File and Directory Manipulation Functions

Perl provide a goodly number of functions for manipulating directories and files. Often using these functions eliminate the need to use the system function to invoke an external process; in addition, these functions are simply more convenient in many cases. The functions are summarized in Table .

Table: Functions for File and Directory Manipulation

Name	Use	Arguments
chdir	Change current directory	scalar directory name
chmod	Change permissions on files	scalar(mode), list of filenames
chown	Change ownership of files	scalar(uid),scalar(gid),list of files
link	Create hard link to a file	scalar(old file),scalar(newfile)
mkdir	Create a new directory	scalar(filename), scalar(mode)
rename	Rename a file	scalar(oldname),scalar(newname)
rmdir	Remove a directory	scalar(filename)
umask	Display or set umask	scalar(umask)
unlink	Remove a file	list of filenames

Like most perl functions, many of the functions in Table  will use the default argument $_ when called without any arguments, and will return a non-zero value when they are successful, but you should consult perldoc (i.e. perldoc -f function) if there is any doubt.