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Number   :  3921
Date     :  2003-03-05
Author   :  Kan Yabumoto
Subject  :  Re: XXCOPY16 and Directory Cloning
Size(KB) :  4



Garry in his message was implying that XXCOPY16 can handle the
three types of timestamps. But the reality is that XXCOPY16
is a pure 16-bit, DOS program where there is not such things as

File-Creation time
File-LastWrite time
File-LastAccess time

These distinctions are valid only in the Win32 environment where
the file system keeps track of the three distinct values.
In DOS, the only timestamp the file system supports is the LastWrite
value. Reading Dale's original message, when he said
file-creation date is basically the file-last-write date (or,
in the DOS jargon, just file date). (With XXCOPY16, the all
three timestamps are treated equally).

If you are using DOS 5 (which XXCOPY16 should work --- but,
I seldom go backup to DOS 5 since DOS 6 was a stable and
much better version), and your MO-control software runs on
DOS 5 environment and not in Win9X environment, again, the
discussion of the three kinds of timestamps is moot.

As to the directory timestamp, the timestamp of a directory
remains constant once it is made even if the contents are
modified, it may be more appropriately called "directory
creation time" (again, let us just call directory timestamp).

The reason why directory timestamps remains the same is
of no surprise if you know that there is no simple way to
change it by a program. The only way to do so in DOS
(and even in Win9X) is to set the system clock to be
approximately (usually 1 second earlier than ) the time
value you want and create a new directory (and restore
the system time quickly). This very awkward and potentially
dangerous way is the only "known" way to set the time value
of a directory. XXCOPY16 does not try this trick (and
most programs don't do that, thank God). So, you just
have to give up the idea of duplicating the directory
structure on the source (MO-drive) volume and copy the
whole thing including the directory time to the
destination under DOS.

On the other hand, if the MO-drive works like a file system
(like DATMAN ---- our product, see at www.datman.com)
under WinNT/2000/XP, then, you can use XXCOPY to duplicate
the timestamps of the directories.

Kan Yabumoto
==========================================================

At 2003-03-04 19:11, you wrote:
>--- In xxcopy@yahoogroups.com, "agentxxl52"  wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I'm a relatively new user of XXCOPY and have a small
> > problem. I have a bunch of data on magneto-optical drive
> > that I want to transfer to Jaz and eventually to CD. The
> > data is stored on the MO cartridges in dated directories,
> > with a directory name in the form of P00xxx (eg. P00001,
> > P00002, etc). Due to breakdowns on the analyzer that
> > generates the data, there are gaps in these directories,
> > and sometimes a directory name such as P00112 will have
> > been created after a directory such as P00120. The only
> > way I currently have to sort the directories in chronological
> > order is by directory creation date. A second issue is
> > the machine attached to that analyzer with the last working
> > MO drive is a DOS 5.0 machine.
> >
> > Here is my dilemma: I want to copy the directories from
> > the MO cartridges, preserving the source directory creation
> > date. I may be misunderstanding that XXCopy can handle this
> > task, but it appears that the command XXCOPY src dest
> > /CLONE/TC is supposed to preserve the source directory
> > (and file) dates. I have tried this with XXCOPY16
> > (since this is a DOS machine) and although the file
> > dates were preserved, the directory date was not. I've
> > looked through the massive number of switches and can't
> > seem to come up with a combination that works.
> >
> > Can XXCOPY16 do this for me? If so, I will be recommending
> > a purchase of the Pro version to my supervisor ASAP. Thanks
> > in advance for the replies!
>
>
>Kan might need to confirm this as I can't fully test the operation in
>DOS at the moment but I'm pretty sure you can do it in a 2 step
>process.
>
>The first step is to create only the directory structure so that the
>timestamp preservation switches are applied to the directories.
>
>xxcopy16 src dest /T/TCC ::/TCC=copy source creation timestamp
>
>Then do your /CLONE operation. Since the directories already exist,
>the timestamp will remain unchanged.
>
>Garry



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