How can I test a file to find out when it was created

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Re: How can I test a file to find out when it was created by davorg (Chancellor) on Oct 02, 2002 at 08:21 UTC
Unix has three file modification times for a file. None of them really register when a file was created. They are: The last modification time The last access time The time the inode was last changed (this is probably closest in meaning to "creation time") You can access these values using stat or thefile test operators (specifically -M, -A and -C). -- <http://www.dave.org.uk> "The first rule of Perl club is you do not talk about Perl club." -- Chip Salzenberg	[reply]
Re: How can I test a file to find out when it was created by Abigail-II (Bishop) on Oct 02, 2002 at 09:50 UTC
The time the inode was last changed (this is probably closest in meaning to "creation time" Considering that the inode changes even if you change the access rights, I wouldn't make that claim. Abigail	[reply]
Re: How can I test a file to find out when it was created by Abigail-II (Bishop) on Oct 02, 2002 at 09:46 UTC
On Unix systems, you cannot. "File creation" time isn't a useful concept. How would you define it? What would happen if you move a file? Create a link? Remove a link? Remove all the content? Change all the content? Abigail	[reply]
Re: How can I test a file to find out when it was created by hotshot (Prior) on Oct 02, 2002 at 07:29 UTC
Use perl built in function stat. Hotshot	[reply]
Re: Re: How can I test a file to find out when it was created by BazB (Priest) on Oct 02, 2002 at 07:42 UTC
stat will tell you the last modified time - mtime - without a problem, however it's not possible to tell (on most/all platforms) when a file was created - only the last time it's inode was modified - ctime. You might also find the standard File::stat module of use - it allows name based access to the various bits of info that stat returns. Cheers BazB	[reply]