Subject: Cygnus Win32 B17.1: Multiple file timestamp issues
From: [email-masked] ("Griswold, Victor")

25 Feb 1997 14:22:05 -0800
Approved: [email-masked]
Distribution: cygnus
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Gentlemen:

	Several cases exist within the Cygnus GNU-Win32 tools where file
timestamps are or appear to be incorrectly handled.  I know that at
least one of these, the problem with 'tar' not setting file modification
times correctly, has already been reported.  My apologies if the other
two below have also been reported.

Case 1:  files extracted via 'tar' are not set with the timestamp of the
file within the archive.

Case 2:  'cp -p' never preserves the modification time of the copied
file.

Case 3:  (possibly different from the above)  'make' often complains of
"modification time in the future" for files just created during
execution of a Makefile.  I run on a 180MHz Pentium Pro; if file time
stamps "round up" time instead of truncate, given the poor quantum size
of a FAT directory's file timestamp, it is entirely possible for my
machine to create a derivative file "before" the parent file was
created.  My concern is less about annoying warning messages than about
the manner in which this might subtly confuse the 'make' dependency
algorithm.

Victor J. Griswold, D.Sc.
Aironet Wireless Communications, Inc.
voice:	330-664-7987
fax:	330-664-7301
email:	(MS-Mail) [email-masked]
	(MIME) [email-masked]

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