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<h2 id="sec:files"><a id="sec:4.35"><span class="sec-nr">4.35</span> <span class="sec-title">File 
System Interaction</span></a></h2>

<a id="sec:files"></a>

<dl class="latex">
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="access_file/2"><strong>access_file</strong>(<var>+File, 
+Mode</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True if <var>File</var> exists and can be accessed by this Prolog 
process under mode <var>Mode</var>. <var>Mode</var> is one of the atoms
<code>read</code>, <code>write</code>, <code>append</code>, <code>exist</code>, <code>none</code> 
or
<code>execute</code>. <var>File</var> may also be the name of a 
directory. Fails silently otherwise. <code>access_file(File, none)</code> 
simply succeeds without testing anything.

<p>If <var>Mode</var> is <code>write</code> or <code>append</code>, this 
predicate also succeeds if the file does not exist and the user has 
write access to the directory of the specified location.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="exists_file/1"><strong>exists_file</strong>(<var>+File</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True if <var>File</var> exists and is a regular file. This does not 
imply the user has read and/or write permission for the file.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="file_directory_name/2"><strong>file_directory_name</strong>(<var>+File, 
-Directory</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Extracts the directory part of <var>File</var>. The returned <var>Directory</var> 
name does not end in <code><code>/</code></code>. There are two special 
cases. The directory name of <code><code>/</code></code> is <code><code>/</code></code> 
itself, and the directory name is <code><code>.</code></code> if <var>File</var> 
does not contain any <code><code>/</code></code> characters. See also <a id="idx:directoryfilepath3:1298"></a><span class="pred-ext">directory_file_path/3</span> 
from <code>library(filesex)</code>. The system ensures that for every 
valid <var>Path</var> using the Prolog (POSIX) directory separators, 
following is true on systems with a sound implementation of <a id="idx:samefile2:1299"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#same_file/2">same_file/2</a>.<sup class="fn">97<span class="fn-text">On 
some systems, <var>Path</var> and <var>Path2</var> refer to the same 
entry in the file system, but <a id="idx:samefile2:1300"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#same_file/2">same_file/2</a> 
may fail.</span></sup> See also <a id="idx:prologtoosfilename2:1301"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#prolog_to_os_filename/2">prolog_to_os_filename/2</a>.

<pre class="code">
        ...,
        file_directory_name(Path, Dir),
        file_base_name(Path, File),
        directory_file_path(Dir, File, Path2),
        same_file(Path, Path2).
</pre>

</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="file_base_name/2"><strong>file_base_name</strong>(<var>+File, 
-BaseName</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Extracts the filename part from a path specification. If <var>File</var> 
does not contain any directory separators, <var>File</var> is returned 
in <var>BaseName</var>. See also <a id="idx:filedirectoryname2:1302"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#file_directory_name/2">file_directory_name/2</a>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="same_file/2"><strong>same_file</strong>(<var>+File1, 
+File2</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True if both filenames refer to the same physical file. That is, if
<var>File1</var> and <var>File2</var> are the same string or both names 
exist and point to the same file (due to hard or symbolic links and/or 
relative vs. absolute paths). On systems that provide stat() with 
meaningful values for <code>st_dev</code> and <code>st_inode</code>, <a id="idx:samefile2:1303"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#same_file/2">same_file/2</a> 
is implemented by comparing the device and inode identifiers. On 
Windows,
<a id="idx:samefile2:1304"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#same_file/2">same_file/2</a> 
compares the strings returned by the GetFullPathName() system call.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="exists_directory/1"><strong>exists_directory</strong>(<var>+Directory</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True if <var>Directory</var> exists and is a directory. This does not 
imply the user has read, search or write permission for the directory.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="delete_file/1"><strong>delete_file</strong>(<var>+File</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Remove <var>File</var> from the file system.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="rename_file/2"><strong>rename_file</strong>(<var>+File1, 
+File2</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Rename <var>File1</var> as <var>File2</var>. The semantics is compatible 
to the POSIX semantics of the rename() system call as far as the 
operating system allows. Notably, if <var>File2</var> exists, the 
operation succeeds (except for possible permission errors) and is <em>atomic</em> 
(meaning there is no window where <var>File2</var> does not exist).</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="size_file/2"><strong>size_file</strong>(<var>+File, 
-Size</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Unify <var>Size</var> with the size of <var>File</var> in bytes.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="time_file/2"><strong>time_file</strong>(<var>+File, 
-Time</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Unify the last modification time of <var>File</var> with <var>Time</var>.
<var>Time</var> is a floating point number expressing the seconds 
elapsed since Jan&nbsp;1, 1970. See also <a id="idx:converttime28:1305"></a><span class="pred-ext">convert_time/[2,8]</span> 
and <a id="idx:gettime1:1306"></a><a class="pred" href="system.html#get_time/1">get_time/1</a>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="absolute_file_name/2"><strong>absolute_file_name</strong>(<var>+File, 
-Absolute</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Expand a local filename into an absolute path. The absolute path is 
canonicalised: references to <code>.</code> and <code>..</code> are 
deleted. This predicate ensures that expanding a filename returns the 
same absolute path regardless of how the file is addressed. SWI-Prolog 
uses absolute filenames to register source files independent of the 
current working directory. See also <a id="idx:absolutefilename3:1307"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#absolute_file_name/3">absolute_file_name/3</a>. 
See also
<a id="idx:absolutefilename3:1308"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#absolute_file_name/3">absolute_file_name/3</a> 
and <a id="idx:expandfilename2:1309"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#expand_file_name/2">expand_file_name/2</a>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="absolute_file_name/3"><strong>absolute_file_name</strong>(<var>+Spec, 
-Absolute, +Options</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Convert the given file specification into an absolute path. <var>Spec</var> 
is a term Alias(Relative) (e.g., <code>(library(lists)</code>), a 
relative filename or an absolute filename. The primary intention of this 
predicate is to resolve files specified as Alias(Relative).
<var>Option</var> is a list of options to guide the conversion:

