lstat FILEHANDLE
lstat EXPR
lstat DIRHANDLE
lstat

Does the same thing as the stat function (including setting the special _ filehandle) but stats a symbolic link instead of the file the symbolic link points to. If symbolic links are unimplemented on your system, a normal stat is done. For much more detailed information, please see the documentation for stat.

If EXPR is omitted, stats $_.

Portability issues: "lstat" in perlport.