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Run a cronjob only when a file is modified?

 
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# 1  
Old 02-15-2012
Run a cronjob only when a file is modified?
Hello,

I am new to cron. I have a cronjob that updates a dataset in a 3rd party application. The contents of this dataset come from a text file, which is updated irregularly. Currently my cronjob runs once every week, to update this dataset (irrespective of whether the file was updated or not).

My task is to run the cronjob, if the file was modified say in the last 7 days. I can find if the file was modified using:

Code:
 
find /my_dir_name/my_Filename -mtime -7 -type f

And my cronjob is:

Code:
00 1 * * 5 (myScript > myLogFile)

Is there a way to combine these?

Thanks!
# 2  
Old 02-15-2012
Instead of worrying about calculating 'a week ago', let cron do that work. Just keep a temp file that you touch whenever you update the data. If the input datafile is newer than your tempfile -- or the tempfile doesn't exist -- you should update.

Code:
00 1 * * 5 [ /tmp/.lastupdate -nt /my_dir_name/my_Filename ] || ( myScript > myLogFile ; touch /tmp/.lastupdate )

# 3  
Old 02-15-2012
Quote:
Just keep a temp file that you touch whenever you update the data.
Do I need to maintain this manually and update everytime the "text file" is updated? I am confused - could you elaborate?

I do not edit/change the input data file. All I do is check whether or not the input data file was updated ->
if yes - Run the cron job to update the 3rd party database.
if No - Do nothing.
Last edited by ad23; 02-15-2012 at 04:53 PM..
# 4  
Old 02-15-2012
Quote:
Originally Posted by ad23
Do I need to maintain this manually and update everytime the "text file" is updated?
Of course not, that's what touch is for. It creates and/or updates its own temporary file.

It just uses the temporary file as a timestamp, "refreshing" it after it processes the data. If the data file is older than the timestamp file, then it's been processed already. If it's newer than the timestamp, it arrived after the last batch of processing.

You don't have to trust me, try it for yourself. Type these into your shell:

Code:
$ rm -f lastupdate # This doesn't need to exist yet
$ touch inputfile
$ [ lastupdate -nt inputfile ] || ( echo "Updating" ; touch lastupdate )
Updating

$ [ lastupdate -nt inputfile ] || ( echo "Updating" ; touch lastupdate )
$ [ lastupdate -nt inputfile ] || ( echo "Updating" ; touch lastupdate )
$ [ lastupdate -nt inputfile ] || ( echo "Updating" ; touch lastupdate )
$ touch inputfile
$ [ lastupdate -nt inputfile ] || ( echo "Updating" ; touch lastupdate )
Updating

$

# 5  
Old 02-15-2012
Thanks a bunch! I understand now.

Also, I want to add a check-point to this: to avoid updating the database while the input-text-file is being updated or if the file is corrupt (or does not exit). Is it advisable to check by file size, since the updated file will be larger than the old file? If yes, how can I accomplish this?

Thanks!
# 6  
Old 02-16-2012
What's your system?
# 7  
Old 02-16-2012
I am using Suse Linux 10 (x86-64)
 
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