From: Bill Thompson (bill.thompson@GOODYEAR.COM)
Date: Mon Aug 05 2002 - 09:59:07 EDT
This has been discussed many times before.
UNIX does not store the creation time of a file so there is no way to get
it.
UNIX stores three times know as atime (access time), ctime (change time),
and mtime (modification time).
Here is one of the better definitions of the three times taken from "UNIX
Power Tools":
16.5 The Three UNIX File Times
When you're talking to experienced UNIX users, you often hear the terms
"change time" and "modification time" thrown around cavalierly. To most
people (and most dictionaries), a change and a modification are the same
thing. What's the difference here?
The difference between a change and a modification is the difference
between altering the label on a package and altering its contents. If
someone says chmod a-w myfile, that is a change; if someone says echo foo
>> myfile, that is a modification. A change modifies the file's inode; a
modification modifies the contents of the file itself. [A file's
modification time is also called the timestamp. -JP ]
As long as we're talking about change times and modification times, we
might as well mention "access times," too. The access time is the last time
the file was read or written. So reading a file updates its access time,
but not its change time (information about the file wasn't changed) or its
modification time (the file itself wasn't changed).
Incidentally, the change time or "ctime" is incorrectly documented as the
"creation time" in many places, including some UNIX manuals. Do not believe
them.
Bill Thompson
Sr UNIX Systems Administrator
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
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----- Original Message -----
From: <fmu@OERAG.DE>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.aix-l
To: <aix-l@Princeton.EDU>
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2002 6:31 AM
Subject: creation time from a file
> Hi *,
>
> is there a way or command to show the creation time from a file?
> The 'istat' command gives only the modification, accessed and update
time.
> The 'fileplace' command only the placement of a file.
>
> Is it possible to show the creation time with a filesystem debugger?
>
>
> Best regards,
> Frank Mueller
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