docs » hs.fs

Access/inspect the filesystem

Home: http://keplerproject.github.io/luafilesystem

This module is produced by the Kepler Project under the name "Lua File System"

Submodules

API Overview

API Documentation

Functions

attributes
Signature hs.fs.attributes(filepath [, aName]) -> table or string or nil,error
Type Function
Description

Gets the attributes of a file

Parameters:

  • filepath - A string containing the path of a file to inspect
  • aName - An optional attribute name. If this value is specified, only the attribute requested, is returned

Returns:

  • A table with the file attributes corresponding to filepath (or nil followed by an error message in case of error). If the second optional argument is given, then a string is returned with the value of the named attribute. attribute mode is a string, all the others are numbers, and the time related attributes use the same time reference of os.time:
    • dev - A number containing the device the file resides on
    • ino - A number containing the inode of the file
    • mode - A string containing the type of the file (possible values are: file, directory, link, socket, named pipe, char device, block device or other)
    • nlink - A number containing a count of hard links to the file
    • uid - A number containing the user-id of owner
    • gid - A number containing the group-id of owner
    • rdev - A number containing the type of device, for files that are char/block devices
    • access - A number containing the time of last access modification (as seconds since the UNIX epoch)
    • change - A number containing the time of last file status change (as seconds since the UNIX epoch)
    • modification - A number containing the time of the last file contents change (as seconds since the UNIX epoch)
    • creation - A number containing the time the file was created (as seconds since the UNIX epoch)
    • size - A number containing the file size, in bytes
    • blocks - A number containing the number of blocks allocated for file
    • blksize - A number containing the optimal file system I/O blocksize

Notes:

  • This function uses stat() internally thus if the given filepath is a symbolic link, it is followed (if it points to another link the chain is followed recursively) and the information is about the file it refers to. To obtain information about the link itself, see function hs.fs.symlinkAttributes()
chdir
Signature hs.fs.chdir(path) -> true or (nil,error)
Type Function
Description

Changes the current working directory to the given path.

Parameters:

  • path - A string containing the path to change working directory to

Returns:

  • If successful, returns true, otherwise returns nil and an error string
currentDir
Signature hs.fs.currentDir() -> string or (nil,error)
Type Function
Description

Gets the current working directory

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • A string containing the current working directory, or if an error occured, nil and an error string
dir
Signature hs.fs.dir(path) -> iter_fn, dir_obj
Type Function
Description

Creates an iterator for walking a filesystem path

Parameters:

  • path - A string containing a directory to iterate

Returns:

  • An iterator function or nil if the supplied path cannot be iterated
  • A data object to pass to the iterator function or an error message as a string

Notes:

  • The data object should be passed to the iterator function. Each call will return either a string containing the name of an entry in the directory, or nil if there are no more entries.
  • Iteration can also be performed by calling :next() on the data object. Note that if you do this, you must call :close() on the object when you have finished.
  • The iterator function will return nil if the supplied path cannot be iterated, as well as the error message as a string.
  • Example Usage: 
       local iterFn, dirObj = hs.fs.dir("/Users/Guest/Documents")
   if iterFn then
      for file in iterFn, dirObj do
         print(file)
      end
   else
      print(string.format("The following error occurred: %s", dirObj))
   end
displayName
Signature hs.fs.displayName(filepath) -> string
Type Function
Description

Returns the display name of the file or directory at a specified path.

Parameters:

  • filepath - The path to the file or directory

Returns:

  • a string containing the display name of the file or directory at a specified path; returns nil if no file with the specified path exists.
fileUTI
Signature hs.fs.fileUTI(path) -> string or nil
Type Function
Description

Returns the Uniform Type Identifier for the file location specified.

Parameters:

  • path - the path to the file to return the UTI for.

Returns:

  • a string containing the Uniform Type Identifier for the file location specified or nil if an error occured
fileUTIalternate
Signature hs.fs.fileUTIalternate(fileUTI, type) -> string
Type Function
Description

Returns the fileUTI's equivalent form in an alternate type specification format.

