perl chmod tells me file does not exist (but it does)

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

Hello. I have this code, which is an attempt to duplicate the permissions of one file onto another:

   my $mode = (stat( $original_file ))[2];
   my $perms = sprintf "%04o", $mode & 07777;
   chmod( $target_file, oct($perms) ) or warn "Could not chmod '$targe
+t_file' to $perms: $!\n";
[download]

Perl warns me:

Could not chmod '/data/dmu/share/Product/PMprofile' to 0644: A file or
+ directory in the path name does not exist.
[download]

But it bloody well too does exist:

> ll /data/dmu/share/Product/PMprofile
-rw-rw-rw-   1 dfilmer   wheel         1015 Jun 19 2012  /data/dmu/sha
+re/Product/PMprofile
[download]

I seek wisdom!!! Why does chmod not see my file? Thanks!

Comment on perl chmod tells me file does not exist (but it does) Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: perl chmod tells me file does not exist (but it does) by stephen (Priest) on May 17, 2013 at 22:07 UTC
It should be: `chmod( oct($perms), $target_file );` [download] stephen	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: perl chmod tells me file does not exist (but it does) by davidfilmer (Sexton) on May 17, 2013 at 22:10 UTC
Holy crap - is it really that simple and that stupid? I got the args mixed up??? Gaaaa!!!! Thanks!!!!	[reply]
Re: perl chmod tells me file does not exist (but it does) by hippo (Bishop) on May 17, 2013 at 22:06 UTC
Perhaps because you have given the args to chmod in the wrong order?	[reply]
Re: perl chmod tells me file does not exist (but it does) by Anneq (Vicar) on May 17, 2013 at 22:30 UTC
Sometimes your script may not be operating in the directory you think it is (e.g., script run under a web server), or there may be a typo in a file name, or some other problem, etc. Comment out the chmod line and try this to see if you get what you are expecting: `my $original_mode = (stat( $original_file ))[2]; my $target_mode = (stat( $target_file ))[2]; print "Original Filename: $original_file\nOriginal mode: $original_mod +e\n"; print "Target Filename: $target_filename\ntarget mode: $target_mode\n" +;` [download] Anne	[reply] [d/l]

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