how to check if a path is actual or symbolic link

Question

Hi,

I am writing my own shell program. I am currently implementing the cd command using chdir. I want to implement the cd with the below options : -P Do not follow symbolic links -L Follow symbolic links (default)

My query is that , when a given path is entered on the shell how to figure out if the path is a symbolic link or an absolute path progamatically?

Thanks

Answer 1

Check out the lstat() function , you need to use S_ISLNK on the st_mode field.

Answer 2

if [ -L /path/to/file ]; then
  echo "is a symlink!"
else
  echo "not a symlink! maybe a directory or regular file, or does not exist"
end