error handling using symlink

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

Monks,

I'm checking the return code of symlink using the following code. But, it is not reporting any error if source link is not existing. Is there any better way of handling this?

use strict;

my ($link1, $link2);
# source
$link1 = '/var/tmp/sample.txt;

#destination
$link2 = '/tmp/sample.txt';

my $stat = symlink("$link1", "$link2");

if ( $stat ) {
   print "Link got created \n";
}
else {
   print "Link not created \n";
}
[download]

Comment on error handling using symlink Download Code

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Re: error handling using symlink by cheekuperl (Monk) on Jun 18, 2012 at 07:19 UTC
See perldoc for symlink	[reply]
Re^2: error handling using symlink by cheekuperl (Monk) on Jun 18, 2012 at 08:11 UTC
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] }	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^3: error handling using symlink by doubledecker (Scribe) on Jun 18, 2012 at 09:11 UTC
cheekuperl, you're right now. Even though old file doesn't exists, it is creating the symlink which I don't want it. Yes, we can use filetest operations before creating the symlink.	[reply]
Re^4: error handling using symlink by MidLifeXis (Monsignor) on Jun 18, 2012 at 13:05 UTC