<dl class="latex">
<dt><strong>extensions</strong>(<var>ListOfExtensions</var>)</dt>
<dd class="defbody">
List of file extensions to try. Default is <code>''</code>. For each 
extension, <a id="idx:absolutefilename3:1310"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#absolute_file_name/3">absolute_file_name/3</a> 
will first add the extension and then verify the conditions imposed by 
the other options. If the condition fails, the next extension on the 
list is tried. Extensions may be specified both as <code>.ext</code> or 
plain <code>ext</code>.</dd>
<dt><strong>relative_to</strong>(<var>+FileOrDir</var>)</dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Resolve the path relative to the given directory or the directory 
holding the given file. Without this option, paths are resolved relative 
to the working directory (see <a id="idx:workingdirectory2:1311"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#working_directory/2">working_directory/2</a>) 
or, if <var>Spec</var> is atomic and <a id="idx:absolutefilename23:1312"></a><span class="pred-ext">absolute_file_name/[2,3]</span> 
is executed in a directive, it uses the current source file as 
reference.</dd>
<dt><strong>access</strong>(<var>Mode</var>)</dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Imposes the condition access_file(<var>File</var>, <var>Mode</var>). <var>Mode</var> 
is one of <code>read</code>, <code>write</code>, <code>append</code>,
<code>execute</code>, <code>exist</code> or <code>none</code>. See also <a id="idx:accessfile2:1313"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#access_file/2">access_file/2</a>.</dd>
<dt><strong>file_type</strong>(<var>Type</var>)</dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Defines extensions. Current mapping: <code>txt</code> implies <code>['']</code>,
<code>prolog</code> implies <code>['.pl', '']</code>, <code>executable</code> 
implies
<code>['.so', '']</code>, <code>qlf</code> implies <code>['.qlf', '']</code> 
and
<code>directory</code> implies <code>['']</code>. The file type <code>source</code> 
is an alias for <code>prolog</code> for compatibility with SICStus 
Prolog. See also <a id="idx:prologfiletype2:1314"></a><a class="pred" href="consulting.html#prolog_file_type/2">prolog_file_type/2</a>. 
This predicate only returns non-directories, unless the option <code>file_type(directory)</code> 
is specified.</dd>
<dt><strong>file_errors</strong>(<var>fail/error</var>)</dt>
<dd class="defbody">
If <code>error</code> (default), throw an <code>existence_error</code> 
exception if the file cannot be found. If <code>fail</code>, stay 
silent.<sup class="fn">98<span class="fn-text">Silent operation was the 
default up to version 3.2.6.</span></sup></dd>
<dt><strong>solutions</strong>(<var>first/all</var>)</dt>
<dd class="defbody">
If <code>first</code> (default), the predicate leaves no choice point. 
Otherwise a choice point will be left and backtracking may yield more 
solutions.</dd>
<dt><strong>expand</strong>(<var>true/false</var>)</dt>
<dd class="defbody">
If <code>true</code> (default is <code>false</code>) and <var>Spec</var> 
is atomic, call <a id="idx:expandfilename2:1315"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#expand_file_name/2">expand_file_name/2</a> 
followed by <a id="idx:member2:1316"></a><a class="pred" href="lists.html#member/2">member/2</a> 
on <var>Spec</var> before proceeding. This is a SWI-Prolog extension.
</dd>
</dl>

<p>The Prolog flag <a class="flag" href="flags.html#flag:verbose_file_search">verbose_file_search</a> 
can be set to <code>true</code> to help debugging Prolog's search for 
files.

