Node.js stats.ctimeNs Property

The stats.ctimeNs property is an inbuilt application programming interface of the fs.Stats class is used to get the timestamp when the file status has been changed last time since the POSIX epoch expressed in nanoseconds.

Syntax:

stats.ctimeNs;

Parameters: Properties does not have any parameter, but during creation of stats object {bigint:true} must be passed as options.

Return Value: It returns a number or BigInt value that represents the timestamp when the file status has been changed last time since the POSIX epoch expressed in nanoseconds.

Below examples illustrate the use of stats.ctimeNs property in Node.js:

Example 1:

// Node.js program to demonstrate the
// stats.ctimeNs property

// Accessing fs module
const fs = require('fs');

// Calling stats.ctimeNs property
// from fs.Stats class using stat
fs.stat('./', { bigint: true }, (err, stats) => {
    if (err) throw err;

    // The timestamp when the file status
    // has been changed last time (in NS)
    console.log("Using stat: " + stats.ctimeNs);
});

// Using lstat
fs.lstat('./filename.txt',
    { bigint: true }, (err, stats) => {
        if (err) throw err;

        // The timestamp when the file status
        // has been changed last time (in NS)
        console.log("Using lstat: " + stats.ctimeNs);
    });

Output:

Using stat: 1592665604516105.7
Using lstat: 1592665807796265

Example 2:

// Node.js program to demonstrate the
// stats.ctimeNs property

// Accessing fs module
const fs = require('fs').promises;

// Calling fs.Stats stats.ctimeNs
(async () => {
    const stats = await fs.stat(
        './filename.txt', { bigint: true });

    // The timestamp when the file
    // status has been changed last
    // time (in NS)
    console.log("Using stat synchronous: "
                + stats.ctimeNs);
})().catch(console.error)

Output:

Using stat synchronous: 1592665807796265

Note: The above program will compile and run by using the node filename.js command and use the file_path correctly.

Reference: https://nodejs.org/api/fs.html#fs_stats_ctimens