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g_mats
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Q: Can I change "Date Modified" to reflect true modifications

OSX used to make changes in the Date Modified label to reflect true changes in files. Now if I only open a file (e.g., a Word file) and close it again without making any changes the date under Date Modified is immediately updated. This is a real problem for me (complicated story) but I need true modifications indicated. Any way to change this back to the way it used to be (yes, I am a Luddite). And a raspberry to the programmer who changed this.

Gerry

ps posted it in the wrong place earlier in case you see the duplicate.

iMac core duo, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Jan 3, 2011 11:22 PM

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g_mats

Q: Can I change "Date Modified" to reflect true modifications

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  • by sig,

    sig sig Jan 4, 2011 2:08 AM in response to g_mats
    Level 8 (35,798 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 4, 2011 2:08 AM in response to g_mats
    If you are referring to Word files doing this then you need to post in the Microsoft forums. The latest Office 2011 programs have a bothersome feature of putting up a Save dialogue box when you quit even though nothing has changed so I suspect it's a Microsoft issue.

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Jan 4, 2011 6:29 AM in response to g_mats
    Level 6 (19,682 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 4, 2011 6:29 AM in response to g_mats
    As 'sig' mentioned, it is Microsoft software modifying the file. The underlying file system is only going to change the date, if there were writes to the file.

    From a Terminal session it is possible to set any modification date you want on a file using the 'touch' command.

    Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal

    man touch
    touch -m -t 201101040930 "file.name"

    would set the modification time to 4-Jan-2011 9:30am

    You can also use a reference file to get the date

    touch -m -r "reference.file" "file.name"

    You could even put this into a Automator workflow using the "Run Shell Script" action.

  • by MartinR,

    MartinR MartinR Jan 4, 2011 7:22 AM in response to g_mats
    Level 6 (14,891 points)
    Jan 4, 2011 7:22 AM in response to g_mats
    It would appear that Word is issuing the date modification. You might look in Word > Preferences > Save Options to see if there is a way to disable the behavior.

    Other than that, you would have to manually reset the modification date. A Better Finder Attributes is a very nice utility for doing this and more.

  • by g_mats,

    g_mats g_mats Jan 4, 2011 10:00 PM in response to MartinR
    Level 1 (5 points)
    iTunes
    Jan 4, 2011 10:00 PM in response to MartinR
    Thanks for all the suggestions. Unfortunately there is no quick fix in Word preferences and using Terminal means issuing commands for each file (if I understand that fix). I just want Word not to change the "Date Modified" unless a file has been modified. I notice it also happens with other Microsoft products like Powerpoint. Should have known that this would have been a Microsoft issue! Anyway, thanks for your help, at least I now know where to ask for further assistance.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Jan 5, 2011 3:58 AM in response to g_mats
    Level 9 (50,854 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 5, 2011 3:58 AM in response to g_mats
    If you're opening to view and not edit, you could just use QuickLook to view the file.