Bnlang File Stats

File stats are metadata about a file or directory — its size, whether it's a regular file or directory, and when it was last modified. The built-in io module exposes this through io.stat, plus a handful of one-question helpers.

io.stat — Full Metadata Map

io.stat(path) returns a map with these fields:

  • bytes — file size in bytes (number).
  • mtime — last modification time as a Unix timestamp in seconds (number).
  • is_dir — true if the path is a directory.
  • is_file — true if the path is a regular file.
import "io" as io;

var s = io.stat("notes.txt");
print("size:",     s.bytes, "bytes");
print("is file?",  s.is_file);
print("is dir?",   s.is_dir);
print("mtime:",    s.mtime, "seconds since epoch");

Quick Boolean Checks

For yes/no questions, skip the full stat and use the dedicated helpers — they're more readable and avoid loading metadata you don't need.

import "io" as io;

if (io.exists("notes.txt")) {
    print("the file is there");
}

if (io.is_file("notes.txt")) {
    print("and it's a regular file");
}

if (io.is_dir("data")) {
    print("data/ is a directory");
}

Best Practices

  • Use io.exists first when you're not sure a path will be valid — io.stat throws on missing files.
  • Sizes are reported in bytes. Convert in your own code if you want KB / MB.
  • mtime is in seconds; multiply by 1000 if you need milliseconds for the time module.