What does the error message "unable to stat" actually mean?

I have a error appearing in the logs intermittently stating "script not
found or unable to stat: /apache/htdocs/xxx".

Now I know for a fact that the script definitely does exist and is
executable.

This is a old site and the script has been successfully executed numerous
times before and after the error message appears. So what does the "unable
to stat" part of the error message actually mean?

TIA,
Pep.

Davide Bianchi wrote:

> On 2005-04-26, Pep <pep@nowhere.com> wrote:
>> I have a error appearing in the logs intermittently stating "script not
>> found or unable to stat: /apache/htdocs/xxx".
>
> "stat" is the standard function used by lots of languages (perl and
> C the first) to check for the existences of a file and the related
> permissions, "unable to stat" means: I can't even see the directory!
>
> Now, if the message appears intermittently, maybe is a problem with
> the filesystem or the filesystem itself is mounted/dismounted.
>
> Davide
>

Thanks very much. I had a feeling that it was related to the stat command
and was just about to start sifting through the apache source code to
confirm this, so you just saved me a lot of time there :-)

Again, thanks, Pep.