Corion, Below is the code I ran. 
#!C:/PERL/bin/perl.exe  -w

use strict;

    my $file = 'c:/Steep/USA Data/State/KY/KY2.gif';

    print "Checking '$file'\n";
    if( -e $file ) {
    
        system "dir $file";
        my $mtime= (stat($file))[9];
        print "Mtime: $mtime\n";
        print "As string: " . localtime($mtime);

    } else {
        print "File '$file' does not exist, skipping\n";
      }

    $file = 'c:/usr/www/steepusa/stage/KY/KY2.gif';

    print "\n\r\n\rChecking '$file'\n";
    if( -e $file ) {
    
        system "dir $file";
        my $mtime= (stat($file))[9];
        print "Mtime: $mtime\n";
        print "As string: " . localtime($mtime);

    } else {
        print "File '$file' does not exist, skipping\n";
      }

[download]
The output follows. 
Checking 'c:/Steep/USA Data/State/KY/KY2.gif'
Parameter format not correct - "Steep"
Mtime: 1415235120
As string: Wed Nov  5 19:52:00 2014

Checking 'c:/usr/www/steepusa/stage/KY/KY2.gif'
Invalid switch - "usr"
Mtime: 1415235120
As string: Wed Nov  5 19:52:00 2014

The system command doesn't seem to like the file name as I've formed it.

In reply to Re^2: comparing 2 file time date stamps by craigt
in thread comparing 2 file time date stamps by craigt

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