'stat' is 'date +format' for files:
$ stat -c %s ~/me.jpg # size
520073
$ stat -c %U ~/me.jpg # owner
cbe
No more parsing of 'ls' output or similar hacks.
It also shows detailed information about files.
$ stat ~/me.jpg
File: „/home/cbe/me.jpg“
Size: 520073 Blocks: 1024 IO Block: 4096 reguläre Datei
Device: fe03h/65027d Inode: 12427268 Links: 1
Access: (0600/-rw-------) Uid: ( 2062/ cbe) Gid: ( 2062/ cbe)
Access: 2010-06-06 12:58:07.000000000 +0200
Modify: 2010-04-09 22:38:46.000000000 +0200
Change: 2010-04-26 14:18:00.000000000 +0200
It supports similar features for stat'ing filesystems.
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