and so transparently replaces the interface for small files on 32-bit machines.

— Function: int fstat (int filedes, struct stat *buf)

> The `fstat` function is like `stat`, except that it takes an open file descriptor as an argument instead of a file name. See Low-Level I/O.

> Like `stat`, `fstat` returns `0` on success and `-1` on failure. The following `errno` error conditions are defined for `fstat`:

> `EBADF`
>   The filedes argument is not a valid file descriptor.

> When the sources are compiled with `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64` this function is in fact `fstat64` since the LFS interface transparently replaces the normal implementation.

— Function: int fstat64 (int filedes, struct stat64 *buf)

> This function is similar to `fstat` but is able to work on large files on 32-bit platforms. For large files the file descriptor filedes should be obtained by `open64` or `creat64`. The buf pointer points to a variable of type `struct stat64` which is able to represent the larger values.

> When the sources are compiled with `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64` this function is available under the name `fstat` and so transparently replaces the interface for small files on 32-bit machines.

— Function: int lstat (const char *filename, struct stat *buf)

> The `lstat` function is like `stat`, except that it does not follow symbolic links. If filename is the name of a symbolic link, `lstat` returns information about the link itself; otherwise `lstat` works like `stat`. See Symbolic Links.

> When the sources are compiled with `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64` this function is in fact `lstat64` since the LFS interface transparently replaces the normal implementation.

— Function: int lstat64 (const char *filename, struct stat64 *buf)

> This function is similar to `lstat` but it is also able to work on files larger then 2^31 bytes on 32-bit systems. To be able to do this the result is stored in a variable of type `struct stat64` to which buf must point.

> When the sources are compiled with `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64` this function is available under the name `lstat` and so transparently replaces the interface for small files on 32-bit machines.