<p>This predicate is derived from Quintus Prolog. In Quintus Prolog, the 
argument order was <code>absolute_file_name(+Spec, +Options, -Path)</code>. 
The argument order has been changed for compatibility with ISO and 
SICStus. The Quintus argument order is still accepted.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="is_absolute_file_name/1"><strong>is_absolute_file_name</strong>(<var>+File</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True if <var>File</var> specifies an absolute path name. On Unix 
systems, this implies the path starts with a `/'. For Microsoft-based 
systems this implies the path starts with <code>&lt;<var>letter</var>&gt;:</code>. 
This predicate is intended to provide platform-independent checking for 
absolute paths. See also <a id="idx:absolutefilename2:1317"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#absolute_file_name/2">absolute_file_name/2</a> 
and <a id="idx:prologtoosfilename2:1318"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#prolog_to_os_filename/2">prolog_to_os_filename/2</a>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="file_name_extension/3"><strong>file_name_extension</strong>(<var>?Base, 
?Extension, ?Name</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
This predicate is used to add, remove or test filename extensions. The 
main reason for its introduction is to deal with different filename 
properties in a portable manner. If the file system is case-insensitive, 
testing for an extension will also be done case-insensitive. <var>Extension</var> 
may be specified with or without a leading dot (<code><code>.</code></code>). 
If an <var>Extension</var> is generated, it will not have a leading dot.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="directory_files/2"><strong>directory_files</strong>(<var>+Directory, 
-Entries</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Unify <var>Entries</var> with a list of entries in <var>Directory</var>. 
Each member of <var>Entries</var> is an atom denoting an entry relative 
to <var>Directory</var>. <var>Entries</var> contains all entries, 
including hidden files and, if supplied by the OS, the special entries <code><code>.</code></code> 
and
<code>..</code>. See also <a id="idx:expandfilename2:1319"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#expand_file_name/2">expand_file_name/2</a>.<sup class="fn">99<span class="fn-text">This 
predicate should be considered a misnomer because it returns entries 
rather than files. We stick to this name for compatibility with, e.g., 
SICStus, Ciao and YAP.</span></sup></dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="expand_file_name/2"><strong>expand_file_name</strong>(<var>+WildCard, 
-List</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Unify <var>List</var> with a sorted list of files or directories 
matching
<var>WildCard</var>. The normal Unix wildcard constructs `<code><code>?</code></code>', 
`<code><code>*</code></code>', `<code>[ ... ]</code>' and `<code>{...}</code>' 
are recognised. The interpretation of `<code>{...}</code>' is slightly 
different from the C shell (csh(1)). The comma-separated argument can be 
arbitrary patterns, including `<code>{...}</code>' patterns. The empty 
pattern is legal as well: `<code>{.pl,}</code>' matches either `<code>.pl</code>' 
or the empty string.

<p>If the pattern contains wildcard characters, only existing files and 
directories are returned. Expanding a `pattern' without wildcard 
characters returns the argument, regardless of whether or not it exists.

<p>Before expanding wildcards, the construct <code>$<var>var</var></code> 
is expanded to the value of the environment variable <var>var</var>, and 
a possible leading <code>~</code> character is expanded to the user's 
home directory.<sup class="fn">100<span class="fn-text">On Windows, the 
home directory is determined as follows: if the environment variable <code>HOME</code> 
exists, this is used. If the variables <code>HOMEDRIVE</code> and <code>HOMEPATH</code> 
exist (Windows-NT), these are used. At initialisation, the system will 
set the environment variable <code>HOME</code> to point to the 
SWI-Prolog home directory if neither <code>HOME</code> nor <code>HOMEPATH</code> 
and <code>HOMEDRIVE</code> are defined.</span></sup></dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="prolog_to_os_filename/2"><strong>prolog_to_os_filename</strong>(<var>?PrologPath, 
?OsPath</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Convert between the internal Prolog path name conventions and the 
operating system path name conventions. The internal conventions follow 
the POSIX standard, which implies that this predicate is equivalent to 
=/2 (unify) on POSIX (e.g., Unix) systems. On Windows systems it changes 
the directory separator from <code><code>\</code></code> into <code><code>/</code></code>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="read_link/3"><strong>read_link</strong>(<var>+File, 
-Link, -Target</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
If <var>File</var> points to a symbolic link, unify <var>Link</var> with 
the value of the link and <var>Target</var> to the file the link is 
pointing to.
<var>Target</var> points to a file, directory or non-existing entry in 
the file system, but never to a link. Fails if <var>File</var> is not a 
link. Fails always on systems that do not support symbolic links.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[deprecated]</span><a id="tmp_file/2"><strong>tmp_file</strong>(<var>+Base, 
-TmpName</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Create a name for a temporary file. <var>Base</var> is an identifier for 
the category of file. The <var>TmpName</var> is guaranteed to be unique. 
If the system halts, it will automatically remove all created temporary 
files.
<var>Base</var> is used as part of the final filename. Portable 
applications should limit themselves to alphanumeric characters.

