_stat function and files before 1970

vikramlinux

Hi All, I am trying to use _stat C runtime method for a file with time stamp before 1970. It simply crashes.Anybody knows the reason? Note: My time zone is GMT-5.00 (Eastern time [us+Canada]). - Vikram S

Michael Schubert

_stat uses time which states in the documentation: The time function returns the number of seconds elapsed since midnight (00:00:00), January 1, 1970

Stuart Dootson

As far as C is concerned, time (== time_t) started on 1st January 1970[^] - your file with an earlier timestamp is obviously blowing the C runtime's mind. It's like saying to a physicist "here's a file from 10 minutes before the universe existed" - does not compute!

Java, Basic, who cares - it's all a bunch of tree-hugging hippy cr*p

vikramlinux

So what method I should use for stat? - Vikram S

Stuart Dootson

I have to ask one question - are file date-times before 1970 actually meaningful? They obviously aren't proper create/modification dates, so why do you need to manipulate them?

Java, Basic, who cares - it's all a bunch of tree-hugging hippy cr*p

vikramlinux

My customer has this kind of data files!

Stuart Dootson

With creation and/or modification dates prior to 1970? Really. OK - what do you need from the _stat function? You should be able to use Win32 functions to determine the values of file attributes that _stat gives you.

Java, Basic, who cares - it's all a bunch of tree-hugging hippy cr*p