8.14 Standard Module stat

The stat module defines constants and functions for interpreting the results of os.stat() and os.lstat() (if they exist). For complete details about the stat() and lstat() system calls, consult your local man pages.

The stat module defines the following functions:

S_ISDIR (mode)

Return non-zero if the mode was gotten from a directory.

S_ISCHR (mode)

Return non-zero if the mode was gotten from a character special device.

S_ISBLK (mode)

Return non-zero if the mode was gotten from a block special device.

S_ISREG (mode)

Return non-zero if the mode was gotten from a regular file.

S_ISFIFO (mode)

Return non-zero if the mode was gotten from a FIFO.

S_ISLNK (mode)

Return non-zero if the mode was gotten from a symbolic link.

S_ISSOCK (mode)

Return non-zero if the mode was gotten from a socket.

All the data items below are simply symbolic indexes into the 10-tuple returned by os.stat() or os.lstat().

ST_MODE

Inode protection mode.

ST_INO

Inode number.

ST_DEV

Device inode resides on.

ST_NLINK

Number of links to the inode.

ST_UID

User id of the owner.

ST_GID

Group id of the owner.

ST_SIZE

File size in bytes.

ST_ATIME

Time of last access.

ST_MTIME

Time of last modification.

ST_CTIME

Time of last status change (see manual pages for details).

Example:

import os, sys
from stat import *

def process(dir, func):
    '''recursively descend the directory rooted at dir, calling func for
       each regular file'''

    for f in os.listdir(dir):
        mode = os.stat('%s/%s' % (dir, f))[ST_MODE]
if S_ISDIR(mode):
            # recurse into directory
            process('%s/%s' % (dir, f), func)
elif S_ISREG(mode):
            func('%s/%s' % (dir, f))
else:
            print 'Skipping %s/%s' % (dir, f)

def f(file):
    print 'frobbed', file

if __name__ == '__main__': process(sys.argv[1], f)