7 replies to this topic

[llewxam]

I had to figure this out for a recent tweak on my Sync Tool script, not sure if it will be useful for anyone else or any other purpose but thought I'd share it. Some forum searching found a few returns on _Date_Time_CompareFileTime but I found it to be a difficult thing to get set up, now the work is done for you!

Make sure you #Include Date.au3, WinAPI.au3, and Array.au3 in your script as well.

AutoIt        expandcollapse  popup

Func _CompareFileTimeEx($hSource, $hDestination, $iMethod)
;   Parameters ....:    $hSource -      Full path to the first file
;                       $hDestination - Full path to the second file
;                       $iMethod -      0   The date and time the file was created
;                                       1   The date and time the file was accessed
;                                       2   The date and time the file was modified
;   Return values .:                    -1  First file time is earlier than second file time
;                                       0   First file time is equal to second file time
;                                       1   First file time is later than second file time
;   Author ........:    Ian Maxwell (llewxam @ AutoIt forum)
    Local $hCurrent[2] = [$hSource, $hDestination], $tPointer[2] = ["", ""]
    For $iPointerCount = 0 To 1
        $hFile = _WinAPI_CreateFile($hCurrent[$iPointerCount], 2)
        $aTime = _Date_Time_GetFileTime($hFile)
        _WinAPI_CloseHandle($hFile)
        $aDate = _Date_Time_FileTimeToStr($aTime[$iMethod])
        $tFile = _Date_Time_EncodeFileTime(StringMid($aDate, 1, 2), StringMid($aDate, 4, 2), StringMid($aDate, 7, 4), StringMid($aDate, 12, 2), StringMid($aDate, 15, 2), StringMid($aDate, 18, 2))
        $aDOS = _Date_Time_FileTimeToDOSDateTime(DllStructGetPtr($tFile))
        $tFileTime = _Date_Time_DOSDateTimeToFileTime("0x" & Hex($aDOS[0], 4), "0x" & Hex($aDOS[1], 4))
        $tPointer[$iPointerCount] = DllStructGetPtr($tFileTime)
    Next
    Return _Date_Time_CompareFileTime($tPointer[0], $tPointer[1])
EndFunc   ;==>_CompareFileTimeEx

Enjoy
Ian

[guinness]

Nice idea! Here is another way to achieve the Function you created.
Function:

AutoIt        expandcollapse  popup

; #FUNCTION# ====================================================================================================================
; Name ..........: _FileCompare
; Description ...: Checks the date between two files.
; Syntax ........: _FileCompare($sSource, $sDestination[, $iMethod = 0])
; Parameters ....: $sSource             - A valid file path.
;                  $sDestination        - A valid file path.
;                  $iMethod             - [optional] The timestamp to check, 0 = Modified, 1 = Created or 2 = Accessed. Default is 0.
; Return values .: Success - -1 (File 1 is earlier than File 2.)
;                  0 (File 1 is equal to File 2.)
;                  1 (File 1 is later than File 2.)
; Author ........: guinness
; Modified ......:
; Remarks .......: Date.au3 should be included.
; Example .......: Yes
; ===============================================================================================================================
Func _FileCompare($sSource, $sDestination, $iMethod = 0)
    Local $iDate1 = StringRegExpReplace(FileGetTime($sSource, $iMethod, 1), '(d{4})(d{2})(d{2})(d{2})(d{2})(d{2})', '1/2/3 4:5:6')
    Local $iDate2 = StringRegExpReplace(FileGetTime($sDestination, $iMethod, 1), '(d{4})(d{2})(d{2})(d{2})(d{2})(d{2})', '1/2/3 4:5:6')
    Local $iDateDiff = _DateDiff('s', $iDate2, $iDate1)
    If $iDateDiff > 0 Then Return -1
    If $iDateDiff = 0 Then Return 0
    Return 1
EndFunc   ;==>_FileCompare

Example use of Function:

#include <Date.au3> ; Required for _DateDiff()

Example()

Func Example()
    Local $aArray[3] = [2]
    For $i = 1 To $aArray[0]
        $aArray[$i] = FileOpenDialog('_FileCompare()', @ScriptDir, 'All (*.*)')
        If @error Then Exit
    Next
    MsgBox(4096, '_FileCompare()', _FileCompare($aArray[1], $aArray[2]))
EndFunc   ;==>Example

Edited by guinness, 06 October 2012 - 02:38 PM.

[llewxam]

Nice twist, and I have to get in to StringRegExp(Replace), looks so powerful but is intimidating!

