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<a name="Filesystem-Utilities"></a>
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Next: <a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="File-Archiving-Utilities.html#File-Archiving-Utilities">File Archiving Utilities</a>,
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Previous: <a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="Timing-Utilities.html#Timing-Utilities">Timing Utilities</a>,
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Up: <a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="System-Utilities.html#System-Utilities">System Utilities</a>
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<h3 class="section">35.2 Filesystem Utilities</h3>
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<p>Octave includes the following functions for renaming and deleting files,
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creating, deleting, and reading directories, and for getting information
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about the status of files.
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<p><a name="doc_002drename"></a>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>err</var>, <var>msg</var>] = <b>rename</b> (<var>old, new</var>)<var><a name="index-rename-1973"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Change the name of file <var>old</var> to <var>new</var>.
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<p>If successful, <var>err</var> is 0 and <var>msg</var> is an empty string.
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Otherwise, <var>err</var> is nonzero and <var>msg</var> contains a
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system-dependent error message.
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<strong>See also:</strong> ls, dir.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dlink"></a>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>err</var>, <var>msg</var>] = <b>link</b> (<var>old, new</var>)<var><a name="index-link-1974"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Create a new link (also known as a hard link) to an existing file.
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<p>If successful, <var>err</var> is 0 and <var>msg</var> is an empty string.
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Otherwise, <var>err</var> is nonzero and <var>msg</var> contains a
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system-dependent error message.
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<strong>See also:</strong> symlink.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dsymlink"></a>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>err</var>, <var>msg</var>] = <b>symlink</b> (<var>old, new</var>)<var><a name="index-symlink-1975"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Create a symbolic link <var>new</var> which contains the string <var>old</var>.
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<p>If successful, <var>err</var> is 0 and <var>msg</var> is an empty string.
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Otherwise, <var>err</var> is nonzero and <var>msg</var> contains a
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system-dependent error message.
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<strong>See also:</strong> link, readlink.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dreadlink"></a>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>result</var>, <var>err</var>, <var>msg</var>] = <b>readlink</b> (<var>symlink</var>)<var><a name="index-readlink-1976"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Read the value of the symbolic link <var>symlink</var>.
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<p>If successful, <var>result</var> contains the contents of the symbolic link
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<var>symlink</var>, <var>err</var> is 0 and <var>msg</var> is an empty string.
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Otherwise, <var>err</var> is nonzero and <var>msg</var> contains a
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system-dependent error message.
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<strong>See also:</strong> link, symlink.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dunlink"></a>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>err</var>, <var>msg</var>] = <b>unlink</b> (<var>file</var>)<var><a name="index-unlink-1977"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Delete the file named <var>file</var>.
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<p>If successful, <var>err</var> is 0 and <var>msg</var> is an empty string.
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Otherwise, <var>err</var> is nonzero and <var>msg</var> contains a
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system-dependent error message.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dreaddir"></a>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>files</var>, <var>err</var>, <var>msg</var>] = <b>readdir</b> (<var>dir</var>)<var><a name="index-readdir-1978"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Return names of the files in the directory <var>dir</var> as a cell array of
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strings. If an error occurs, return an empty cell array in <var>files</var>.
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<p>If successful, <var>err</var> is 0 and <var>msg</var> is an empty string.
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Otherwise, <var>err</var> is nonzero and <var>msg</var> contains a
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system-dependent error message.
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<strong>See also:</strong> dir, glob.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dmkdir"></a>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>status</var>, <var>msg</var>, <var>msgid</var>] = <b>mkdir</b> (<var>dir</var>)<var><a name="index-mkdir-1979"></a></var><br>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>status</var>, <var>msg</var>, <var>msgid</var>] = <b>mkdir</b> (<var>parent, dir</var>)<var><a name="index-mkdir-1980"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Create a directory named <var>dir</var>.
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<p>If successful, <var>status</var> is 1, with <var>msg</var> and <var>msgid</var> empty
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character strings. Otherwise, <var>status</var> is 0, <var>msg</var> contains a
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system-dependent error message, and <var>msgid</var> contains a unique
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<strong>See also:</strong> rmdir.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002drmdir"></a>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>status</var>, <var>msg</var>, <var>msgid</var>] = <b>rmdir</b> (<var>dir</var>)<var><a name="index-rmdir-1981"></a></var><br>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>status</var>, <var>msg</var>, <var>msgid</var>] = <b>rmdir</b> (<var>dir, </var><code>"s"</code>)<var><a name="index-rmdir-1982"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Remove the directory named <var>dir</var>.
