NAME

       File::Touch - update file access and modification times, optionally creating files if
       needed

SYNOPSIS

        use File::Touch 0.12;
        @file_list = ('one.txt','../two.doc');
        $count = touch(@file_list);

        use File::Touch;
        $reference_file = '/etc/passwd';
        $touch_obj = File::Touch->new(
                         reference => $reference_file,
                         no_create => 1
                     );
        @file_list = ('one.txt','../two.doc');
        $count     = $touch_obj->touch(@file_list);

DESCRIPTION

       This module provides both a functional and OO interface for changing the file access and
       modification times on files.  It can optionally create the file for you, if it doesn't
       exist.

       Note: you should specify a minimum version of 0.12, as per the SYNOPSIS, as that fixed an
       issue that affected systems that have sub-second granularity on those file times.

       Here's a list of arguments that can be used with the object-oriented contruction:

       atime_only => [0|1]
           If nonzero, change only the access time of files. Default is zero.

       mtime_only => [0|1]
           If nonzero, change only the modification time of files. Default is zero.

       no_create => [0|1]
           If nonzero, do not create new files. Default is zero.

       reference => $reference_file
           If defined, use timestamps from this file instead of current time.  The timestamps are
           read from the reference file when the object is created, not when "<-"touch>> is
           invoked.  Default is undefined.

       time => $time
           If defined, then this value will be used for both access time and modification time,
           whichever of those are set.  This time is overridden by the "atime" and "mtime"
           arguments, if you use them.

       atime => $time
           If defined, use this time (in epoch seconds) instead of current time for access time.

       mtime => $time
           If defined, use this time (in epoch seconds) instead of current time for modification
           time.

Examples

   Update access and modification times, creating nonexistent files
        use File::Touch;
        my @files = ('one','two','three');
        my $count = touch(@files);
        print "$count files updated\n";

   Set access time forward, leave modification time unchanged
        use File::Touch;
        my @files = ('one','two','three');
        my $day = 24*60*60;
        my $time = time() + 30 * $day;
        my $ref = File::Touch->new( atime_only => 1, time => $time );
        my $count = $ref->touch(@files);
        print "$count files updated\n";

   Set modification time back, update access time, do not create nonexistent files
        use File::Touch;
        my @files = ('one','two','three');
        my $day = 24*60*60;
        my $time = time() - 30 * $day;
        my $ref = File::Touch->new( mtime => $time, no_create => 1 );
        my $count = $ref->touch(@files);
        print "$count files updated\n";

   Make a change to a file, keeping its timestamps unchanged
        use File::Touch;
        my $date_restorer = File::Touch->new(reference => $file);
        # Update the contents of $file here.
        $date_restorer->touch($file);

REPOSITORY

       <https://github.com/neilb/File-Touch>

AUTHOR

       Nigel Wetters Gourlay (nwetters@cpan.org)

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2001,2007,2009 Nigel Wetters Gourlay. All Rights Reserved.  This module is
       free software. It may be used, redistributed and/or modified under the same terms as Perl
       itself.