function file_exists($path)
    {
        if ($this->use_stat_cache) {
            $path = $this->_realpath($path);

            $result = $this->_query_stat_cache($path);

            if (isset($result)) {
                // return true if $result is an array or if it's an stdClass object
                return $result !== false;
            }
        }

        return $this->stat($path) !== false;
    }