Determining command line object type

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

Hello all, Me again. This is a quick one, how can I tell if the object I am working on is a machine or directory or share. The reason is that I would like to make my script accept arguments (paths) to a computer or a share or a logical drive or a directory (remote or local). Examples:
My_script server1
My_script \\server1\SharedArea
My_script \\server\D$
Many Thanks in advance brothers (a little hint with a little example can go a long way - even page number on either Dave Roths books will do - as second option).

Comment on Determining command line object type

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Re: Determining command line object type by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Jun 27, 2002 at 18:14 UTC
More of a question than ans answer but...wouldn't the -X functions (operators?) do (most of?) the testing you need? From perlfunc "-X": `-f File is a plain file. -d File is a directory. -l File is a symbolic link. -p File is a named pipe (FIFO), or Filehandle is a pipe. -S File is a socket. -b File is a block special file. -c File is a character special file. -t Filehandle is opened to a tty.` [download] Otherwise, if this is on a Win32 system - Win32API::GetDriveType and/or Win32::GetFiletype maybe what you need.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Determining command line object type by Rex(Wrecks) (Curate) on Jun 27, 2002 at 17:20 UTC
Update: See BrowserUK's response for handling file types. However you will still need to work in logic to figure out is it is a server. Note: All of what is below is using `system()`, there may be modules out there but I don't know them off the top of my head. ~~First, you can parse for `<drive_letter>:\` to find out if it is a local absolute path.~~ Second, Parse for ^\\<blah> to tell you if there is a UNC path being used. ~~File::Find will be able to tell you if it is a local file.~~ If none of the above is true, try `system("net view \\$firstvar");`, this will tell you if it is a REACHABLE machine Point to note, the difference between a regular share and \\server\d$ is only the fact that d$ is a hidden administrative share. They are both still shares. There will be more error checking you will want to do (such as checking for reachable path if the ^\\ parse is successful), and possibly more corner cases, but this should get you going in the right direction. "Nothing is sure but death and taxes" I say combine the two and its death to all taxes!	[reply] [d/l] [select]