---
title: generationNumber
framework: system
role: symbol
role_heading: Instance Property
path: system/stat/generationnumber
---

# generationNumber

File generation number

## Declaration

```swift
var generationNumber: Int { get set }
```

## Discussion

Discussion The file generation number is used to distinguish between different files that have used the same inode over time. The corresponding C property is st_gen. note: Only available on Darwin, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD.