std::filesystem::is_symlink

C++

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Regular expressions library (C++11)

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Filesystem library (C++17)

Technical Specifications

Filesystem library

Classes
filesystem::path filesystem::filesystem_error filesystem::directory_entry filesystem::directory_iterator filesystem::recursive_directory_iterator filesystem::file_status	filesystem::space_info filesystem::file_type filesystem::perms filesystem::perm_options filesystem::copy_options filesystem::directory_options filesystem::file_time_type
Functions
filesystem::absolute filesystem::canonicalfilesystem::weakly_canonical filesystem::relativefilesystem::proximate filesystem::copy filesystem::copy_file filesystem::copy_symlink filesystem::create_directory filesystem::create_directories filesystem::create_hard_link filesystem::create_symlink filesystem::create_directory_symlink filesystem::current_path	filesystem::exists filesystem::equivalent filesystem::file_size filesystem::hard_link_count filesystem::last_write_time filesystem::permissions filesystem::read_symlink filesystem::remove filesystem::remove_all filesystem::rename filesystem::resize_file filesystem::space filesystem::status filesystem::symlink_status filesystem::temp_directory_path
File types
filesystem::is_block_file filesystem::is_character_file filesystem::is_directory filesystem::is_empty filesystem::status_known	filesystem::is_fifo filesystem::is_other filesystem::is_regular_file filesystem::is_socket filesystem::is_symlink

Defined in header <filesystem>
bool is_symlink( std::filesystem::file_status s ) noexcept;	(1)	(since C++17)
bool is_symlink( const std::filesystem::path& p ); bool is_symlink( const std::filesystem::path& p, std::error_code& ec ) noexcept;	(2)	(since C++17)

Checks if the given file status or path corresponds to a symbolic link, as if determined by the POSIX S_IFLNK.

1) Equivalent to s.type() == file_type::symlink.

2) Equivalent to is_symlink(symlink_status(p)) or is_symlink(symlink_status(p, ec)).

Parameters

s	-	file status to check
p	-	path to examine
ec	-	out-parameter for error reporting in the non-throwing overload

Return value

true if the file indicated by p or if the type indicated s refers to a symbolic link. The non-throwing overload returns false if an error occurs.

Exceptions

2) The overload that does not take a std::error_code& parameter throws filesystem_error on underlying OS API errors, constructed with p as the first path argument and the OS error code as the error code argument. The overload taking a std::error_code& parameter sets it to the OS API error code if an OS API call fails, and executes ec.clear() if no errors occur. Any overload not marked noexcept may throw std::bad_alloc if memory allocation fails.

Example

Run this code

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <cstdio>
#include <cstring>
#include <filesystem>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <sys/un.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>

namespace fs = std::filesystem;

void demo_status(const fs::path& p, fs::file_status s)
{
    std::cout << p;
    // alternative: switch(s.type()) { case fs::file_type::regular: ...}
    if(fs::is_regular_file(s)) std::cout << " is a regular file\n";
    if(fs::is_directory(s)) std::cout << " is a directory\n";
    if(fs::is_block_file(s)) std::cout << " is a block device\n";
    if(fs::is_character_file(s)) std::cout << " is a character device\n";
    if(fs::is_fifo(s)) std::cout << " is a named IPC pipe\n";
    if(fs::is_socket(s)) std::cout << " is a named IPC socket\n";
    if(fs::is_symlink(s)) std::cout << " is a symlink\n";
    if(!fs::exists(s)) std::cout << " does not exist\n";
}
int main()
{
    // create files of different kinds
    fs::create_directory("sandbox");
    std::ofstream("sandbox/file"); // create regular file
    fs::create_directory("sandbox/dir");
    mkfifo("sandbox/pipe", 0644);
    struct sockaddr_un addr;
    addr.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
    std::strcpy(addr.sun_path, "sandbox/sock");
    int fd = socket(PF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
    bind(fd, (struct sockaddr*)&addr, sizeof addr);
    fs::create_symlink("file", "sandbox/symlink");

    // demo different status accessors
    for(auto it = fs::directory_iterator("sandbox"); it != fs::directory_iterator(); ++it)
        demo_status(*it, it->symlink_status()); // use cached status from directory entry
    demo_status("dev/null", fs::status("/dev/null")); // direct calls to status
    demo_status("dev/sda", fs::status("/dev/sda"));
    demo_status("sandbox/no", fs::status("/sandbox/no"));

    // cleanup
    close(fd);
    fs::remove_all("sandbox");
}

Possible output:

"sandbox/file" is a regular file
"sandbox/dir" is a directory
"sandbox/pipe" is a named IPC pipe
"sandbox/sock" is a named IPC socket
"sandbox/symlink" is a symlink
"dev/null" is a character device
"dev/sda" is a block device
"sandbox/no" does not exist

See also

statussymlink_status (C++17)(C++17)	determines file attributes determines file attributes, checking the symlink target (function)
file_status (C++17)	represents file type and permissions (class)
status_known (C++17)	checks whether file status is known (function)
is_block_file (C++17)	checks whether the given path refers to block device (function)
is_character_file (C++17)	checks whether the given path refers to a character device (function)
is_directory (C++17)	checks whether the given path refers to a directory (function)
is_fifo (C++17)	checks whether the given path refers to a named pipe (function)
is_other (C++17)	checks whether the argument refers to an other file (function)
is_regular_file (C++17)	checks whether the argument refers to a regular file (function)
is_socket (C++17)	checks whether the argument refers to a named IPC socket (function)
exists (C++17)	checks whether path refers to existing file system object (function)
is_symlink	checks whether the directory entry refers to a symbolic link (public member function of std::filesystem::directory_entry)