-e on symlink doesn't always succeed?

[p5pRT]

Migrated from rt.perl.org#1211 (status was 'resolved')

Searchable as RT1211$

[p5pRT]

From @vlbrown

Try this little script​:

  #!/usr/bin/perl
 
  `touch ./foo`;
  symlink ("./foo", "./foolink");
  print `ls -l ./foo ./foolink`;
 
  if (-e "./foo") {
  print "1​: file ./foo exists\n";
  }
  if (-l "./foo") {
  print "1​: file ./foo is a link\n";
  }
  if (-e "./foolink") {
  print "1​: file ./foolink exists\n";
  }
  if (-l "./foolink") {
  print "1​: file ./foolink is a link\n";
  }
 
  `touch tmp/foo`;
  symlink ("tmp/foo", "tmp/foolink");
  print `ls -l tmp/foo tmp/foolink`;
 
  if (-e "tmp/foo") {
  print "2​: file tmp/foo exists\n";
  }
  if (-l "tmp/foo") {
  print "2​: file tmp/foo is a link\n";
  }
  if (-e "tmp/foolink") {
  print "2​: file tmp/foolink exists\n";
  }
  if (-l "tmp/foolink") {
  print "2​: file tmp/foolink is a link\n";
  }
This prints​:

  -rw-rw-r-- 1 vlb noodle 0 Aug 12 17​:16 ./foo
  lrwxrwxrwx 1 vlb noodle 3 Aug 12 16​:53 ./foolink -> foo
  1​: file ./foo exists
  1​: file ./foolink exists
  1​: file ./foolink is a link
  -rw-rw-r-- 1 vlb noodle 0 Aug 12 17​:16 tmp/foo
  lrwxrwxrwx 1 vlb noodle 7 Aug 12 17​:04 tmp/foolink -> tmp/foo
  2​: file tmp/foo exists
  2​: file tmp/foolink is a link

I should see
  2​: file tmp/foolink exists

When I use
  if (-e "symlink")
or
  if (-e "./symlink")
and "symlink" is a symbolic link, I get success

When I try to test a path, such as
  if (-e "tmp/symlink")
I get failure. However
  if (-l "tmp/symlink")
succeeds.

If -l returns success, then the file (a link) must also exist;
but under certain circumstances, -e fails.

Perl Info

Site configuration information for perl 5.00502:

Configured by rdm at Sun Feb  7 16:25:31 PST 1999.

Summary of my perl5 (5.0 patchlevel 5 subversion 2) configuration:
  Platform:
    osname=freebsd, osvers=2.2.8-release, archname=i386-freebsd
    uname='freebsd cfcl.com 2.2.8-release freebsd 2.2.8-release #0: fri jan 15 18:39:18 pst 1999 rdm@cfcl.com:usrsrcsyscompilefreebie i386 '
    hint=recommended, useposix=true, d_sigaction=define
    usethreads=undef useperlio=undef d_sfio=undef
  Compiler:
    cc='cc', optimize='-O', gccversion=2.7.2.1
    cppflags='-I/usr/local/include'
    ccflags ='-I/usr/local/include'
    stdchar='char', d_stdstdio=undef, usevfork=true
    intsize=4, longsize=4, ptrsize=4, doublesize=8
    d_longlong=define, longlongsize=8, d_longdbl=define, longdblsize=12
    alignbytes=4, usemymalloc=n, prototype=define
  Linker and Libraries:
    ld='ld', ldflags =' -L/usr/local/lib'
    libpth=/usr/local/lib /usr/lib
    libs=-ldb -lm -lc -lcrypt
    libc=/usr/lib/libc.so.3.1, so=so, useshrplib=false, libperl=libperl.a
  Dynamic Linking:
    dlsrc=dl_dlopen.xs, dlext=so, d_dlsymun=undef, ccdlflags=' '
    cccdlflags='-DPIC -fpic', lddlflags='-Bshareable  -L/usr/local/lib'

Locally applied patches:
    


@INC for perl 5.00502:
    /usr/local/lib/perl5/5.00502/i386-freebsd
    /usr/local/lib/perl5/5.00502
    /usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.005/i386-freebsd
    /usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.005
    .


Environment for perl 5.00502:
    HOME=/home/vlb
    LANG (unset)
    LD_LIBRARY_PATH (unset)
    LOGDIR (unset)
    PATH=/home/vlb/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/nib:/usr/bin:/bin:/etc:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games:.:/home/rdm/bin:/home/vlb/projex/ptf/bin
    PERL_BADLANG (unset)
    SHELL=/ulb/tcsh

[p5pRT]

From @mjdominus

\-rw\-rw\-r\-\-  1 vlb  noodle  0 Aug 12 17​:16 tmp/foo
lrwxrwxrwx  1 vlb  noodle  7 Aug 12 17​:04 tmp/foolink \-> tmp/foo
2​: file tmp/foo exists
2​: file tmp/foolink is a link

I should see
2​: file tmp/foolink exists

The bug is in you, not in Perl. Try

  cat tmp/foolink

and your OS will tell you the same thing​:

  plover% ls -l tmp/*
  -rw-r--r-- 1 mjd users 0 Aug 12 20​:53 tmp/foo
  lrwxrwxrwx 1 mjd users 7 Aug 12 20​:53 tmp/foolink -> tmp/foo
  plover​:/tmp/vbd% cat tmp/foo
  plover​:/tmp/vbd% cat tmp/foolink
  cat​: tmp/foolink​: No such file or directory

That is because tmp/foolink here refers to the nonexistent file
tmp/tmp/foo.

If -l returns success, then the file (a link) must also exist;
but under certain circumstances, -e fails.

-e tests the existence of the *file that is linked to*, not the
existence of the link itself. Thus -e on a dangling symlink will
return false.

[p5pRT]

From @vanstyn

In <199908130018.RAA08993@​cfcl.com>, Vicki Brown writes​:
:This prints​:
:
: -rw-rw-r-- 1 vlb noodle 0 Aug 12 17​:16 ./foo
: lrwxrwxrwx 1 vlb noodle 3 Aug 12 16​:53 ./foolink -> foo
: 1​: file ./foo exists
: 1​: file ./foolink exists
: 1​: file ./foolink is a link
: -rw-rw-r-- 1 vlb noodle 0 Aug 12 17​:16 tmp/foo
: lrwxrwxrwx 1 vlb noodle 7 Aug 12 17​:04 tmp/foolink -> tmp/foo
: 2​: file tmp/foo exists
: 2​: file tmp/foolink is a link

That should be 'tmp/foolink -> foo'. The symlink works relative to
foolink, not relative to your current directory.

Note that you can check for the existence of the symlink itself with​:
  lstat "tmp/foolink";
  if (-e _) {
  print "tmp/foolink exists\n";
  }

Hugo

[p5pRT]

From [Unknown Contact. See original ticket]

Vicki Brown <vlb@​cfcl.com> writes​:

If -l returns success, then the file (a link) must also exist;
but under certain circumstances, -e fails.

This is actually useful for finding broken links.

--
Nick Ing-Simmons <nik@​tiuk.ti.com>
Via, but not speaking for​: Texas Instruments Ltd.

[p5pRT]

From @vlbrown

At 20​:55 -0400 08/12/1999, Mark-Jason Dominus wrote​:

-e tests the existence of the *file that is linked to*, not the
existence of the link itself. Thus -e on a dangling symlink will
return false.

Ahhhh. A subtlety not clear from the docs.
-- --
  |\ _,,,---,,_ Vicki Brown <vlb@​cfcl.com>
ZZZzz /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ Journeyman Sourceror​: Scripts & Philtres
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