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<p>If successful, <var>status</var> is 1, with <var>msg</var> and <var>msgid</var> empty
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character strings. Otherwise, <var>status</var> is 0, <var>msg</var> contains a
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system-dependent error message, and <var>msgid</var> contains a unique
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<p>If the optional second parameter is supplied with value <code>"s"</code>,
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recursively remove all subdirectories as well.
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<strong>See also:</strong> mkdir, confirm_recursive_rmdir.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dconfirm_005frecursive_005frmdir"></a>
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— Built-in Function: <var>val</var> = <b>confirm_recursive_rmdir</b> ()<var><a name="index-confirm_005frecursive_005frmdir-1983"></a></var><br>
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— Built-in Function: <var>old_val</var> = <b>confirm_recursive_rmdir</b> (<var>new_val</var>)<var><a name="index-confirm_005frecursive_005frmdir-1984"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Query or set the internal variable that controls whether Octave
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will ask for confirmation before recursively removing a directory tree.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dmkfifo"></a>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>err</var>, <var>msg</var>] = <b>mkfifo</b> (<var>name, mode</var>)<var><a name="index-mkfifo-1985"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Create a <var>fifo</var> special file named <var>name</var> with file mode <var>mode</var>
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<p>If successful, <var>err</var> is 0 and <var>msg</var> is an empty string.
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Otherwise, <var>err</var> is nonzero and <var>msg</var> contains a
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system-dependent error message.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dumask"></a>
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— Built-in Function: <b>umask</b> (<var>mask</var>)<var><a name="index-umask-1986"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Set the permission mask for file creation. The parameter <var>mask</var>
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is an integer, interpreted as an octal number. If successful,
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returns the previous value of the mask (as an integer to be
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interpreted as an octal number); otherwise an error message is printed.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dstat"></a>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>info</var>, <var>err</var>, <var>msg</var>] = <b>stat</b> (<var>file</var>)<var><a name="index-stat-1987"></a></var><br>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>info</var>, <var>err</var>, <var>msg</var>] = <b>lstat</b> (<var>file</var>)<var><a name="index-lstat-1988"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Return a structure <var>s</var> containing the following information about
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<dt><code>dev</code><dd>ID of device containing a directory entry for this file.
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<br><dt><code>ino</code><dd>File number of the file.
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<br><dt><code>mode</code><dd>File mode, as an integer. Use the functions <code>S_ISREG</code>,
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<code>S_ISDIR</code>, <code>S_ISCHR</code>, <code>S_ISBLK</code>, <code>S_ISFIFO</code>,
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<code>S_ISLNK</code>, or <code>S_ISSOCK</code> to extract information from this
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<br><dt><code>modestr</code><dd>File mode, as a string of ten letters or dashes as would be returned by
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<br><dt><code>nlink</code><dd>Number of links.
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<br><dt><code>uid</code><dd>User ID of file's owner.
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<br><dt><code>gid</code><dd>Group ID of file's group.
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<br><dt><code>rdev</code><dd>ID of device for block or character special files.
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<br><dt><code>size</code><dd>Size in bytes.
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<br><dt><code>atime</code><dd>Time of last access in the same form as time values returned from
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<code>time</code>. See <a href="Timing-Utilities.html#Timing-Utilities">Timing Utilities</a>.
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<br><dt><code>mtime</code><dd>Time of last modification in the same form as time values returned from
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<code>time</code>. See <a href="Timing-Utilities.html#Timing-Utilities">Timing Utilities</a>.
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<br><dt><code>ctime</code><dd>Time of last file status change in the same form as time values
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returned from <code>time</code>. See <a href="Timing-Utilities.html#Timing-Utilities">Timing Utilities</a>.
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<br><dt><code>blksize</code><dd>Size of blocks in the file.
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<br><dt><code>blocks</code><dd>Number of blocks allocated for file.
