C# 3.0 Cookbook, 3rd Edition

12.1. Manipulating File Attributes

Problem

You need to display or manipulate a file's attributes or timestamps.

Solution

To display a file's timestamps, you can use either the static methods of the File class or the instance properties of the FileInfo class. The static methods are GetCreationTime, GetLastAccessTime, and GetLastWriteTime. Each has a single parameter, the path and name of the file for which timestamp information is to be returned, and returns a DateTime value containing the relevant timestamp. For example:

	public static void DisplayFileTimestamps(string path)
	{
	    Console.WriteLine(File.Get CreationTime(path));
	    Console.WriteLine(File.Get LastAccessTime(path));
	    Console.WriteLine(File.Get LastWriteTime(path));
	}

The instance properties of the FileInfo class are CreationTime, LastAccessTime, and LastWriteTime. Each returns a DateTime value containing the respective timestamp of the file represented by the FileInfo object. The DisplayFileInfoTimestamps extension method allows you to report those values directly from a FileInfo:

	public static void DisplayFileInfoTimestamps(this FileInfo fileInfo)
	{
	    Console.WriteLine(fileInfo.CreationTime.ToString());
	    Console.WriteLine(fileInfo.LastAccessTime.ToString());
	    Console.WriteLine(fileInfo.LastWriteTime.ToString());
	}

To modify a file's timestamps, you can use either the static methods of the File class or the instance properties of the FileInfo class. The static methods are SetCreationTime, SetLastAccessTime, and SetLastWriteTime. All ...