NAME File::Stat::ModeString - conversion file stat(2) mode to/from string representation. SYNOPSIS use File::Stat::ModeString; $string = mode_to_string ( $st_mode ); $st_mode = string_to_mode ( $string ); $type = mode_to_typechar( $st_mode ); $record = ; chomp $record; $record =~ m/^some_prefix\s+$MODE_STRING_RE\s+some_suffix$/o or die "invalid record format"; die "Invalid mode in $string" if is_mode_string_valid( $string ); DESCRIPTION This module provides a few functions for conversion between binary and literal representations of file mode bits, including file type. All of them use only symbolic constants for mode bits from File::Stat::Bits. CONSTANTS $MODE_STRING_RE Regular expression to match mode string (without ^$). FUNCTIONS is_mode_string_valid( $string ) Returns true if argument matches mode string pattern. $type = mode_to_typechar( $mode ) Returns file type character of binary mode, '?' on unknown file type. $string = mode_to_string( $mode ) Converts binary mode value to string representation. '?' in file type field on unknown file type. $mode = string_to_mode( $string ) Converts string representation of file mode to binary one. SEE ALSO stat(2); File::Stat::Bits(3); Stat::lsMode(3); AUTHOR Dmitry Fedorov COPYRIGHT Copyright (C) 2003 Dmitry Fedorov LICENSE This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. DISCLAIMER The author disclaims any responsibility for any mangling of your system etc, that this script may cause.