path: root/doc/man/man3/qfileinfo.3qt

'\" t
.TH QFileInfo 3qt "2 February 2007" "Trolltech AS" \" -*- nroff -*-
.\" Copyright 1992-2007 Trolltech ASA.  All rights reserved.  See the
.\" license file included in the distribution for a complete license
.\" statement.
.\"
.ad l
.nh
.SH NAME
QFileInfo \- System-independent file information
.SH SYNOPSIS
All the functions in this class are reentrant when Qt is built with thread support.</p>
.PP
\fC#include <qfileinfo.h>\fR
.PP
.SS "Public Members"
.in +1c
.ti -1c
.BI "enum \fBPermissionSpec\fR { ReadOwner = 04000, WriteOwner = 02000, ExeOwner = 01000, ReadUser = 00400, WriteUser = 00200, ExeUser = 00100, ReadGroup = 00040, WriteGroup = 00020, ExeGroup = 00010, ReadOther = 00004, WriteOther = 00002, ExeOther = 00001 }"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "\fBQFileInfo\fR ()"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "\fBQFileInfo\fR ( const QString & file )"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "\fBQFileInfo\fR ( const QFile & file )"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "\fBQFileInfo\fR ( const QDir & d, const QString & fileName )"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "\fBQFileInfo\fR ( const QFileInfo & fi )"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "\fB~QFileInfo\fR ()"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QFileInfo & \fBoperator=\fR ( const QFileInfo & fi )"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "void \fBsetFile\fR ( const QString & file )"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "void \fBsetFile\fR ( const QFile & file )"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "void \fBsetFile\fR ( const QDir & d, const QString & fileName )"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "bool \fBexists\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "void \fBrefresh\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "bool \fBcaching\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "void \fBsetCaching\fR ( bool enable )"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QString \fBfilePath\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QString \fBfileName\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QString \fBabsFilePath\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QString \fBbaseName\fR ( bool complete = FALSE ) const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QString \fBextension\fR ( bool complete = TRUE ) const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QString \fBdirPath\fR ( bool absPath = FALSE ) const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QDir \fBdir\fR ( bool absPath = FALSE ) const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "bool \fBisReadable\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "bool \fBisWritable\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "bool \fBisExecutable\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "bool \fBisHidden\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "bool \fBisRelative\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "bool \fBconvertToAbs\fR ()"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "bool \fBisFile\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "bool \fBisDir\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "bool \fBisSymLink\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QString \fBreadLink\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QString \fBowner\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "uint \fBownerId\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QString \fBgroup\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "uint \fBgroupId\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "bool \fBpermission\fR ( int permissionSpec ) const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "uint \fBsize\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QDateTime \fBcreated\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QDateTime \fBlastModified\fR () const"
.br
.ti -1c
.BI "QDateTime \fBlastRead\fR () const"
.br
.in -1c
.SH DESCRIPTION
The QFileInfo class provides system-independent file information.
.PP
QFileInfo provides information about a file's name and position (path) in the file system, its access rights and whether it is a directory or symbolic link, etc. The file's size and last modified/read times are also available.
.PP
A QFileInfo can point to a file with either a relative or an absolute file path. Absolute file paths begin with the directory separator "/" (or with a drive specification on Windows). Relative file names begin with a directory name or a file name and specify a path relative to the current working directory. An example of an absolute path is the string "/tmp/quartz". A relative path might look like "src/fatlib". You can use the function isRelative() to check whether a QFileInfo is using a relative or an absolute file path. You can call the function convertToAbs() to convert a relative QFileInfo's path to an absolute path.
.PP
The file that the QFileInfo works on is set in the constructor or later with setFile(). Use exists() to see if the file exists and size() to get its size.
.PP
To speed up performance, QFileInfo caches information about the file. Because files can be changed by other users or programs, or even by other parts of the same program, there is a function that refreshes the file information: refresh(). If you want to switch off a QFileInfo's caching and force it to access the file system every time you request information from it call setCaching(FALSE).
.PP
The file's type is obtained with isFile(), isDir() and isSymLink(). The readLink() function provides the name of the file the symlink points to.
