• (nodebb)

    the process that's writing the files isn't setting the "last write time"

    TRWTF is that in fact, the process that's writing the files is setting the "last write" time, but explicitly to something invalid. (Or maybe if the system clock is wildly inaccurate, see below.)

    See, the mere fact of writing to the file is enough to make the OS underneath set the file's "last write" time to "now", so if that isn't happening, the only conclusion is that the process is deliberately setting it to something else.

    It's probably also a good idea to see what the file's last-written time actually is, since FileTimeToDosDateTime is specified as failing if the file time lies outside the range 1980-01-01 to 2107-12-31.

    So, the WTFs here....

    1. Someone thinking that updating the last write time on a file is something the application has to do itself.

    2. Your choice of : (a) A program that writes to a file and then sets the last-write time to an invalid value, or (b) The system clock being set to a value that's decades out of whack with reality. Or both.

    3. A function called FileAge that returns the time and date that the file was last written. "How old is this file?" "Three weeks ago next Wednesday at four o'clock in the afternoon."

  • (nodebb)

    That is not Pascal, that is actually Delphi. And yes, it will no longer work, because the code shown works only on not NT kernels - which is basically Windows 95/98 and ME if you are in a self-destructive mood. So even for Delphi the code is weirdly out of date and should not be run on modern Windows versions. I guess they didn't update to the latest version which was released somewhat in the mid-2000s.

    Addendum 2026-09-14 07:15: So the Real WTF is that they are using a compiler that produces code for a complete different OS.

Leave a comment on “I Exist”

Log In or post as a guest

Replying to comment #704300:

Log Out

« Return to Article