comparing modification times of files

[Nomen Nescio]

Is this the right way to compare file timestamps?

if (-M $file >= -M $otherFile) {
# $file is not newer than $otherFile
}

And I sometimes get *modified* and *changed* mixed up...contents get
modified, permissions get changed, right?

thanks

 

[Brian McCauley]

Is this the right way to compare file timestamps?

if (-M $file >= -M $otherFile) {
# $file is not newer than $otherFile
}

And I sometimes get *modified* and *changed* mixed up...contents get
modified, permissions get changed, right?

Yes, that's not the whole story but its a fair mnemonic. At least on
POSIX-like OSs.

On other OSs the meaning of changed changes but iut is generally safe
to assume that the "modified" time is the primary timestamp that you'd
have on a filesystem that only had one.