a218@mindlink.UUCP (Charlie Gibbs) (08/02/89)
I hate to sound like a broken record, but I still think we
need a better way to handle date and time stamps when copying
files. I know the CLONE option is available from the CLI, and
that you can ALIAS it into your own COPY command. Several people
have sent me mail telling how (thanks everyone!) but my attempts
to reply bounced.
There are still two problems. First, unless you have taken
careful, manually-installed steps (like an alias or another shell),
your date/time stamps are toast. Even so, the first time your file
goes through someone else's machine that hasn't been set up this
way, make will go nuts and your revision date is history.
The second problem doesn't even have a work-around. You
can't say CLONE when you're dragging an icon on the Workbench.
I still maintain that date and time stamps should be preserved
by default, with some sort of keyword parameter to wipe them out
for those people who really want that sort of thing. COPY already
preserves the protection bits by default - imagine the hue and cry
that would ensue if COPY stripped everyone's script bits.
If we absolutely MUST lose our date/time stamps by default,
COPY should, in addition to the CLONE keyword, also look at an
environment variable which would have the same effect as CLONE.
This environment variable should also be respected by the Workbench.
Charlie_Gibbs@mindlink.UUCP
"Your time is your time is your time..."
"Insert here." -- Proctor & Bergman