[TC10.51] Issue: File change date is less than file create date

[Dalai]

If you remember for a moment that the date of file creation can not be later than the date of its modification

That's what I was trying to explain above: When copying an existing file to an empty directory, TC copies the file's modification date, but the creation date gets set to the current time. As a result, the creation date is newer than the file's modification date.

Why? Original file will be colored accordingly its creation date too.

True, but the creation dates of both files are different, despite the files being absolutely identical in every other aspect, content, modification date and so on. That's the point I've been trying to make!

What the `default view "Long"` is?

Sorry, I mean "Full" instead of "Long". I edited my post above.

Why just not add a combobox into `Find Files -> Advanced`:

If you think the existing feature should be extended, go ahead and post a suggestion. I very much doubt the existing behavior is a bug.

Regards
Dalai

[andry81]

Why? Original file will be colored accordingly its creation date too.

True, but the creation dates of both files are different, despite the files being absolutely identical in every other aspect, content, modification date and so on. That's the point I've been trying to make!

But creation date must be changed. File copying is a file creation. That's the point then?

[Horst.Epp]

Why? Original file will be colored accordingly its creation date too.

True, but the creation dates of both files are different, despite the files being absolutely identical in every other aspect, content, modification date and so on. That's the point I've been trying to make!

But creation date must be changed. File copying is a file creation. That's the point then?

No, file copying doesn't create a new content, only a copy of the current one.

[Dalai]

The file creation date is the time when a file/directory was created on a specific volume/file-system. Although TC can copy this timestamp as well (CopyAllTimes=1, as I mentioned before), I don't think it would be a good idea to transfer the file creation date by default; the user could lose relevant or important information.

I just wanted to make you sure you're aware of this whole "creation date can be newer than the modification date" thing. And what it means in regards to TC's search which is used to ccolorize files/directories.

And, by the way, it works via the Age plugin, I just tested it.

Code: Select all

age | Created | < | 1 | Days

does exactly what you wanted to achieve with "Not older than 1 days".

Regards
Dalai

[andry81]

No, file copying doesn't create a new content, only a copy of the current one.

Not the content, It does create new instance of content which is the definition of a file. And of cause new instance must has new creation date.

I don't think it would be a good idea to transfer the file creation date by default

It must be controlled by OS of cause.

And, by the way, it works via the Age plugin, I just tested it.

Code: Select all

age | Created | < | 1 | Days

does exactly what you wanted to achieve with "Not older than 1 days".

I did not want that. I've wanted to use the max of 2:

highlight_function(max(create_time, change_time), current_time)

[Dalai]

I did not want that. I've wanted to use the max of 2:

highlight_function(max(create_time, change_time), current_time)

Well, then specify the search according to your needs. Maybe something like

Code: Select all

[X] Search in plugins    Combine with ( ) AND   (o) OR
age | Created | < | 1 | Days
age | Changed | < | 1 | Days

Or change it to AND. There are a lot of ways the search can be defined, and I'm pretty sure the one you want is among them.

Regards
Dalai

[andry81]

Well, then specify the search according to your needs. Maybe something like

Code: Select all

[X] Search in plugins    Combine with ( ) AND   (o) OR
age | Created | < | 1 | Days
age | Changed | < | 1 | Days

Or change it to AND. There are a lot of ways the search can be defined, and I'm pretty sure the one you want is among them.

This will conflict with existing plugins, because they already has color filters (like Extended Menus or something like that).

[petermad]

This will conflict with existing plugins, because they already has color filters (like Extended Menus or something like that).

Just give your saved search (with Age) a name that is not already used.

[AntonyD]

That's what I was trying to explain above: When copying an existing file to an empty directory, TC copies the file's modification date, but the creation date gets set to the current time. As a result, the creation date is newer than the file's modification date.

Hmmm, why it was decided to do so??? Can we somehow for sure call Mr.Ghisler here - would it be very useful to get from his hands full explanations - how and why dates are being used/created/modified for files.

[Horst.Epp]

That's what I was trying to explain above: When copying an existing file to an empty directory, TC copies the file's modification date, but the creation date gets set to the current time. As a result, the creation date is newer than the file's modification date.

Hmmm, why it was decided to do so??? Can we somehow for sure call Mr.Ghisler here - would it be very useful to get from his hands full explanations - how and why dates are being used/created/modified for files.

The reason is simple, Explorer does it exactly this way.
Try it and you know Christians answer in advance.

[Hacker]

Isn't it moreof a filesystem question, which date means what? And file managers simply adhere to it (mostly by doing nothing special).

Roman

[Dalai]

It's possible that it just works this way and TC doesn't do anything special in regard to the file modification date when just copying files. However, there are several threads on this forum where users complained that the file modification date wasn't set properly (mostly due to anti-virus software taking a long time to scan a file). One thing I'm pretty sure about: When TC unpacks a file, it sets the modification date. Maybe these threads were about unpacking, altough I doubt that's the case for all of them.

Anyway, I doubt that TC's behavior will be changed after so many years, especially when it comes to the "Not older than" part of TC's search. Changing that from modification date to creation date would break saved searchs all around the world using that search parameter.

Regards
Dalai

[ghisler(Author)]

Indeed there are no plans to change this behaviour. Even the Windows Explorer only copies the modification date when copying a file. The meaning of the 3 dates is:
1. Creation date: When was the file added to the file system. When copying, this was when the file was copied. When renaming/moving within the same drive, this was when the file was initially created. When moving to a different drive, this was when the file was moved since a new entry is being created on the other drive.
2. Modification date: That's when the content of the file was changed. This is either when creating a new file, or modifing its content. When copying, no new content is being created, so the modification date stays the same.
3. Access date: When the file was last read from or written to.

The most important one is certainly the modification date, it tells you when actual file content was modified. Rsync seems to keep the modification date too when downloading files. So when you rsync files to your PC and then search for files which are max x days old, you will find files where the content was modified within these x days (by yourself locally, or someone else remotely). You will not find files which were downloaded by rsync within these x days. Both searches have their meanings.