Perl Programming/Keywords/-b

The -b keyword

-b is a file test that tests, if the file is a block special file.

It takes one argument, either a FILENAME, a FILEHANDLE, or a DIRHANDLE to test the associated file to see, if something is true about it. If the argument is omitted, it tests $_. -b returns 1 for true and an empty string for false. If the file doesn't exist or can't be examined, it returns undef and sets $! (errno).

Syntax

  -b DIRHANDLE
  -b EXPRESSION
  -b FILEHANDLE
  -b FILENAME
  -b