Parameters:

  • a string containing a file UTI, such as one returned by hs.fs.fileUTI.
  • a string specifying the alternate format for the UTI. This string may be one of the following:
    • extension - as a file extension, commonly used for platform independant file sharing when file metadata can't be guaranteed to be cross-platform compatible. Generally considered unreliable when other file type identification methods are available.
      • mime - as a mime-type, commonly used by Internet applications like web browsers and email applications.
      • pasteboard - as an NSPasteboard type (see hs.pasteboard).
      • ostype - four character file type, most common pre OS X, but still used in some legacy APIs.

Returns:

  • the file UTI in the alternate format or nil if the UTI does not have an alternate of the specified type.
getFinderComments
Signature hs.fs.getFinderComments(path) -> string
Type Function
Description

Get the Finder comments for the file or directory at the specified path

Parameters:

  • path - the path to the file or directory you wish to get the comments of

Returns:

  • a string containing the Finder comments for the file or directory specified. If no comments have been set for the file, returns an empty string. If an error occurs, most commonly an invalid path, this function will throw a Lua error.

Notes:

  • This function uses hs.osascript to access the file comments through AppleScript
getHomeDirectoryAsBookmark
Signature hs.fs.getHomeDirectoryAsBookmark() -> data
Type Function
Description

Returns the Home Directory path as binary encoded bookmark data.

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • Bookmark data.

Notes:

  • This is primarily just intended for testing hs.fs.getPathFromBookmark.
getPathFromBookmark
Signature hs.fs.getPathFromBookmark(data) -> string | nil
Type Function
Description

Gets the file path from a binary encoded bookmark.

Parameters:

  • data - The binary encoded Bookmark.

Returns:

  • A string containing the path to the Bookmark URL or nil if an error occurs.

Notes:

  • A bookmark provides a persistent reference to a file-system resource. When you resolve a bookmark, you obtain a URL to the resource’s current location. A bookmark’s association with a file-system resource (typically a file or folder) usually continues to work if the user moves or renames the resource, or if the user relaunches your app or restarts the system.
lock
Signature hs.fs.lock(filehandle, mode[, start[, length]]) -> true or (nil,error)
Type Function
Description

Locks a file, or part of it

Parameters:

  • filehandle - An open file
  • mode - A string containing either "r" for a shared read lock, or "w" for an exclusive write lock
  • start - An optional number containing an offset into the file to start the lock at. Defaults to 0
  • length - An optional number containing the length of the file to lock. Defaults to the full size of the file

Returns:

  • True if the lock was obtained successfully, otherwise nil and an error string
lockDir
Signature hs.fs.lockDir(path, [seconds_stale]) -> lock or (nil,error)
Type Function
Description

Locks a directory

Parameters:

  • path - A string containing the path to a directory
  • seconds_stale - An optional number containing an age (in seconds) beyond which to consider an existing lock as stale. Defaults to INT_MAX (which is, broadly speaking, equivalent to "never")

Returns:

  • If successful, a lock object, otherwise nil and an error string

Notes:

  • This is not a low level OS feature, the lock is actually a file created in the path, called lockfile.lfs, so the directory must be writable for this function to succeed
  • The returned lock object can be freed with lock:free()
  • If the lock already exists and is not stale, the error string returned will be "File exists"
mkdir
Signature hs.fs.mkdir(dirname) -> true or (nil,error)
Type Function
Description

Creates a new directory

Parameters:

  • dirname - A string containing the path of a directory to create

Returns:

  • True if the directory was created, otherwise nil and an error string
pathToAbsolute
Signature hs.fs.pathToAbsolute(filepath) -> string
Type Function
Description

Gets the absolute path of a given path

Parameters:

  • filepath - Any kind of file or directory path, be it relative or not

Returns:

  • A string containing the absolute path of filepath (i.e. one that doesn't intolve ., .. or symlinks)
  • Note that symlinks will be resolved to their target file
rmdir
Signature hs.fs.rmdir(dirname) -> true or (nil,error)
Type Function
Description

Removes an existing directory

Parameters:

  • dirname - A string containing the path to a directory to remove

Returns:

  • True if the directory was removed, otherwise nil and an error string
setFinderComments
Signature hs.fs.setFinderComments(path, comment) -> boolean
Type Function
Description

Set the Finder comments for the file or directory at the specified path to the comment specified

Parameters:

  • path - the path to the file or directory you wish to set the comments of
  • comment - a string specifying the comment to set. If this parameter is missing or is an explicit nil, the existing comment is cleared.

Returns:

  • true on success; on error, most commonly an invalid path, this function will throw a Lua error.

Notes:

  • This function uses hs.osascript to access the file comments through AppleScript
symlinkAttributes
Signature hs.fs.symlinkAttributes (filepath [, aname]) -> table or string or nil,error
Type Function
Description

Gets the attributes of a symbolic link

Parameters:

  • filepath - A string containing the path of a link to inspect
  • aName - An optional attribute name. If this value is specified, only the attribute requested, is returned

Returns:

  • A table or string if the values could be found, otherwise nil and an error string.

Notes:

  • The return values for this function are identical to those provided by hs.fs.attributes()
tagsAdd
Signature hs.fs.tagsAdd(filepath, tags)
Type Function
Description

Adds one or more tags to the Finder tags of a file

Parameters:

  • filepath - A string containing the path of a file
  • tags - A table containing one or more strings, each containing a tag name

Returns:

  • true if the tags were updated; throws a lua error if an error occurs updating the tags
tagsGet
Signature hs.fs.tagsGet(filepath) -> table or nil
Type Function
Description

Gets the Finder tags of a file

Parameters:

  • filepath - A string containing the path of a file

Returns:

  • A table containing the list of the file's tags, or nil if the file has no tags assigned; throws a lua error if an error accessing the file occurs
tagsRemove
Signature hs.fs.tagsRemove(filepath, tags)
Type Function
Description

Removes Finder tags from a file

Parameters:

  • filepath - A string containing the path of a file
  • tags - A table containing one or more strings, each containing a tag name

Returns:

  • true if the tags were updated; throws a lua error if an error occurs updating the tags
tagsSet
Signature hs.fs.tagsSet(filepath, tags)
Type Function
Description

Sets the Finder tags of a file, removing any that are already set

Parameters:

  • filepath - A string containing the path of a file
  • tags - A table containing zero or more strings, each containing a tag name

Returns:

  • true if the tags were set; throws a lua error if an error occurs setting the new tags
temporaryDirectory
Signature hs.fs.temporaryDirectory() -> string
Type Function
Description

Returns the path of the temporary directory for the current user.

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • The path to the system designated temporary directory for the current user.
touch
Signature hs.fs.touch(filepath [, atime [, mtime]]) -> true or (nil,error)
Type Function
Description

Updates the access and modification times of a file

Parameters:

  • filepath - A string containing the path of a file to touch
  • atime - An optional number containing the new access time of the file to set (as seconds since the Epoch). Defaults to now
  • mtime - An optional number containing the new modification time of the file to set (as seconds since the Epoch). Defaults to the value of atime

Returns:

  • True if the operation was successful, otherwise nil and an error string
unlock
Signature hs.fs.unlock(filehandle[, start[, length]]) -> true or (nil,error)
Type Function
Description

Unlocks a file or a part of it.

Parameters:

  • filehandle - An open file
  • start - An optional number containing an offset from the start of the file, to unlock. Defaults to 0
  • length - An optional number containing the length of file to unlock. Defaults to the full size of the file

Returns:

  • True if the unlock succeeded, otherwise nil and an error string