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<p>If the call is successful <var>err</var> is 0 and <var>msg</var> is an empty
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string. If the file does not exist, or some other error occurs, <var>s</var>
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is an empty matrix, <var>err</var> is −1, and <var>msg</var> contains the
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corresponding system error message.
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<p>If <var>file</var> is a symbolic link, <code>stat</code> will return information
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about the actual file that is referenced by the link. Use <code>lstat</code>
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if you want information about the symbolic link itself.
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<pre class="example"> [s, err, msg] = stat ("/vmlinuz")
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<p><a name="doc_002dlstat"></a>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>info</var>, <var>err</var>, <var>msg</var>] = <b>lstat</b> (<var>file</var>)<var><a name="index-lstat-1989"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>See stat.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dfileattrib"></a>
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— Function File: [<var>status</var>, <var>msg</var>, <var>msgid</var>] = <b>fileattrib</b> (<var>file</var>)<var><a name="index-fileattrib-1990"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Return information about <var>file</var>.
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<p>If successful, <var>status</var> is 1, with <var>result</var> containing a
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structure with the following fields:
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<dt><code>Name</code><dd>Full name of <var>file</var>.
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<br><dt><code>archive</code><dd>True if <var>file</var> is an archive (Windows).
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<br><dt><code>system</code><dd>True if <var>file</var> is a system file (Windows).
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<br><dt><code>hidden</code><dd>True if <var>file</var> is a hidden file (Windows).
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<br><dt><code>directory</code><dd>True if <var>file</var> is a directory.
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<br><dt><code>UserRead</code><dt><code>GroupRead</code><dt><code>OtherRead</code><dd>True if the user (group; other users) has read permission for
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<br><dt><code>UserWrite</code><dt><code>GroupWrite</code><dt><code>OtherWrite</code><dd>True if the user (group; other users) has write permission for
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<br><dt><code>UserExecute</code><dt><code>GroupExecute</code><dt><code>OtherExecute</code><dd>True if the user (group; other users) has execute permission for
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If an attribute does not apply (i.e., archive on a Unix system) then
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the field is set to NaN.
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<p>With no input arguments, return information about the current
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<p>If <var>file</var> contains globbing characters, return information about
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all the matching files.
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<strong>See also:</strong> glob.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002disdir"></a>
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— Function File: <b>isdir</b> (<var>f</var>)<var><a name="index-isdir-1991"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Return true if <var>f</var> is a directory.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dglob"></a>
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— Built-in Function: <b>glob</b> (<var>pattern</var>)<var><a name="index-glob-1992"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Given an array of strings (as a char array or a cell array) in
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<var>pattern</var>, return a cell array of file names that match any of
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them, or an empty cell array if no patterns match. Tilde expansion
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is performed on each of the patterns before looking for matching file
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<pre class="example"> glob ("/vm*")
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<strong>See also:</strong> dir, ls, stat, readdir.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dfnmatch"></a>
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— Built-in Function: <b>fnmatch</b> (<var>pattern, string</var>)<var><a name="index-fnmatch-1993"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Return 1 or zero for each element of <var>string</var> that matches any of
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the elements of the string array <var>pattern</var>, using the rules of
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filename pattern matching. For example,
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<pre class="example"> fnmatch ("a*b", {"ab"; "axyzb"; "xyzab"})
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<p><a name="doc_002dfile_005fin_005fpath"></a>
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— Built-in Function: <b>file_in_path</b> (<var>path, file</var>)<var><a name="index-file_005fin_005fpath-1994"></a></var><br>
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— Built-in Function: <b>file_in_path</b> (<var>path, file, "all"</var>)<var><a name="index-file_005fin_005fpath-1995"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Return the absolute name of <var>file</var> if it can be found in
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<var>path</var>. The value of <var>path</var> should be a colon-separated list of
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directories in the format described for <code>path</code>. If no file
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is found, return an empty matrix. For example,
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<pre class="example"> file_in_path (EXEC_PATH, "sh")
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<p>If the second argument is a cell array of strings, search each
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directory of the path for element of the cell array and return
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the first that matches.
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<p>If the third optional argument <code>"all"</code> is supplied, return
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a cell array containing the list of all files that have the same
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name in the path. If no files are found, return an empty cell array.
