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How to? Save and restore folder timestamps

I

Inds

Dec
17
0
Rod and Charles in the last thread produced this script which worked flawlessly with saving and restoring timestamps of files but not folders.

Code: 
@echo off

for /r %%a in (*) do (
  echo %%a
  set _i=%@iniwrite[c:\fileinfo.ini,,%%a,%@filedate["%%a",c,s],%@filetime["%%a",c,s],%@filedate["%%a",w,s],%@filetime["%%a",w,s]]
)

Code: 
@echo off

for /r %%a in (*) do (
  set _s=%@iniread[c:\fileinfo.ini,,%%a]
 
  iff "%_s" ne "" .and. exist "%%a" then
    echo %%a
    touch /q /dc%@word[",",0,%_s] /tc%@word[",",1,%_s] "%%a"
    touch /q /dw%@word[",",2,%_s] /tw%@word[",",3,%_s] "%%a"
  endiff
)

Is there something I can modify in the script to include folders too?

Thanks.
 
In looking at HELP -> FOR, I find that the default attribute is /A:-D-H-S of items to be processed by FOR. Adding the attribute selection code /A: immediately after the FOR keyword should do the trick.

You could simplify the data collection using Charles Dye's ISO8601.dll - just use
PDIR /a: /s /(fpnq=%@filestamp[*,c,4,] %@filestamp[*,w]) * >! c:\fileinfo.ini
Note: this overwrites any prior file info file. Cf. the one in the OP, which never deletes any files that no longer exist; while it does not harm, it can cause clutter, and in the unlikely case that a file which existed on a previous data collection, was deleted, but was created anew after the latest data collection, it will change the brand new files timstamps to those of one which had been deleted. Naturally, deleteing the info file between uses removes both of these issues. Regardless, a single redirected PDIR is likely to be much faster than a FOR loop which needs to perform insertion sort for each file.

Another point. Unless you use @FILESTAMP, I would use UTC times rather than local times, because there will come a time when you collect the data during daylight saving time, and use it during standard time, or vice versa, and NTFS' screwy translation between the internal UTC and the external local time will get things mixed up. You don't need to work during the actual switchover, it is enough if you don't do both steps while UTC timeshift is the same.

A minor point. In the restoration loop the file names are found by the FOR, so they must exist - there is no need to test for existence.
 
Steve Fabian said:
In looking at HELP -> FOR, I find that the default attribute is /A:-D-H-S of items to be processed by FOR. Adding the attribute selection code /A: immediately after the FOR keyword should do the trick.
Click to expand...

Which is exactly what I had posted....
 
Charles G said:
Which is exactly what I had posted....
Click to expand...
... and the OP must have overlooked. Sorry, I did not go back to the original thread, I replied to the first post in this thread. For me, threads should be stand-alone. Switching threads should only be done if the thrust of the thread changed.
 
I posted a new thread because I responded to Charles G's new script and the progress and nobody was answering.

Code: 
@echo off

for /r %%a in (*) do (
  set _s=%@iniread[c:\fileinfo.ini,,%%a,%%f_Attrs]

  iff "%_s" ne "" .and. exist "%%a" then
    echo %%a
    touch /q /dc%@word[",",0,%_s] /tc%@word[",",1,%_s] "%%a"
    touch /q /dw%@word[",",2,%_s] /tw%@word[",",3,%_s] "%%a"
  endiff
)

Charles, is this not the revised restore script? It fails to restore timestamps of the folders. The info in the INI file does indeed contain the mod and create timestamps as well as attributes (I don't need attributes preserved but no matter) so I presume that the save script works fine but the restore fails.
 
Code: 
@echo off

for /a: /r %%a in (*) do (
  set _s=%@iniread[c:\fileinfo.ini,,%%a,%%f_Attrs]

  IIF %@index[%f_attrs,D,0] gt 0 then
    rem update date/time stamps of directory
    iff "%_s" ne "" .and. isdir "%%a" then
      echo %%a
      touch /a:d /q /dc%@word[",",0,%_s] /tc%@word[",",1,%_s] "%%a"
      touch /a:d /q /dw%@word[",",2,%_s] /tw%@word[",",3,%_s] "%%a"
    endiff
  else
    iff "%_s" ne "" .and. exist "%%a" then
      echo %%a
      touch /a:-d /q /dc%@word[",",0,%_s] /tc%@word[",",1,%_s] "%%a"
      touch /a:-d /q /dw%@word[",",2,%_s] /tw%@word[",",3,%_s] "%%a"
    endiff
  endiff
)

should work - not tested though.
 
