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[Discuss] Directory mode: Directory date in flat lists   [Discuss]

By: Ian Binnie   Homepage   Sydney  
Date: Jun 05,2011 at 05:05
In Response to: [Discuss] Directory mode: Directory date in flat lists (John Gruener)

> > > As Kim pointed out, what you are seeing is the last Write date,
> which
> > > in the case of NTFS (if I'm not mistaken) is in fact the last Write
> date
> > > of the youngest file.
>
> > No. The last write date of the directory is *sometimes* (but not
> > always) the same as the last write date of the youngest file. If I
> copy
> > or move a file to a directory then the directory will get its last
> write
> > date changed but the last write date of the file will not be changed.
> And
> > if I edit a file the last write date of the file gets changed but not
> the
> > last write date of the directory.
>
> OK, then I was mistaken. Thanks for the correction.
>
> In any case, I agree that the date NTFS shows as the Write date is
> relatively useless.
>
> The FAT system appears to be more useful in this regard, as it appears
> to usually show the Creation date. There are exceptions when a later date
> is shown as the Write date, but I've not yet figured out why. Neither
> renaming it nor changing its attributes change the Write date, nor does
> creating a new file or subdirectory.
>
> Bottom line is, the Write date in neither system is very useful.

My understanding is that the directory last write date records when the DIRECTORY was changed i.e. by adding or removing some content.

This is useful as it identifies these cases and is convenient for finding when something really changes.

Having the Directory Modification date change when one of the files change (as OS X does) is a PITA. Directories, in which you have no interest e.g. caches etc jump to the top of the list.

There is a consistent logic in the current behaviour, and there is no reason for ZTreeWin to treat this differently to the OS, even if some don't like it.

This is analagous to the Creation Date. I don't agree with the MicroSoft interpretation which changes the Creation Date when you copy a file or directory, but it a does have consistent behaviour, and I understand that the Creation Date refers to the entity, not the content.

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