modification dates won't change!

[dterrors]

I have WinXP sp2 (genuine copy, not pirated).

I'm noticing that modification dates never change on my files. If I
open a text file, change it, and save, the modification date stays the
same. The change I make DOES get saved, but the mod dates remain the
same. This is a problem actually because my compiler thinks it
doesn't have to compile when it really does.

What could cause this?

My clock is set correctly...

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have WinXP sp2 (genuine copy, not pirated).

I'm noticing that modification dates never change on my files. If I
open a text file, change it, and save, the modification date stays the
same. The change I make DOES get saved, but the mod dates remain the
same. This is a problem actually because my compiler thinks it
doesn't have to compile when it really does.

What could cause this?

My clock is set correctly...

You did not say which application fails to update the date
stamp, so let's run a little experiment in a tightly controlled
environment. Do this:

1. Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
2. Type these commands:
echo %time% > c:\test.txt {Enter}
dir c:\test.txt >> c:\test.txt {Enter}
Now wait five minutes.
echo %time% >> c:\test.txt {Enter}
dir c:\test.txt >> c:\test.txt {Enter}
notepad c:\test.txt {Enter}

Now paste the contents of this file into your reply.

 

[dterrors]

You did not say which application fails to update the date
stamp, so let's run a little experiment in a tightly controlled
environment. Do this:

1. Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
2. Type these commands:
echo %time% > c:\test.txt {Enter}
dir c:\test.txt >> c:\test.txt {Enter}
Now wait five minutes.
echo %time% >> c:\test.txt {Enter}
dir c:\test.txt >> c:\test.txt {Enter}
notepad c:\test.txt {Enter}

Now paste the contents of this file into your reply.

You're right. It's the applications. But I still need to fix this.
If I change a file with notepad (or with your dos prompt thing), it
will update the modification time. But if I change a file in either
Notepad++ or in Flex Builder 2, it's modification date won't change.
Why not?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

You're right. It's the applications. But I still need to fix this.
If I change a file with notepad (or with your dos prompt thing), it
will update the modification time. But if I change a file in either
Notepad++ or in Flex Builder 2, it's modification date won't change.
Why not?

This is clearly not a Windows problem but a Notepad++ and
a FlexBuilder2 problem. You need to ask the respective
helpdesks about what's going on - the Windows XP newsgroup
is really the wrong place. You should be aware that every
application has full control over the date stamp of the files
it writes to disk. Windows has no say in the matter!

 

[dterrors]

This is clearly not a Windows problem but a Notepad++ and
a FlexBuilder2 problem. You need to ask the respective
helpdesks about what's going on - the Windows XP newsgroup
is really the wrong place. You should be aware that every
application has full control over the date stamp of the files
it writes to disk. Windows has no say in the matter!

Fair enough, but fyi I didn't know it was an application problem when
I posted the question. (I actually figured it worked like ext2 or
ext3 which change timestamps automatically, but fat32 and ntfs aren't
like that apparently.)

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Fair enough, but fyi I didn't know it was an application problem when
I posted the question. (I actually figured it worked like ext2 or
ext3 which change timestamps automatically, but fat32 and ntfs aren't
like that apparently.)

I did not know either that your application was at fault but
when faced with apparently contradictory results then I try
to run some experiments to drill down to the real cause.
You could have run a simple experiment with notepad.exe -
it would have pointed you in the right direction straight away.
Futhermore, when creating a post, it's a good idea to provide
lots of details such as "When I save a file with FlexBuilder2
then the date stamp does not change". You would probably
have latched on to the underlying cause while writing your
post!

 

[dterrors]

I did not know either that your application was at fault but
when faced with apparently contradictory results then I try
to run some experiments to drill down to the real cause.
You could have run a simple experiment with notepad.exe -
it would have pointed you in the right direction straight away.
Futhermore, when creating a post, it's a good idea to provide
lots of details such as "When I save a file with FlexBuilder2
then the date stamp does not change". You would probably
have latched on to the underlying cause while writing your
post!

Yes and no. I agree that I should've mentioned the apps I tried.
However, I don't agree that I was supposed to know to try
notepad.exe.. I did try two apps to get corroboration. There's no
more reason to try notepad as the second app than there is to try flex
builder as the second app. My "simple experiment" with flex builder
did not "in the right direction straight away".