[SOLVED] extract modification date of file as yyyymmdd

thelordmule · 07-08-2009, 05:35 PM

hi there,

quick question, I am trying to get the modification date from a file. I found a solution:

Code:

touch mynewfile.txt
stat -f "%Dm" mynewfile.txt > tseconds
date -r `cat tseconds` +"%Y%m%d"

Is there a better or perhaps more elegant method?

I am working on OS X Leopard 10.5, GNU bash, version 3.2.17(1)-release (i386-apple-darwin9.0)

colucix · 07-09-2009, 09:52 AM

I don't know in Mac OS X, but using GNU ls you can try the --time-style option, to custom the way the modification time is displayed. For example:

Code:

ls --time-style=+%Y%m%d -l mynewfile.txt

thelordmule · 07-10-2009, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colucix

I don't know in Mac OS X, but using GNU ls you can try the --time-style option, to custom the way the modification time is displayed. For example:

Code:

ls --time-style=+%Y%m%d -l mynewfile.txt

thanks for the suggestion colucix. It seems that option is not supported in standard mac osx. but thats ok.

see i could alternatively have:

Code:

date -r `stat -f "%Dm" mynewfile.txt ` +"%Y%m%d"

but then I have this problem with using that in a script and assigning to a variable.

Code:

MODDATE=`date -r `stat -f "%Dm" mynewfile.txt ` +"%Y%m%d"`

has to become:

Code:

MODDATE=`date -r $(stat -f "%Dm" mynewfile.txt) +"%Y%m%d"`

ok I think I am nitpicking now...you may close this thread

colucix · 07-11-2009, 02:28 AM

That's right. The backticks don't support nesting, whereas the $(...) syntax does!