FileZilla Forums

Hi,

Any chance for FillZilla client, to add option to preserve folder dates (date created + date modified)?
(to be exact, I copy folders from windows server to windows 7 (so it's NTFS drives), and lose all the folder dates)

Currenly as far as i know FillZille Client only have under Transfer Menu: Preserve timestamps of transferred files.
so it's files only, not folders.

currenly we really need this function for various reasons, and desperate to find FTP utility that supports it.
I know some people would argue if it's necessary or not, but it's hard to argue with our many end users who argue back that they DO need it

Unfortunately adding such functionality isn't feasible without massive internal changes.

botg wrote:Unfortunately adding such functionality isn't feasible without massive internal changes.

I wonder why is that, at least for "date modified" when copying from remote site to a local windows OS.
I already see the "date modified" in the fileZilla remote site window, so we definitely know what is it.
Only thing needed to be done now is AFTER we finished copying the folder/s, just change its "date modified" to the one we took from the remote server.
if it's a problem doing directly then it could also be done using PowerShell or even a third party utility, as there are many tools for changing this attribute.

When remote directories are created there is no source from which to copy the modification time. Lots of changes need to be made to track a source all the way back to when initially queuing the action.

aside of tracking all the way back, I would have consider adding to the initial queuing a new "black box" function, adding each folder ququed to an "outside" tree holding name+date, saving it for a later use, and bypassing some of the current flow of code.

but I didn't see the code itself so I guess it could be too hard to implement with the current design.

thanks anyway

aside of tracking all the way back, I would have consider adding to the initial queuing a new "black box" function, adding each folder ququed to an "outside" tree holding name+date, saving it for a later use, and bypassing some of the current flow of code.

Sounds like a great recipe for use-after-free errors. Remember that, unlike servers, where such pattern might be usable, FileZilla is a program that can be shut down cleanly

Note that at least on NTFS filesystems, Windows updates the directory timestamp every time a file in that directory is changed, updated or being copied into. Directory timestamps are simply not as static anymore as they were on FAT drives.

Same as on *nix. Directory timestamps would need to be copied as the very last step after transferring all the files. There's no functionality in FileZilla for such dependencies.

boco wrote:Directory timestamps are simply not as static anymore as they were on FAT drives.

thats right, but it could be nice to have, especially for "Date Created" that doesn't change.

botg wrote:

unlike servers, where such pattern might be usable, FileZilla is a program that can be shut down cleanly

haha i know lol totally agree, but tried my luck anyway I've decided to just write myself a small utility to use with filezilla as a sidekick, copying the folder dates immediately after the ftp transfer. a bit less comfy, but i do agree with you so thats will do for now.

thanks alot guys for the detailed info and help! i'm sure other people will find it useful too!

thats right, but it could be nice to have, especially for "Date Created" that doesn't change.

Creation time is something that's not even tracked outside the Windows world and most FTP servers don't run on Windows.

Preserving timestamps of transferred folders (folder modified dates) in filezilla would be most helpful. Currently when you select

1) preserve timestamps of transferred files ctrl+u; and
2) synchronized browsing ctrl+y; and
3) directory comparison enable ctrl+o;

Then you get green colour coding on folders that is incorrect in that files within the folders may be identical but the folder is green because the folder timestamp was not preserved when folder was copied from local to server or from server to local. This is very unfortunate and misleading. The folder timestamp should be preserved and reflect the latest modified date of all the files contained with the folder the subfolders so that we can quickly identify where there is a difference between a local folder (and its files and folders) and server folder (and its files and folders).

If filezilla cannot do this, is anyone aware of another utility that can be run separately to show where there is a difference between a local and server folders? This would be helpful if you want to maintain 3 identical environments ie. development, test and production.

Today I searched for a solution but I didn't find any.
I fixed this issue but still with a workaround.

Maybe helps
I used Folder Time Update tool by Nirsoft and a Bash Script found on Stack Exchange.

Limitation: a linux bash shell is mandatory.

I wrote a little article on my site

https://www.byman.it/site/index.php/all/all-category-blog/338-filezilla-directory-comparison-timestamp-problem