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Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!mailrus!ames!pacbell!att!ttrdc!levy
From: levy@ttrdc.UUCP (Daniel R. Levy)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards,comp.os.misc,comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: Uses for access time
Message-ID: <2651@ttrdc.UUCP>
Date: 8 May 88 01:48:43 GMT
References: <3672@lynx.UUCP> <8726@oberon.USC.EDU> <4876@cup.portal.com> <4054@mtgzz.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T, Skokie, IL
Lines: 26

In article <4054@mtgzz.UUCP>, avr@mtgzz.UUCP (XMRP50000[jcm]-a.v.reed) writes:
> Unfortunately, "access time" is NOT updated when an executable is
> executed.

You should qualify your statement with "not ALWAYS updated", unless you specify
a specific system.  This machine obviously updates access time upon execution:

$ ls -ul /bin/cat
-rwxrwxr-x   1 bin      bin        10356 May  7 20:38 /bin/cat
$ ls -ul /bin/cat
-rwxrwxr-x   1 bin      bin        10356 May  7 20:38 /bin/cat
$ /bin/cat /etc/TIMEZONE
TZ=CDT5
export TZ
$ ls -ul /bin/cat
-rwxrwxr-x   1 bin      bin        10356 May  7 20:42 /bin/cat
$ uname -a
ttrdc ttrdc 2.0v3 1208 3B-20S

Gurus:  Which systems DO update access time upon execution (presuming it's
possible at all, e.g., not on a readonly filesystem)?  Which systems don't?
-- 
|------------Dan Levy------------|  Path: ihnp4,!ttrdc!levy
|              AT&T              |  Weinberg's Principle:  An expert is a
|       Data Systems Group       |  person who avoids the small errors while
|--------Skokie, Illinois--------|  sweeping on to the grand fallacy.