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Every file comes with a set of details that we can inspect using Node.
In particular, using the stat()
method provided by the fs
module.
You call it passing a file path, and once Node gets the file details it will call the callback function you pass, with 2 parameters: an error message, and the file stats:
const fs = require('fs')
fs.stat('/Users/flavio/test.txt', (err, stats) => {
if (err) {
console.error(err)
return
}
//we have access to the file stats in `stats`
})
Node provides also a sync method, which blocks the thread until the file stats are ready:
const fs = require('fs')
try {
const stats = fs.stat('/Users/flavio/test.txt')
} catch (err) {
console.error(err)
}
The file information is included in the stats variable. What kind of information can we extract using the stats?
A lot, including:
- if the file is a directory or a file, using
stats.isFile()
andstats.isDirectory()
- if the file is a symbolic link using
stats.isSymbolicLink()
- the file size in bytes using
stats.size
.
There are other advanced methods, but the bulk of what you’ll use in your day-to-day programming is this.
const fs = require('fs')
fs.stat('/Users/flavio/test.txt', (err, stats) => {
if (err) {
console.error(err)
return
}
stats.isFile() //true
stats.isDirectory() //false
stats.isSymbolicLink() //false
stats.size //1024000 //= 1MB
})
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More node tutorials:
- An introduction to the npm package manager
- Introduction to Node.js
- HTTP requests using Axios
- Where to host a Node.js app
- Interact with the Google Analytics API using Node.js
- The npx Node Package Runner
- The package.json guide
- Where does npm install the packages?
- How to update Node.js
- How to use or execute a package installed using npm
- The package-lock.json file
- Semantic Versioning using npm
- Should you commit the node_modules folder to Git?
- Update all the Node dependencies to their latest version
- Parsing JSON with Node.js
- Find the installed version of an npm package
- Node.js Streams
- Install an older version of an npm package
- Get the current folder in Node
- How to log an object in Node
- Expose functionality from a Node file using exports
- Differences between Node and the Browser
- Make an HTTP POST request using Node
- Get HTTP request body data using Node
- Node Buffers
- A brief history of Node.js
- How to install Node.js
- How much JavaScript do you need to know to use Node?
- How to use the Node.js REPL
- Node, accept arguments from the command line
- Output to the command line using Node
- Accept input from the command line in Node
- Uninstalling npm packages with `npm uninstall`
- npm global or local packages
- npm dependencies and devDependencies
- The Node.js Event Loop
- Understanding process.nextTick()
- Understanding setImmediate()
- The Node Event emitter
- Build an HTTP Server
- Making HTTP requests with Node
- The Node fs module
- HTTP requests in Node using Axios
- Reading files with Node
- Node File Paths
- Writing files with Node
- Node file stats
- Working with file descriptors in Node
- Working with folders in Node
- The Node path module
- The Node http module
- Using WebSockets with Node.js
- The basics of working with MySQL and Node
- Error handling in Node.js
- The Pug Guide
- How to read environment variables from Node.js
- How to exit from a Node.js program
- The Node os module
- The Node events module
- Node, the difference between development and production
- How to check if a file exists in Node.js
- How to create an empty file in Node.js
- How to remove a file with Node.js
- How to get the last updated date of a file using Node.js
- How to determine if a date is today in JavaScript
- How to write a JSON object to file in Node.js
- Why should you use Node.js in your next project?
- Run a web server from any folder
- How to use MongoDB with Node.js
- Use the Chrome DevTools to debug a Node.js app
- What is pnpm?
- The Node.js Runtime v8 options list
- How to fix the "Missing write access" error when using npm
- How to enable ES Modules in Node.js
- How to spawn a child process with Node.js
- How to get both parsed body and raw body in Express
- How to handle file uploads in Node.js
- What are peer dependencies in a Node module?
- How to write a CSV file with Node.js
- How to read a CSV file with Node.js
- The Node Core Modules
- Incrementing multiple folders numbers at once using Node.js
- How to print a canvas to a data URL
- How to create and save an image with Node.js and Canvas
- How to download an image using Node.js
- How to mass rename files in Node.js
- How to get the names of all the files in a folder in Node
- How to use promises and await with Node.js callback-based functions
- How to test an npm package locally
- How to check the current Node.js version at runtime
- How to use Sequelize to interact with PostgreSQL
- Serve an HTML page using Node.js
- How to solve the `util.pump is not a function` error in Node.js