.PP
Elements of the file's name can be extracted with dirPath() and fileName(). The fileName()'s parts can be extracted with baseName() and extension().
.PP
The file's dates are returned by created(), lastModified() and lastRead(). Information about the file's access permissions is obtained with isReadable(), isWritable() and isExecutable(). The file's ownership is available from owner(), ownerId(), group() and groupId(). You can examine a file's permissions and ownership in a single statement using the permission() function.
.PP
If you need to read and traverse directories, see the QDir class.
.PP
See also Input/Output and Networking.
.SS "Member Type Documentation"
.SH "QFileInfo::PermissionSpec"
This enum is used by the permission() function to report the permissions and ownership of a file. The values may be OR-ed together to test multiple permissions and ownership values.
.TP
\fCQFileInfo::ReadOwner\fR - The file is readable by the owner of the file.
.TP
\fCQFileInfo::WriteOwner\fR - The file is writable by the owner of the file.
.TP
\fCQFileInfo::ExeOwner\fR - The file is executable by the owner of the file.
.TP
\fCQFileInfo::ReadUser\fR - The file is readable by the user.
.TP
\fCQFileInfo::WriteUser\fR - The file is writable by the user.
.TP
\fCQFileInfo::ExeUser\fR - The file is executable by the user.
.TP
\fCQFileInfo::ReadGroup\fR - The file is readable by the group.
.TP
\fCQFileInfo::WriteGroup\fR - The file is writable by the group.
.TP
\fCQFileInfo::ExeGroup\fR - The file is executable by the group.
.TP
\fCQFileInfo::ReadOther\fR - The file is readable by anyone.
.TP
\fCQFileInfo::WriteOther\fR - The file is writable by anyone.
.TP
\fCQFileInfo::ExeOther\fR - The file is executable by anyone.
.PP
\fBWarning:\fR The semantics of ReadUser, WriteUser and ExeUser are unfortunately not platform independent: on Unix, the rights of the owner of the file are returned and on Windows the rights of the current user are returned. This behavior might change in a future Qt version. If you want to find the rights of the owner of the file, you should use the flags ReadOwner, WriteOwner and ExeOwner. If you want to find out the rights of the current user, you should use isReadable(), isWritable() and isExecutable().
.SH MEMBER FUNCTION DOCUMENTATION
.SH "QFileInfo::QFileInfo ()"
Constructs a new empty QFileInfo.
.SH "QFileInfo::QFileInfo ( const QString & file )"
Constructs a new QFileInfo that gives information about the given file. The \fIfile\fR can also include an absolute or relative path.
.PP
\fBWarning:\fR Some functions might behave in a counter-intuitive way if \fIfile\fR has a trailing directory separator.
.PP
See also setFile(), isRelative(), QDir::setCurrent(), and QDir::isRelativePath().
.SH "QFileInfo::QFileInfo ( const QFile & file )"
Constructs a new QFileInfo that gives information about file \fIfile\fR.
.PP
If the \fIfile\fR has a relative path, the QFileInfo will also have a relative path.
.PP
See also isRelative().
.SH "QFileInfo::QFileInfo ( const QDir & d, const QString & fileName )"
Constructs a new QFileInfo that gives information about the file called \fIfileName\fR in the directory \fId\fR.
.PP
If \fId\fR has a relative path, the QFileInfo will also have a relative path.
.PP
See also isRelative().
.SH "QFileInfo::QFileInfo ( const QFileInfo & fi )"
Constructs a new QFileInfo that is a copy of \fIfi\fR.
.SH "QFileInfo::~QFileInfo ()"
Destroys the QFileInfo and frees its resources.
.SH "QString QFileInfo::absFilePath () const"
Returns the absolute path including the file name.
.PP
The absolute path name consists of the full path and the file name. On Unix this will always begin with the root, '/', directory. On Windows this will always begin 'D:/' where D is a drive letter, except for network shares that are not mapped to a drive letter, in which case the path will begin '//sharename/'.
.PP
This function returns the same as filePath(), unless isRelative() is TRUE.
.PP
If the QFileInfo is empty it returns QDir::currentDirPath().