<p>Because it is possible to guess the generated filename, attackers may 
create the filesystem entry as a link and possibly create a security 
issue. New code should use <a id="idx:tmpfilestream3:1320"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#tmp_file_stream/3">tmp_file_stream/3</a>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="tmp_file_stream/3"><strong>tmp_file_stream</strong>(<var>+Encoding, 
-FileName, -Stream</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Create a temporary filename <var>FileName</var> and open it for writing 
in the given <var>Encoding</var>. <var>Encoding</var> is a text-encoding 
name or
<code>binary</code>. <var>Stream</var> is the output stream. If the OS 
supports it, the created file is only accessible to the current user. If 
the OS supports it, the file is created using the open()-flag <code>O_EXCL</code>, 
which guarantees that the file did not exist before this call. This 
predicate is a safe replacement of <a id="idx:tmpfile2:1321"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#tmp_file/2">tmp_file/2</a>. 
Note that in those cases where the temporary file is needed to store 
output from an external command, the file must be closed first. E.g., 
the following downloads a file from a URL to a temporary file and opens 
the file for reading (on Unix systems you can delete the file for 
cleanup after opening it for reading):

<pre class="code">
open_url(URL, In) :-
        tmp_file_stream(text, File, Stream),
        close(Stream),
        process_create(curl, ['-o', File, URL], []),
        open(File, read, In),
        delete_file(File).              % Unix-only
</pre>

<p>Temporary files created using this call are removed if the Prolog 
process terminates. Calling <a id="idx:deletefile1:1322"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#delete_file/1">delete_file/1</a> 
using <var>FileName</var> removes the file and removes the entry from 
the administration of files-to-be-deleted.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="make_directory/1"><strong>make_directory</strong>(<var>+Directory</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Create a new directory (folder) on the filesystem. Raises an exception 
on failure. On Unix systems, the directory is created with default 
permissions (defined by the process <em>umask</em> setting).</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="delete_directory/1"><strong>delete_directory</strong>(<var>+Directory</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Delete directory (folder) from the filesystem. Raises an exception on 
failure. Please note that in general it will not be possible to delete a 
non-empty directory.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="working_directory/2"><strong>working_directory</strong>(<var>-Old, 
+New</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Unify <var>Old</var> with an absolute path to the current working 
directory and change working directory to <var>New</var>. Use the 
pattern
<code>working_directory(CWD, CWD)</code> to get the current directory. 
See also <a id="idx:absolutefilename2:1323"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#absolute_file_name/2">absolute_file_name/2</a> 
and <a id="idx:chdir1:1324"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#chdir/1">chdir/1</a>.<sup class="fn">bug<span class="fn-text">Some 
of the file I/O predicates use local filenames. Changing directory while 
file-bound streams are open causes wrong results on <a id="idx:telling1:1325"></a><a class="pred" href="IO.html#telling/1">telling/1</a>, <a id="idx:seeing1:1326"></a><a class="pred" href="IO.html#seeing/1">seeing/1</a> 
and <a id="idx:currentstream3:1327"></a><a class="pred" href="IO.html#current_stream/3">current_stream/3</a>.</span></sup> 
Note that the working directory is shared between all threads.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="chdir/1"><strong>chdir</strong>(<var>+Path</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Compatibility predicate. New code should use <a id="idx:workingdirectory2:1328"></a><a class="pred" href="files.html#working_directory/2">working_directory/2</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

<p></body></html>
swi-prolog-nox 6.6.4-2ubuntu1 / usr / lib / swi-prolog / doc / Manual / files.html
