What is Node.js fs.lstat() Method?

In this article, we will learn Node.js fs.lstat() Method,This free Node.js tutorial for complete beginners will help you learn Node.js from scratch.

Node.js fs.lstat() Method - ❤️Node.js Tutorials In 2024

The fs.lstat() method is similar to the fs.stat() method except that it is used to return information about the symbolic link that is being used to refer to a file or directory. The fs.Stat object returned has several fields and methods to get more details about the file.

Syntax:

fs.lstat( path, options, callback )

Parameters: This method accept three parameters as mentioned above and described below:

path: It is a String, Buffer or URL that holds the path of the symbolic link.
options: It is an object that can be used to specify optional parameters that will affect the output. It has one optional parameter:
- bigint: It is a boolean value which specifies if the numeric values returned in the fs.Stats object are bigint. The default value is false.
callback: It is the function that would be called when the method is executed.
- err: It is an error that would be thrown if the method.
- Stats: It is the Stats object that contains the details of the file path.

Below examples illustrate the fs.lstat() method in Node.js:

Example 1: This example uses fs.lstat() method to get the details of a symbolic link to a file.

// Node.js program to demonstrate the 
// fs.lstat() method 
  
// Import the filesystem module 
const fs = require('fs'); 
  
fs.symlinkSync(__dirname + "\\example_file.txt", 
                        "symlinkToFile", 'file'); 
console.log("Symlink to file created") 
  
fs.lstat("symlinkToFile", (err, stats) => { 
  if (err) 
    console.log(err); 
  else { 
    console.log("Stat of symlinkToFile") 
    console.log(stats); 
  } 
}); 

Output:

Symlink to file created
Stat of symlinkToFile
Stats {
  dev: 3229478529,
  mode: 41398,
  nlink: 1,
  uid: 0,
  gid: 0,
  rdev: 0,
  blksize: 4096,
  ino: 281474976780939,
  size: 45,
  blocks: 0,
  atimeMs: 1585207132017.4473,
  mtimeMs: 1585207132017.4473,
  ctimeMs: 1585207132017.4473,
  birthtimeMs: 1585207132017.4473,
  atime: 2020-03-26T07:18:52.017Z,
  mtime: 2020-03-26T07:18:52.017Z,
  ctime: 2020-03-26T07:18:52.017Z,
  birthtime: 2020-03-26T07:18:52.017Z
}

Example 2: This example uses fs.lstat() method to get the details of a symbolic link to a folder.

// Node.js program to demonstrate the 
// fs.lstat() method 
  
// Import the filesystem module 
const fs = require('fs'); 
  
fs.symlinkSync(__dirname + "\\example_directory", 
                          "symlinkToDir", 'dir'); 
  
console.log("Symlink to directory created") 
  
fs.lstat("symlinkToDir", (err, stats) => { 
  if (err) 
    console.log(err); 
  else { 
    console.log("Stat of symlinkToDir") 
    console.log(stats); 
  } 
}); 

Output:

Symlink to directory created
Stat of symlinkToDir
Stats {
  dev: 3229478529,
  mode: 41398,
  nlink: 1,
  uid: 0,
  gid: 0,
  rdev: 0,
  blksize: 4096,
  ino: 281474976780940,
  size: 46,
  blocks: 0,
  atimeMs: 1585207184224.7136,
  mtimeMs: 1585207184224.7136,
  ctimeMs: 1585207184224.7136,
  birthtimeMs: 1585207184224.7136,
  atime: 2020-03-26T07:19:44.225Z,
  mtime: 2020-03-26T07:19:44.225Z,
  ctime: 2020-03-26T07:19:44.225Z,
  birthtime: 2020-03-26T07:19:44.225Z
}

Reference: https://nodejs.org/api/fs.html#fs_fs_lstat_path_options_callback