function _stat($filename, $type)
    {
        // SFTPv4+ adds an additional 32-bit integer field - flags - to the following:
        $packet = pack('Na*', strlen($filename), $filename);
        if (!$this->_send_sftp_packet($type, $packet)) {
            return false;
        }

        $response = $this->_get_sftp_packet();
        switch ($this->packet_type) {
            case NET_SFTP_ATTRS:
                return $this->_parseAttributes($response);
            case NET_SFTP_STATUS:
                $this->_logError($response);
                return false;
        }

        user_error('Expected SSH_FXP_ATTRS or SSH_FXP_STATUS');
        return false;
    }