Perhaps I interpreted it(i.e. your question) wrong the first time.
If the original file is oldfile and the link you are creating is newfile, the call would be: 
$stat=symlink("oldfile","newfile");

[download]
This is known to us.
newfile is created even if oldfile does not exist. It is not an error. Is that what you wanted to ask?
You might verify if oldfile exists using -e test. 
if(-e $oldfile)
{
   #create symlink
}
else
{
   #Report $oldfile doesnt exist!

[download]
}

In reply to Re^2: error handling using symlink by cheekuperl
in thread error handling using symlink by doubledecker

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