The above is the script posted by Charles in the original thread. It fails to restore folder timestamps for the same reason the /a: is needed to save folder time stamps - without /a: FOR will find only files, even if folder times are saved.

A much faster method would use a plain text file to save the information, and read the file back for restoration, as shown below. It depends on Charles Dye's plug-in ISO8601.

savetime.btm

Code: 
*pdir /a: /s /t:wu /(@filestamp[*,cu,4] dy-m-d th:m:s fpnq) >! c:\fileinfo.lst

resetime.btm

Code: 
do line in @c:\fileinfo.lst
  set f=%@word[3,%line]
  if not exist %f iterate
  echo %f
  touch /q /dc%@instr[0,10,%line]u /tc%@instr[12,8,%line] %f
  touch /q /d%@word[1,%line]u /t%@word[2,%line]u %f
enddo

Notes:
1/ CAVEAT!!! Not tested! In particular, the UTC option of the TOUCH command - suffixing the /T and /D fields with u instead of putting all the option characters in front of the value conforms to the literal description in HELP, but does not feel correct. Also, not verified that the date and time are retrieved from the correct positions of the report line, as created by @FILESTAMP.
2/ to run either batch file, you must switch your current directory to be the top level of the tree to be saved
3/ using UTC to ensure change of state of DST between saving and restoring has no effect
4/ using @FILESTAMP is not necessary, one could use @filedate and @filetime instead, with appropriate options, and adjusting where the date and time information is to be retrieved from in the report line.
5/ The fpnq field created by PDIR includes quotation marks if needed, so it can be used as is in resetime.
 
Charles,
Code: 
TCC LE  13.06.77   Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
Copyright 2013 JP Software Inc.  All Rights Reserved

[C:\Program Files\JPSoft\TCCLE13]C:\test

[C:\test]"C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "IIF"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "else"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "endiff"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "IIF"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "else"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "endiff"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "IIF"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "else"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "endiff"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "IIF"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "else"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "endiff"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "IIF"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "else"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "endiff"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "IIF"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "else"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "endiff"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "IIF"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "else"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "endiff"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "IIF"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "else"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat [20]  Unknown command "endiff"

[C:\test]

That's what I got when trying your revised script.

Steve, the INI file is a plain text file is it not?
Your save script gave an incorrect function error
Code: 
[C:\test]"C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp save1.bat"
pdir /a: /s /t:wu /(@filestamp[*,cu,4] dy-m-d th:m:s fpnq) >! c:\fileinfo.lst
TCC: (Sys) C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp save1.bat [1]  Incorrect function.
 "%@filestamp[C:\test\a,cu,4]"

[C:\test]"C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\timestamp restore1.bat"
do line in @c:\fileinfo.lst
 
Charles' code had a mistype: IIF should be IFF. This cascaded into a lot of error messages.

Inds said:
Steve, the INI file is a plain text file is it not?
Your save script gave an incorrect function error
Click to expand...
That's because - as I mentioned - @FILESTAMP is a plug-in function, located in Charles Dye's ISO8601.dll. You can download it from
prospero.unm.edu/dll/iso8601.zip - includes full help.
 
Steve, I don't see any /L command in your script to load the DLL though even after adding the load command it returned the same incorrect function error.
 
I intentionally did not specify how you load the plugin. On my systems all plug-ins are automatically loaded when TCMD/TCC starts by being cataloged in the PLUGINS subdirectories of each TCMD installation directory, typically using junctions to share a single copy for multiple versions. This allows me to consider them as if they were part of TCMD, and not worry to make sure to load them only when I need them. I use @FILESTAMP in dozens of aliases which use the PDIR command; never had the "illegal function" problem. When the plugin is loaded, try the command iso8601help - if the load was successful, the command will work.

BTW, it is not a good idea to use a batch file name with an embedded space - you must always quote it. I never do that, and put my batch files either in a directory on the path, or in the one where I work, so I don't need to enter a path. I type fast, but very inaccurate - short names save a lot of time!
 
Good thing you reminded me not to use spaces in the filename because this did seem to hinder things for the first script. The restore script still fails though. Strangely it says "plugin already loaded" when it's only in the script once.

