comparing timestamp of two files - Shell Programming and Scripting

jyotipg · #1 (**permalink**) 04-06-2004

Hi!

I need to copy a whole bunch of file from a build directory to my working directory. Many of these files already exist in my working directory. I need to copy only those files that have been modified since I last copied..

How do I compare the timestamp of two files, so that I would copy only the file if it is newer.

Thanks,
JP

Ygor · #2 (**permalink**) 04-06-2004

if [ file1 -nt file2 ]
then
echo file1 is newer than file2
fi

s93366 · #3 (**permalink**) 04-06-2004

You could also use the find command.
# find /blabla/*.txt -newer thisfile.txt
will only display files newer then thisfile.txt

/Peter

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