These functions test for permission to access a file in specific ways.
@defun file-exists-p filename
-This function returns @code{t} if a file named @var{filename} appears to
-exist. This does not mean you can necessarily read the file, only that
-you can find out its attributes. (On Unix and GNU/Linux, this is true
-if the file exists and you have execute permission on the containing
-directories, regardless of the protection of the file itself.)
+This function returns @code{t} if a file named @var{filename} appears
+to exist. This does not mean you can necessarily read the file, only
+that you can find out its attributes. (On Unix and GNU/Linux, this is
+true if the file exists and you have execute permission on the
+containing directories, regardless of the protection of the file
+itself.)
If the file does not exist, or if fascist access control policies
prevent you from finding the attributes of the file, this function
returns @code{nil}.
+
+Directories are files, so @code{file-exists-p} returns @code{t} when
+given a directory name. However, symbolic links are treated
+specially; @code{file-exists-p} returns @code{t} for a symbolic link
+name only if the target file exists.
@end defun
@defun file-readable-p filename
@defun file-symlink-p filename
@cindex file symbolic links
-If the file @var{filename} is a symbolic link, the @code{file-symlink-p}
-function returns the file name to which it is linked. This may be the
-name of a text file, a directory, or even another symbolic link, or it
-may be a nonexistent file name.
+If the file @var{filename} is a symbolic link, the
+@code{file-symlink-p} function returns the link target as a string.
+(Determining the file name that the link points to from the target is
+nontrivial.)
If the file @var{filename} is not a symbolic link (or there is no such file),
@code{file-symlink-p} returns @code{nil}.
@deffn Command copy-file oldname newname &optional ok-if-exists time
This command copies the file @var{oldname} to @var{newname}. An
-error is signaled if @var{oldname} does not exist.
+error is signaled if @var{oldname} does not exist. If @var{newname}
+names a directory, it copies @var{oldname} into that directory,
+preserving its final name component.
If @var{time} is non-@code{nil}, then this function gives the new file
the same last-modified time that the old one has. (This works on only
some operating systems.) If setting the time gets an error,
@code{copy-file} signals a @code{file-date-error} error.
+This function copies the file modes, too.
+
In an interactive call, this function prompts for @var{filename} and
@var{newname} in the minibuffer; also, it requests confirmation if
@var{newname} already exists.
This function returns @var{filename}'s final ``extension,'' if any,
after applying @code{file-name-sans-versions} to remove any
version/backup part. It returns @code{nil} for extensionless file
-names such as @file{foo}. If @var{period} is non-nil, then the
+names such as @file{foo}. If @var{period} is non-@code{nil}, then the
returned value includes the period that delimits the extension, and if
@var{filename} has no extension, the value is @code{""}. If the last
component of a file name begins with a @samp{.}, that @samp{.} doesn't
@defun substitute-in-file-name filename
This function replaces environment variables references in
-@var{filename} with the environment variable values. Following standard
-Unix shell syntax, @samp{$} is the prefix to substitute an environment
-variable value.
+@var{filename} with the environment variable values. Following
+standard Unix shell syntax, @samp{$} is the prefix to substitute an
+environment variable value. If the input contains @samp{$$}, that is
+converted to @samp{$}; this gives the user a way to ``quote'' a
+@samp{$}.
The environment variable name is the series of alphanumeric characters
(including underscores) that follow the @samp{$}. If the character following
the @samp{$} is a @samp{@{}, then the variable name is everything up to the
matching @samp{@}}.
+Calling @code{substitute-in-file-name} on output produced by
+@code{substitute-in-file-name} tends to give incorrect results. For
+instance, use of @samp{$$} to quote a single @samp{$} won't work
+properly, and @samp{$} in an environment variable's value could lead
+to repeated substitution. Therefore, programs that call this function
+and put the output where it will be passed to this function need to
+double all @samp{$} characters to prevent subsequent incorrect
+results.
+
@c Wordy to avoid overfull hbox. --rjc 15mar92
Here we assume that the environment variable @code{HOME}, which holds
the user's home directory name, has value @samp{/xcssun/users/rms}.
The @var{handler} then needs to figure out whether to handle
@var{filename} or @var{dirname}.
+If the specified file name matches more than one handler, the one
+whose match starts last in the file name gets precedence. This rule
+is chosen so that handlers for jobs such as uncompression are handled
+first, before handlers for jobs such as remote file access.
+
Here are the operations that a magic file name handler gets to handle:
@ifnottex
multiple handlers, and for operations that have two file names that may
each have handlers.
+@kindex safe-magic (@r{property})
+Handlers that don't really do anything specal for actual access to the
+file---such as the ones that implement completion of host names for
+remote file names---should have a non-@code{nil} @code{safe-magic}
+property. For instance, Emacs normally ``protects'' directory names
+it finds in @code{PATH} from becoming magic, if they look like magic
+file names, by prefixing them with @samp{/:}. But if the handler that
+would be used for them has a non-@code{nil} @code{safe-magic}
+property, the @samp{/:} is not added.
+
@defvar inhibit-file-name-handlers
This variable holds a list of handlers whose use is presently inhibited
for a certain operation.