diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | lispref/files.texi | 18 |
1 files changed, 12 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/lispref/files.texi b/lispref/files.texi index 0c66a3602e4..b568656e4ce 100644 --- a/lispref/files.texi +++ b/lispref/files.texi @@ -717,15 +717,21 @@ or directories unless otherwise noted. These functions test for permission to access a file in specific ways. @defun file-exists-p filename -This function returns @code{t} if a file named @var{filename} appears to -exist. This does not mean you can necessarily read the file, only that -you can find out its attributes. (On Unix and GNU/Linux, this is true -if the file exists and you have execute permission on the containing -directories, regardless of the protection of the file itself.) +This function returns @code{t} if a file named @var{filename} appears +to exist. This does not mean you can necessarily read the file, only +that you can find out its attributes. (On Unix and GNU/Linux, this is +true if the file exists and you have execute permission on the +containing directories, regardless of the protection of the file +itself.) If the file does not exist, or if fascist access control policies prevent you from finding the attributes of the file, this function returns @code{nil}. + +Directories are files, so @code{file-exists-p} returns @code{t} when +given a directory name. However, symbolic links are treated +specially; @code{file-exists-p} returns @code{t} for a symbolic link +name only if the target file exists. @end defun @defun file-readable-p filename @@ -1476,7 +1482,7 @@ This function returns the nondirectory part of @var{filename}. This function returns @var{filename}'s final ``extension,'' if any, after applying @code{file-name-sans-versions} to remove any version/backup part. It returns @code{nil} for extensionless file -names such as @file{foo}. If @var{period} is non-nil, then the +names such as @file{foo}. If @var{period} is non-@code{nil}, then the returned value includes the period that delimits the extension, and if @var{filename} has no extension, the value is @code{""}. If the last component of a file name begins with a @samp{.}, that @samp{.} doesn't |