How do I compare the timestamp of two files?
I tried this but it doesn't work:
file1time=`stat -c %Y fil1.txt`
file2time=`stat -c %Y file2.txt`
if[$file1time -gt $file2time];
then
doSomething
fi
I printed both the time stamps, in order and it gives me
1273143480
1254144394
./script.sh: line 13: [1273143480: command not found
So basically if comparison is not working, I guess. Or if there is any other nice way than what I am doing, please let me know. What do I have to change?
The operators for comparing time stamps are:
[ $file1 -nt $file2 ]
[ $file1 -ot $file2 ]
The mnemonic is easy: 'newer than' and 'older than'.
This is because of some missing spaces. [ is a command, so it must have spaces around it and the ] is an special parameter to tell it where its comand line ends. So, your test line should look like:
if [ $file1time -gt $file2time ];
if is not magic. It attempts to run the command passed to it, and checks if it has a zero exit status. It also doesn't handle non-existent arguments well, which is why you should quote variables being used in it.
if [ "$file1time" -gt "$file2time" ]
if ( [ $file1time -gt $file2time ] );
then
doSomething
fi