.PP
This function can be time consuming under Unix (in the order of milliseconds).
.PP
See also isRelative() and filePath().
.PP
Examples:
.)l biff/biff.cpp and fileiconview/qfileiconview.cpp.
.SH "QString QFileInfo::baseName ( bool complete = FALSE ) const"
Returns the base name of the file.
.PP
If \fIcomplete\fR is FALSE (the default) the base name consists of all characters in the file name up to (but not including) the \fIfirst\fR '.' character.
.PP
If \fIcomplete\fR is TRUE the base name consists of all characters in the file up to (but not including) the \fIlast\fR '.' character.
.PP
The path is not included in either case.
.PP
Example:
.PP
.nf
.br
        QFileInfo fi( "/tmp/archive.tar.gz" );
.br
        QString base = fi.baseName();  // base = "archive"
.br
        base = fi.baseName( TRUE );    // base = "archive.tar"
.br
.fi
.PP
See also fileName() and extension().
.SH "bool QFileInfo::caching () const"
Returns TRUE if caching is enabled; otherwise returns FALSE.
.PP
See also setCaching() and refresh().
.SH "bool QFileInfo::convertToAbs ()"
Converts the file's path to an absolute path.
.PP
If it is already absolute, nothing is done.
.PP
See also filePath() and isRelative().
.SH "QDateTime QFileInfo::created () const"
Returns the date and time when the file was created.
.PP
On platforms where this information is not available, returns the same as lastModified().
.PP
See also lastModified() and lastRead().
.SH "QDir QFileInfo::dir ( bool absPath = FALSE ) const"
Returns the file's path as a QDir object.
.PP
If the QFileInfo is relative and \fIabsPath\fR is FALSE, the QDir will be relative; otherwise it will be absolute.
.PP
See also dirPath(), filePath(), fileName(), and isRelative().
.PP
Example: fileiconview/qfileiconview.cpp.
.SH "QString QFileInfo::dirPath ( bool absPath = FALSE ) const"
Returns the file's path.
.PP
If \fIabsPath\fR is TRUE an absolute path is returned.
.PP
See also dir(), filePath(), fileName(), and isRelative().
.PP
Example: fileiconview/qfileiconview.cpp.
.SH "bool QFileInfo::exists () const"
Returns TRUE if the file exists; otherwise returns FALSE.
.PP
Examples:
.)l biff/biff.cpp, distributor/distributor.ui.h, and i18n/main.cpp.
.SH "QString QFileInfo::extension ( bool complete = TRUE ) const"
Returns the file's extension name.
.PP
If \fIcomplete\fR is TRUE (the default), extension() returns the string of all characters in the file name after (but not including) the first '.' character.
.PP
If \fIcomplete\fR is FALSE, extension() returns the string of all characters in the file name after (but not including) the last '.' character.
.PP
Example:
.PP
.nf
.br
        QFileInfo fi( "/tmp/archive.tar.gz" );
.br
        QString ext = fi.extension();  // ext = "tar.gz"
.br
        ext = fi.extension( FALSE );   // ext = "gz"
.br
.fi
.PP
See also fileName() and baseName().
.PP
Example: qdir/qdir.cpp.
.SH "QString QFileInfo::fileName () const"
Returns the name of the file, excluding the path.
.PP
Example:
.PP
.nf
.br
        QFileInfo fi( "/tmp/archive.tar.gz" );
.br
        QString name = fi.fileName();           // name = "archive.tar.gz"
.br
.fi
.PP
See also isRelative(), filePath(), baseName(), and extension().
.PP
Examples:
.)l dirview/dirview.cpp, fileiconview/qfileiconview.cpp, and network/ftpclient/ftpmainwindow.ui.h.
.SH "QString QFileInfo::filePath () const"
Returns the file name, including the path (which may be absolute or relative).
.PP
See also isRelative() and absFilePath().
.PP
Examples:
.)l dirview/main.cpp and fileiconview/qfileiconview.cpp.
.SH "QString QFileInfo::group () const"
Returns the group of the file. On Windows, on systems where files do not have groups, or if an error occurs, QString::null is returned.
