Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!think!ames!aurora!labrea!decwrl!decvax!ucbvax!UOFT02.BITNET!ERIC
From: ERIC@UOFT02.BITNET (Eric)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: file dates.
Message-ID: <8802220811.AA18888@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 15 Feb 88 18:39:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 36

In-Reply-To:  your letter rec'd 14-FEB-1988 11:54

From:   IN%"INFO-VAX@KL.SRI.COM" 14-FEB-1988 11:54
To:     Eric Rostetter <ERIC@UOFT02>
Subj:   Re: file dates.

> Well, the dates are just stored in the file header (try DUMP/HEADER/BLOCK=
> COUNT=0 filespec) so I suppose one could change them to anything he/she
> pleases by rewriting that.  This of course presupposes that one (1) knows
> where the file header is (2) knows what it looks like (3) can write a
> program to rewrite it and (4) has the <deleted> to try it out.

Sounds right but I can't say for sure...

> The civilized method would be to make a copy of the file using RMS, and
> set the dates to be what you want when you call the RMS $CREATE service.
> You can override the default dates when you do a $CREATE by using the
> Date and Time XAB (XABDAT).  See section 9 of your RMS manual for details.

This is 100% right but not the best way...

> The XABDAT control block is only used as *input* to the $CREATE service,
> so it *appears* that there is no civilized way of doing it to an existing
> file without making a copy of it.

The best way is to use FDL and CONVERT.  It is then extreamly easy to change
the date/time of any existing file.   There was also a program that was sent
out on INFO-VAX a while ago called FILE.C that could change the date/time of
a file.  For more information on FDL and CONVERT,  see the VAX/VMS Utilities
Reference Manual, or type HELP CONVERT, HELP FDL, and HELP EDIT.  The FILE.C
program was sent by Joe Meadows Jr., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center,
bitnet - JOE@FHCRCVAX, arpa - JOE%FHCRCVAX.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU,  or voice
(206) 467-4970.

Eric Rostetter
Eric @ uoft02.bitnet