set_file_buffer
symlink
Filesystem Functions
PHP Manual

# stat

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

stat — Gives information about a file

### Description

array stat ( string `$filename` )

Gathers the statistics of the file named by `filename` . If `filename` is a symbolic link, statistics are from the file itself, not the symlink.

lstat() is identical to stat() except it would instead be based off the symlinks status.

### Parameters

`filename`

  Path to the file.

### Return Values

stat() and fstat() result format
Numeric | Associative (since PHP 4.0.6) | Description
--- | --- | ---
0 | dev | device number
1 | ino | inode number *
2 | mode | inode protection mode
3 | nlink | number of links
4 | uid | userid of owner *
5 | gid | groupid of owner *
6 | rdev | device type, if inode device
7 | size | size in bytes
8 | atime | time of last access (Unix timestamp)
9 | mtime | time of last modification (Unix timestamp)
10 | ctime | time of last inode change (Unix timestamp)
11 | blksize | blocksize of filesystem IO **
12 | blocks | number of blocks allocated **

* On Windows this will always be 0.

** Only valid on systems supporting the st_blksize type - other systems (e.g. Windows) return -1.

In case of error, stat() returns `FALSE`.

### Errors/Exceptions

Upon failure, an `E_WARNING` is emitted.

### Changelog

Version | Description
--- | ---
4.0.6 | In addition to returning these attributes in a numeric array, they can be accessed with associative indices, as noted next to each parameter

### Examples

Example #1 stat() example

`<?php
/* Get file stat */
$stat = stat('C:\php\php.exe');
/*
* Print file access file, this is the same
* as calling fileatime()
*/
echo 'Access time: ' . $stat['atime'];
/*
* Print file modification time, this is the
* same as calling filemtime()
*/
echo 'Modification time: ' . $stat['mtime'];
/* Print the device number */
echo 'Device number: ' . $stat['dev'];`

Example #2 Using stat() information together with touch()

`<?php
/* Get file stat */
$stat = @stat('C:\php\php.exe');
/* Did we failed to get stat information ? */
if(!$stat)
{
echo 'Stat call failed...';
}
else
{
/*
* We want the access time to be 1 week
* before the current access time.
*/
$atime = $stat['atime'] + 604800;
/* Touch the file */
if(!@touch('some_file.txt', time(), $atime))
{
echo 'Failed to touch file...';
}
else
{
echo 'Touch returned success...';
}
}
?>`

### Notes

> Note: Note that time resolution may differ from one file system to another.

> Note: The results of this function are cached. See clearstatcache() for more details.

Tip

As of PHP 5.0.0, this function can also be used with some URL wrappers. Refer to List of Supported Protocols/Wrappers for a listing of which wrappers support stat() family of functionality.

### See Also

- lstat() - Gives information about a file or symbolic link
- fstat() - Gets information about a file using an open file pointer
- filemtime() - Gets file modification time
- filegroup() - Gets file group

set_file_buffer
symlink
Filesystem Functions
PHP Manual