.PP
This function can be time consuming under Unix (in the order of milliseconds).
.PP
See also groupId(), owner(), and ownerId().
.SH "uint QFileInfo::groupId () const"
Returns the id of the group the file belongs to.
.PP
On Windows and on systems where files do not have groups this function always returns (uint) -2.
.PP
See also group(), owner(), and ownerId().
.SH "bool QFileInfo::isDir () const"
Returns TRUE if this object points to a directory or to a symbolic link to a directory; otherwise returns FALSE.
.PP
See also isFile() and isSymLink().
.PP
Examples:
.)l dirview/dirview.cpp and fileiconview/qfileiconview.cpp.
.SH "bool QFileInfo::isExecutable () const"
Returns TRUE if the file is executable; otherwise returns FALSE.
.PP
See also isReadable(), isWritable(), and permission().
.SH "bool QFileInfo::isFile () const"
Returns TRUE if this object points to a file. Returns FALSE if the object points to something which isn't a file, e.g. a directory or a symlink.
.PP
See also isDir() and isSymLink().
.PP
Examples:
.)l dirview/dirview.cpp, distributor/distributor.ui.h, fileiconview/qfileiconview.cpp, and qdir/qdir.cpp.
.SH "bool QFileInfo::isHidden () const"
Returns TRUE if the file is hidden; otherwise returns FALSE.
.PP
On Unix-like operating systems, including Mac OS X, a file is hidden if its name begins with ".". On Windows a file is hidden if its hidden attribute is set.
.SH "bool QFileInfo::isReadable () const"
Returns TRUE if the file is readable; otherwise returns FALSE.
.PP
See also isWritable(), isExecutable(), and permission().
.PP
Example: distributor/distributor.ui.h.
.SH "bool QFileInfo::isRelative () const"
Returns TRUE if the file path name is relative. Returns FALSE if the path is absolute (e.g. under Unix a path is absolute if it begins with a "/").
.SH "bool QFileInfo::isSymLink () const"
Returns TRUE if this object points to a symbolic link (or to a shortcut on Windows, or an alias on Mac OS X); otherwise returns FALSE.
.PP
See also isFile(), isDir(), and readLink().
.PP
Examples:
.)l dirview/dirview.cpp, distributor/distributor.ui.h, and fileiconview/qfileiconview.cpp.
.SH "bool QFileInfo::isWritable () const"
Returns TRUE if the file is writable; otherwise returns FALSE.
.PP
See also isReadable(), isExecutable(), and permission().
.PP
Example: distributor/distributor.ui.h.
.SH "QDateTime QFileInfo::lastModified () const"
Returns the date and time when the file was last modified.
.PP
See also created() and lastRead().
.PP
Example: biff/biff.cpp.
.SH "QDateTime QFileInfo::lastRead () const"
Returns the date and time when the file was last read (accessed).
.PP
On platforms where this information is not available, returns the same as lastModified().
.PP
See also created() and lastModified().
.PP
Example: biff/biff.cpp.
.SH "QFileInfo & QFileInfo::operator= ( const QFileInfo & fi )"
Makes a copy of \fIfi\fR and assigns it to this QFileInfo.
.SH "QString QFileInfo::owner () const"
Returns the owner of the file. On systems where files do not have owners, or if an error occurs, QString::null is returned.
.PP
This function can be time consuming under Unix (in the order of milliseconds).
.PP
See also ownerId(), group(), and groupId().
.SH "uint QFileInfo::ownerId () const"
Returns the id of the owner of the file.
.PP
On Windows and on systems where files do not have owners this function returns ((uint) -2).
.PP
See also owner(), group(), and groupId().
.SH "bool QFileInfo::permission ( int permissionSpec ) const"
Tests for file permissions. The \fIpermissionSpec\fR argument can be several flags of type PermissionSpec OR-ed together to check for permission combinations.
.PP
On systems where files do not have permissions this function always returns TRUE.
