PHP lstat() Function

The PHP lstat() function returns information (statistics) about a file or symbolic link specified by filename.

The results from this function will differ from server to server. The array may contain the number index, the name index, or both.

This function is identical to the stat() function except that if the filename parameter is a symbolic link, the status of the symbolic link is returned, not the status of the file pointed to by the symbolic link.

Syntax

lstat(filename)

Parameters

Return Value

In case of error, returns false, otherwise returns an array with the following elements:

The value of mode contains information read by several functions. When written in octal, starting from the right, the first three digits are returned by chmod(). The next digit is ignored by PHP. The next two digits indicate the file type. For example a regular file could be 0100644 and a directory could be 0040755.

mode file types

Exceptions

Upon failure, an E_WARNING is emitted.

Example: lstat() example

Lets assume that we have a file called test.txt. In the example below a symbolic link of this file is created. Then, the lstat() function is used to get the statistics about this symlink.

<?php
$target = 'test.txt';
$link = 'sampleTest';

symlink($target, $link);

//using the lstat() function to
//get statistics about the symlink
$info = lstat($link);

//displaying the statistics
print_r($info);
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Array
(
    [0] => 2049
    [1] => 523024
    [2] => 41471
    [3] => 1
    [4] => 33
    [5] => 33
    [6] => 0
    [7] => 8
    [8] => 1633622633
    [9] => 1633622633
    [10] => 1633622633
    [11] => 4096
    [12] => 0
    [dev] => 2049
    [ino] => 523024
    [mode] => 41471
    [nlink] => 1
    [uid] => 33
    [gid] => 33
    [rdev] => 0
    [size] => 8
    [atime] => 1633622633
    [mtime] => 1633622633
    [ctime] => 1633622633
    [blksize] => 4096
    [blocks] => 0
)

Example: using lstat() information together with touch() function

Consider the example below, where this function is used with touch() function.

<?php
$target = 'test.txt';
$link = 'sampleTest';

symlink($target, $link);

//using the lstat() function to
//get statistics about the symlink
$info = lstat($link);

//changing the access time to 5 hours in the past
$atime = $info['atime'] + 18000;
  
//using touch() function to change the access time
if (touch($link, time(), $atime)) {
  echo 'Access time changed to 5 hours in the past!';
} else {
  echo 'Access time could not be changed.';
}
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Access time changed to 5 hours in the past!

Example: comparison of stat() and lstat()

Consider one more example, where this function is compared with stat() function.

<?php
$target = 'test.txt';
$link = 'sampleTest';

symlink($target, $link);

//comparing stat() and lstat() function
print_r(array_diff(stat($target), lstat($link)));
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Array
(
    [1] => 521643
    [2] => 33188
    [7] => 48
    [ino] => 521643
    [mode] => 33188
    [size] => 48
)