Python 3 – os.lchflags() Method
The os.lchflags()
method is a built-in Python 3 function that is used to set flags or file status bits of a specified path, but it differs from the os.chflags()
method by taking a symbolic link.
Syntax
Here is the syntax of the os.lchflags()
method:
os.lchflags(path, flags)
Parameters
The os.lchflags()
method requires two parameters:
path (string)
– This is the path to the file or directory.flags (integer)
– This represents the file state bit which is to be set.
The flags
parameter should be followed by the bitwise OR operator (|
) to combine the flags.
Here are some common flags used with os.lchflags()
:
chflags.WUF_IMMUTABLE
: This represents the extended file attribute, used to add the immutable attribute to the file.chflags.WUF_NOUNLINK
: This is used to prevent the file from being deleted, even if its number of links falls to zero.chflags.WUF_APPEND
: This is used to add the append-only attribute to the file.
Return Value
The os.lchflags()
method does not return any value.
Example
Here is an example code that demonstrates how to use the os.lchflags()
method:
import os
# Set the immutable and append-only files attributes to the specified path
os.lchflags("test.txt", os.WUF_IMMUTABLE | os.WUF_APPEND)
This code sets the WUF_IMMUTABLE
and WUF_APPEND
flags to the test.txt
file.
Conclusion
The os.lchflags()
method is a useful function that sets file status bits or flags of a specified file’s symbolic link. The method can be used with different file state bits based on the required results. It is important to ensure that the correct flags are set to avoid potential errors or issues. When in doubt, consult the official Python documentation for more details on the os.lchflags()
method.