Unix Shell - stat command difference between %Y %Z

Author

stat command difference between %Y %Z

paulw@mmail.ath.cx

2005-02-28, 2:48 am

Hi

I'm reading stat manpage.
What's the difference between
%Y Time of last modification as seconds since Epoch
%Z Time of last change as seconds since Epoch
Thanks.

Bill Marcum

2005-02-28, 2:48 am

On 27 Feb 2005 21:22:01 -0800, paulw@mmail.ath.cx
<paulw@mmail.ath.cx> wrote:
> Hi
>
> I'm reading stat manpage.
> What's the difference between
> %Y Time of last modification as seconds since Epoch
> %Z Time of last change as seconds since Epoch
> Thanks.
>
In a Unix filesystem, each file has three timestamps: access,
modification, and change. A Unix file does not have a "creation time".
modification (mtime) refers to the contents of the file.
change (ctime) refers to the file's metadata: name, permissions, hard
links, or timestamps (with the "touch" command, you can change a file's
modification or access times).