.PP
Example:
.PP
.nf
.br
        QFileInfo fi( "/tmp/archive.tar.gz" );
.br
        if ( fi.permission( QFileInfo::WriteUser | QFileInfo::ReadGroup ) )
.br
            tqWarning( "I can change the file; my group can read the file" );
.br
        if ( fi.permission( QFileInfo::WriteGroup | QFileInfo::WriteOther ) )
.br
            tqWarning( "The group or others can change the file" );
.br
.fi
.PP
See also isReadable(), isWritable(), and isExecutable().
.SH "QString QFileInfo::readLink () const"
Returns the name a symlink (or shortcut on Windows) points to, or a QString::null if the object isn't a symbolic link.
.PP
This name may not represent an existing file; it is only a string. QFileInfo::exists() returns TRUE if the symlink points to an existing file.
.PP
See also exists(), isSymLink(), isDir(), and isFile().
.SH "void QFileInfo::refresh () const"
Refreshes the information about the file, i.e. reads in information from the file system the next time a cached property is fetched.
.PP
See also setCaching().
.SH "void QFileInfo::setCaching ( bool enable )"
If \fIenable\fR is TRUE, enables caching of file information. If \fIenable\fR is FALSE caching is disabled.
.PP
When caching is enabled, QFileInfo reads the file information from the file system the first time it's needed, but generally not later.
.PP
Caching is enabled by default.
.PP
See also refresh() and caching().
.SH "void QFileInfo::setFile ( const QString & file )"
Sets the file that the QFileInfo provides information about to \fIfile\fR.
.PP
The \fIfile\fR can also include an absolute or relative file path. Absolute paths begin with the directory separator (e.g. "/" under Unix) or a drive specification (under Windows). Relative file names begin with a directory name or a file name and specify a path relative to the current directory.
.PP
Example:
.PP
.nf
.br
    QString absolute = "/local/bin";
.br
    QString relative = "local/bin";
.br
    QFileInfo absFile( absolute );
.br
    QFileInfo relFile( relative );
.br
.br
    QDir::setCurrent( QDir::rootDirPath() );
.br
    // absFile and relFile now point to the same file
.br
.br
    QDir::setCurrent( "/tmp" );
.br
    // absFile now points to "/local/bin",
.br
    // while relFile points to "/tmp/local/bin"
.br
.fi
.PP
See also isRelative(), QDir::setCurrent(), and QDir::isRelativePath().
.PP
Example: biff/biff.cpp.
.SH "void QFileInfo::setFile ( const QFile & file )"
This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It behaves essentially like the above function.
.PP
Sets the file that the QFileInfo provides information about to \fIfile\fR.
.PP
If \fIfile\fR includes a relative path, the QFileInfo will also have a relative path.
.PP
See also isRelative().
.SH "void QFileInfo::setFile ( const QDir & d, const QString & fileName )"
This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It behaves essentially like the above function.
.PP
Sets the file that the QFileInfo provides information about to \fIfileName\fR in directory \fId\fR.
.PP
If \fIfileName\fR includes a relative path, the QFileInfo will also have a relative path.
.PP
See also isRelative().
.SH "uint QFileInfo::size () const"
Returns the file size in bytes, or 0 if the file does not exist or if the size is 0 or if the size cannot be fetched.
.PP
Example: qdir/qdir.cpp.

.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR http://doc.trolltech.com/qfileinfo.html
.BR http://www.trolltech.com/faq/tech.html
.SH COPYRIGHT
Copyright 1992-2007 Trolltech ASA, http://www.trolltech.com.  See the
license file included in the distribution for a complete license
statement.
.SH AUTHOR
Generated automatically from the source code.
.SH BUGS
If you find a bug in Qt, please report it as described in
.BR http://doc.trolltech.com/bughowto.html .
Good bug reports help us to help you. Thank you.
.P
The definitive Qt documentation is provided in HTML format; it is
located at $QTDIR/doc/html and can be read using Qt Assistant or with
a web browser. This man page is provided as a convenience for those
users who prefer man pages, although this format is not officially
supported by Trolltech. 
.P
If you find errors in this manual page, please report them to
.BR qt-bugs@trolltech.com .
Please include the name of the manual page (qfileinfo.3qt) and the Qt
version (3.3.8).