Thanks
Ian

[wakillon]

Another way

#include <Date.au3>

; determine how many days a file was created.
MsgBox ( 0, "", "Number of days since creation : " & _DateDiff ( 'd', _ConvertTimeFormat ( FileGetTime ( "c:\boot.ini", 1, 1 ) ), _NowCalc ( ) ) )

; determine the difference in days of creation between two files.
MsgBox ( 0, "", "Number of days between this 2 files : " & _DateDiff ( 'd', _ConvertTimeFormat ( FileGetTime ( @WindowsDir & "\explorer.exe", 1, 1 ) ), _ConvertTimeFormat ( FileGetTime ( "c:\boot.ini", 1, 1 ) ) ) )


Func _ConvertTimeFormat ( $_FileTime ) ; convert 20100716213616 string time format to this time format YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS
    Return StringMid ( $_FileTime, 1 , 4 ) & '/' & StringMid ( $_FileTime, 5 , 2 ) & '/' & StringMid ( $_FileTime, 7 , 2 ) & _
    ' ' & StringMid ( $_FileTime, 9 , 2 ) & ':' & StringMid ( $_FileTime, 11 , 2 ) & ':' & StringMid ( $_FileTime, 13 , 2 )
EndFunc ;==> _ConvertTimeFormat ( )

A Positive Result : first file is older than second
a Negative Result : first file is newer than second
and a Null Result : first file was created same date than second.

Edited by wakillon, 09 February 2011 - 09:29 AM.

[xavierh]

Another way

#include <Date.au3>

; determine how many days a file was created.
MsgBox ( 0, "", "Number of days since creation : " & _DateDiff ( 'd', _ConvertTimeFormat ( FileGetTime ( "c:\boot.ini", 1, 1 ) ), _NowCalc ( ) ) )

; determine the difference in days of creation between two files.
MsgBox ( 0, "", "Number of days between this 2 files : " & _DateDiff ( 'd', _ConvertTimeFormat ( FileGetTime ( @WindowsDir & "\explorer.exe", 1, 1 ) ), _ConvertTimeFormat ( FileGetTime ( "c:\boot.ini", 1, 1 ) ) ) )


Func _ConvertTimeFormat ( $_FileTime ) ; convert 20100716213616 string time format to this time format YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS
    Return StringMid ( $_FileTime, 1 , 4 ) & '/' & StringMid ( $_FileTime, 5 , 2 ) & '/' & StringMid ( $_FileTime, 7 , 2 ) & _
    ' ' & StringMid ( $_FileTime, 9 , 2 ) & ':' & StringMid ( $_FileTime, 11 , 2 ) & ':' & StringMid ( $_FileTime, 13 , 2 )
EndFunc ;==> _ConvertTimeFormat ( )

A Positive Result : first file is older than second
a Negative Result : first file is newer than second
and a Null Result : first file was created same date than second.

[xavierh]

I can think of a simple way to compare 2 file dates. Just create a string of format YYMMDDHHMMSS from the file date array of each file, then compare the values numerically
example:

$arTime1 = FileGetTime ( $SourceFoundFile )
$SrcFileTime = $arTime1 [ 0 ] & $arTime1 [ 1 ] & $arTime1 [ 2 ] & $arTime1 [ 3 ] & $arTime1 [ 4 ] & $arTime1 [ 5 ]
$arTime2 = FileGetTime ( $TargetFile )
$TgtFileTime = $arTime2 [ 0 ] & $arTime2 [ 1 ] & $arTime2 [ 2 ] & $arTime2 [ 3 ] & $arTime2 [ 4 ] & $arTime2 [ 5 ]
if $SrcFileTime > $TgtFileTime Then FileCopy ( $SourceFile, $TargetFile )

[ReFran]

@xavierh
Only as remarK: FileGetTime ( "filename" [, option [, format]] )
where format 1 = return a string YYYYMMDDHHMMSS
That I change normally to the more practical format: YYYYMMDD.HHMMSS

br, Reinhard

[llewxam]

I have re-written this recently, it turns out that I made it MUCH harder than it should have been. Melba23 pointed out FileGetTime, and I am still not quite sure how I missed it while looking through the help file

Switching isn't really "recommended" as the original worked well, but this one is definitely a lot simpler! Be warned though that the syntax has changed slightly due to the functions in Date.au3 having different values used for Create, Access, and Modify.

Enjoy
Ian

AutoIt        expandcollapse  popup

Func _CompareFileTimeEx($hSource, $hDestination, $iMethod)
    ;Parameters ....:       $hSource -      Full path to the first file
    ;                       $hDestination - Full path to the second file
    ;                       $iMethod -      0   The date and time the file was modified
    ;                                       1   The date and time the file was created
    ;                                       2   The date and time the file was accessed
    ;Return values .:                       -1  The Source file time is earlier than the Destination file time
    ;                                       0   The Source file time is equal to the Destination file time
    ;                                       1   The Source file time is later than the Destination file time
    ;Author ........:       Ian Maxwell (llewxam @ AutoIt forum)
    $aSource = FileGetTime($hSource, $iMethod, 0)
    $aDestination = FileGetTime($hDestination, $iMethod, 0)
    For $a = 0 To 5
        If $aSource[$a] <> $aDestination[$a] Then
            If $aSource[$a] < $aDestination[$a] Then
                Return -1
            Else
                Return 1
            EndIf
        EndIf
    Next
    Return 0
EndFunc   ;==>_CompareFileTimeEx

edit: Oh, one nice improvement is that no other Includes are needed any more, so another plus for simplicity....

Edited by llewxam, 26 August 2011 - 04:37 AM.