use strict;

my $file = shift or die 'gimme a file!';

die   'no such file' unless -e $file;
print "directory\n"  if -d $file;
print "plain file\n" if -f $file;
print "sym link\n"   if -l $file;
[download]

use strict;

my $file = shift or die 'gimme a file!';
die 'no such file' unless -e $file;

while (<DATA>) {
   my ($test,$msg) = split(/\s+/,$_,2);
   my $sub = eval "sub { $test shift }";
   print $msg if $sub->($file);
}

__DATA__
-r  File is readable by effective uid/gid.
-w  File is writable by effective uid/gid.
-x  File is executable by effective uid/gid.
-o  File is owned by effective uid.

-R  File is readable by real uid/gid.
-W  File is writable by real uid/gid.
-X  File is executable by real uid/gid.
-O  File is owned by real uid.

-z  File has zero size.
-s  File has nonzero size (returns size).

-f  File is a plain file.
-d  File is a directory.
-l  File is a symbolic link.
-p  File is a named pipe (FIFO), or Filehandle is a pipe.
-S  File is a socket.
-b  File is a block special file.
-c  File is a character special file.
-t  Filehandle is opened to a tty.

-u  File has setuid bit set.
-g  File has setgid bit set.
-k  File has sticky bit set.

-T  File is an ASCII text file.
-B  File is a "binary" file (opposite of -T).
[download]

jeffa

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B--
H---H---H---H---H---H---
(the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)