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<strong>See also:</strong> file_in_loadpath.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dtilde_005fexpand"></a>
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— Built-in Function: <b>tilde_expand</b> (<var>string</var>)<var><a name="index-tilde_005fexpand-1996"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Performs tilde expansion on <var>string</var>. If <var>string</var> begins with a
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tilde character, (‘<samp><span class="samp">~</span></samp>’), all of the characters preceding the first
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slash (or all characters, if there is no slash) are treated as a
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possible user name, and the tilde and the following characters up to the
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slash are replaced by the home directory of the named user. If the
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tilde is followed immediately by a slash, the tilde is replaced by the
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home directory of the user running Octave. For example,
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<pre class="example"> tilde_expand ("~joeuser/bin")
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tilde_expand ("~/bin")
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<p><a name="doc_002dcanonicalize_005ffile_005fname"></a>
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— Built-in Function: [<var>cname</var>, <var>status</var>, <var>msg</var>] <b>canonicalize_file_name</b> (<var>name</var>)<var><a name="index-canonicalize_005ffile_005fname-1997"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Return the canonical name of file <var>name</var>.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dmovefile"></a>
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— Function File: [<var>status</var>, <var>msg</var>, <var>msgid</var>] = <b>movefile</b> (<var>f1, f2</var>)<var><a name="index-movefile-1998"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Move the file <var>f1</var> to the new name <var>f2</var>. The name <var>f1</var>
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may contain globbing patterns. If <var>f1</var> expands to multiple file
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names, <var>f2</var> must be a directory.
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<p>If successful, <var>status</var> is 1, with <var>msg</var> and <var>msgid</var> empty\n\
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character strings. Otherwise, <var>status</var> is 0, <var>msg</var> contains a\n\
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system-dependent error message, and <var>msgid</var> contains a unique\n\
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message identifier.\n\
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<strong>See also:</strong> glob.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dcopyfile"></a>
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— Function File: [<var>status</var>, <var>msg</var>, <var>msgid</var>] = <b>copyfile</b> (<var>f1, f2, force</var>)<var><a name="index-copyfile-1999"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Copy the file <var>f1</var> to the new name <var>f2</var>. The name <var>f1</var>
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may contain globbing patterns. If <var>f1</var> expands to multiple file
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names, <var>f2</var> must be a directory. If <var>force</var> is given and equals
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the string "f" the copy operation will be forced.
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<p>If successful, <var>status</var> is 1, with <var>msg</var> and <var>msgid</var> empty\n\
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character strings. Otherwise, <var>status</var> is 0, <var>msg</var> contains a\n\
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system-dependent error message, and <var>msgid</var> contains a unique\n\
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message identifier.\n\
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<strong>See also:</strong> glob, movefile.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dfileparts"></a>
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— Function File: [<var>dir</var>, <var>name</var>, <var>ext</var>, <var>ver</var>] = <b>fileparts</b> (<var>filename</var>)<var><a name="index-fileparts-2000"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Return the directory, name, extension, and version components of
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<strong>See also:</strong> fullfile.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dfilesep"></a>
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— Built-in Function: <b>filesep</b> ()<var><a name="index-filesep-2001"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Return the system-dependent character used to separate directory names.
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<strong>See also:</strong> pathsep, dir, ls.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dfullfile"></a>
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— Function File: <var>filename</var> = <b>fullfile</b> (<var>dir1, dir2, <small class="dots">...</small>, file</var>)<var><a name="index-fullfile-2002"></a></var><br>
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<blockquote><p>Return a complete filename constructed from the given components.
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<strong>See also:</strong> fileparts.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dtempdir"></a>
483
— Function File: <var>dir</var> = <b>fullfile</b> ()<var><a name="index-fullfile-2003"></a></var><br>
484
<blockquote><p>Return the name of the system's directory for temporary files.
485
</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dtempname"></a>
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— Function File: filename = <b>tempname</b> ()<var><a name="index-tempname-2004"></a></var><br>
491
<blockquote><p>This function is an alias for <code>tmpnam</code>.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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<p><a name="doc_002dP_005ftmpdir"></a>
497
— Built-in Function: <b>P_tmpdir</b> ()<var><a name="index-P_005ftmpdir-2005"></a></var><br>
498
<blockquote><p>Return the default name of the directory for temporary files on
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this system. The name of this directory is system dependent.
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</p></blockquote></div>
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