mr19 has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Im pretty new to scripting with perl and i have a problem with stat and i don't understand why its not working..

The error is: Use of uninitialized value $mtime in string at test.pl line 10.

The error shown points to print. 

#!/usr/local/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use warnings;
use File::stat;

my $filename = "test.txt";

my $mtime = (stat $filename)[9];

print $mtime;

[download]

I just wanted to simply display the timestamp of that file

Thanks in advance

Michael

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Problem with file::stat
by Anonymous Monk on Jun 11, 2015 at 12:08 UTC
    Perl has two stats: a built-in one, and the one in File::stat.
    This module's default exports override the core stat() and lstat() functions, replacing them with versions that return "File::stat" objects. - File::stat
    So just remove the line use File::stat, or access the mtime like this: (stat $filename)->mtime.
[reply]
[d/l]
[select]

      Hello, thanks to all three of you for the fast response.

      Without the File::stat it works like a charm.

      Now i can continue testing.

      best regards

      Michael
[reply]
Re: Problem with file::stat
by Discipulus (Canon) on Jun 11, 2015 at 12:12 UTC
    dont use the module, use the stat function directly.
    There are no rules, there are no thumbs..
    Reinvent the wheel, then learn The Wheel; may be one day you reinvent one of THE WHEELS.
[reply]
[d/l]
Re: Problem with file::stat
by thanos1983 (Parson) on Jun 11, 2015 at 12:24 UTC

    Hello mr19,

    The monks have already answered your question. But you can also pass stat values to an array:

    Sample:

    #!/usr/local/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dumper;

my $filename = 'test.txt';

my @array = stat($filename);

print Dumper \@array;

my $epoch_timestamp = (stat($filename))[9];

print "Epoch seconds: " . $epoch_timestamp . "\n";

__DATA__

$VAR1 = [
          64513,
          7741435,
          33188,
          1,
          283683,
          6856,
          0,
          0,
          1434023984,
          1434023978,
          1434023983,
          4096,
          0
        ];
Epoch seconds: 1434023978

    [download]

    Or if you want to use the module:

    #!/usr/local/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dumper;

my $filename = 'test.txt';

my @array = stat($filename);

print Dumper \@array;

my $epoch_timestamp = (stat($filename))[9];
my $timestamp       = localtime($epoch_timestamp);

print "\nEpoch seconds: " . $epoch_timestamp . "\n";
print "Date and time: " . $timestamp . "\n";

statSubRoutine();

sub statSubRoutine {    
    use File::stat;

    my $timestamp      = (stat($filename)->mtime);
    my $localTimeStamp = localtime($epoch_timestamp);

    print "\n\$timestamp: " . $timestamp . "\n";
    print "\$localTimeStamp: " . $localTimeStamp . "\n";
}

__DATA__

$VAR1 = [
          64513,
          7741354,
          33188,
          1,
          283683,
          6856,
          0,
          0,
          1434028480,
          1434028479,
          1434028479,
          4096,
          0
        ];

Epoch seconds: 1434028479
Date and time: Thu Jun 11 15:14:39 2015

$timestamp: 1434028479
$localTimeStamp: Thu Jun 11 15:14:39 2015

    [download]

    Update: Including conversion epoch seconds to human readable form.

    Hope this helps.

    Seeking for Perl wisdom...on the process of learning...not there...yet!
[reply]
[d/l]
[select]

Back to Seekers of Perl Wisdom