Code: 
TCC LE  13.06.77   Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
Copyright 2013 JP Software Inc.  All Rights Reserved

[C:\Program Files\JPSoft\TCCLE13]C:\test

[C:\test]"C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\savetimestamp1.bat"
plugin /l "C:\Program Files\JPSoft\TCCLE13\iso8601.dll"
ISO8601 plugin v1.3.10 loaded.
pdir /a: /s /t:wu /(@filestamp[*,cu,4] dy-m-d th:m:s fpnq) >! c:\fileinfo.lst

[C:\test]"C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\restoretimestamp1.bat"
plugin /l "C:\Program Files\JPSoft\TCCLE13\iso8601.dll"
TCC: C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\restoretimestamp1.bat [1]  Plugin already loaded "C:\Program Files\JPSoft\TCCLE13\iso8601.dll"
do line in @c:\fileinfo.lst
set f=C:\test\a
if not exist %f iterate
echo C:\test\a
C:\test\a
touch /q /dc2013-12-22u /tc9:22:22Z C:\test\a
TCC: (Sys) C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\restoretimestamp1.bat [7]  The system cannot find the file specified.
 "C:\test\a"
touch /q /d2013-12-22u /t09:22:22u C:\test\a
TCC: (Sys) C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\restoretimestamp1.bat [8]  The system cannot find the file specified.
 "C:\test\a"
set f=C:\test\a\b
if not exist %f iterate
echo C:\test\a\b
C:\test\a\b
touch /q /dc2013-12-22u /tc9:22:22Z C:\test\a\b
TCC: (Sys) C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\restoretimestamp1.bat [7]  The system cannot find the file specified.
 "C:\test\a\b"
touch /q /d2013-12-22u /t09:22:22u C:\test\a\b
TCC: (Sys) C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Desktop\restoretimestamp1.bat [8]  The system cannot find the file specified.
 "C:\test\a\b"

[C:\test]
 
A plugin stays loaded unless you unload it. You are loading it twice; once in savetimestamp1.bat and again in restoretimestamp1.bat.
 
Thanks for that but it fails even if I only load the second script. Why can it not find the folders when they are there?
 
Hmm, could've sworn I posted it. Here it is:
Code: 
do line in @c:\fileinfo.lst
  set f=%@word[3,%line]
  if not exist %f iterate
  echo %f
  touch /q /dc%@instr[0,10,%line]u /tc%@instr[12,8,%line] %f
  touch /q /d%@word[1,%line]u /t%@word[2,%line]u %f
enddo
 
I think part of the problem is that the OP is not omitting the dot directories. They this to set FileInfo.ini

@echo off
rem Added
rem /a: to inclde all non hidden and non-system file/folders
rem /h to not include the . and .. folders
rem added %@attrib to end of iniwrite
for /a: /h /r %a in (*) do (
echo %@attrib[%a] %a
set _i=%@iniwrite[c:\fileinfo.ini,,%a,%@filedate["%a",c,s],%@filetime["%a",c,s],%@filedate["%a",w,s],%@filetime["%a",w,s],%@attrib[%a]]
)
rem end of batch to save
 
Charles G said:
I think part of the problem is that the OP is not omitting the dot directories...
Click to expand...
No, the PDIR command, by default, does not list the . and .. directories. Only the real ones.

A minor error - unless its transcription - the first touch for the /t option does not include the trailing u.
A more important error - all TOUCH commands should include the /A: option, else they will not TOUCH directories.

Ah! My mistake! Even though folders are touched, when touching any file in a directory, the directory will be changed to the current date and time. This cannot be prevented, it is the way NTFS and FAT works (and also Unix, BSD and Linux file systems). You need an elaborate method to prevent it. After you handle files, you must touch the deepest directory first, and work your way up to the higher levels. First you must separate files from folders, which is easy (create two files, one for files and one for folders), and process all files. Now comes the tricky part. One method is to sort the folders in reverse order of depth - e.g., first all folders five level deep, next all folders four level deep, etc., and touch (restore) them in that order. I challenge the readers to create a simple method! It is too involved for my taste...
 
Ah damn, way to kill my optimism. exFAT doesn't update a folder's timestamp but I don't use that FS for non-OS disks. WinRAR said a couple times they would fix this issue with their archiving program but they never did.
 
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