diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/coreutils.texi | 7 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | src/stat.c | 2 |
2 files changed, 7 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/doc/coreutils.texi b/doc/coreutils.texi index f7bdc4274..eb5159a44 100644 --- a/doc/coreutils.texi +++ b/doc/coreutils.texi @@ -11738,7 +11738,7 @@ The valid @var{format} directives for files with @option{--format} and @option{--printf} are: @itemize @bullet -@item %a - Access rights in octal +@item %a - Access rights in octal (note @samp{#} and @samp{0} printf flags) @item %A - Access rights in human readable form @item %b - Number of blocks allocated (see @samp{%B}) @item %B - The size in bytes of each block reported by @samp{%b} @@ -11770,6 +11770,11 @@ The valid @var{format} directives for files with @option{--format} and @item %Z - Time of last status change as seconds since Epoch @end itemize +The @samp{%a} format prints the octal mode, and so it is useful +to control the zero padding of the output with the @samp{#} and @samp{0} +printf flags. For example to pad to at least 3 wide while making larger +numbers unambiguously octal, you can use @samp{%#03a}. + The @samp{%t} and @samp{%T} formats operate on the st_rdev member of the stat(2) structure, and are only defined for character and block special files. On some systems or file types, st_rdev may be used to diff --git a/src/stat.c b/src/stat.c index 3c6926448..e11e4318f 100644 --- a/src/stat.c +++ b/src/stat.c @@ -1453,7 +1453,7 @@ Display file or file system status.\n\ fputs (_("\n\ The valid format sequences for files (without --file-system):\n\ \n\ - %a access rights in octal\n\ + %a access rights in octal (note '#' and '0' printf flags)\n\ %A access rights in human readable form\n\ %b number of blocks allocated (see %B)\n\ %B the size in bytes of each block reported by %b\n\ |