Ant get file creation timestamp

Question

I am writing a manifest.xml file during an Ant build for an OpenCMS project.

I need to be able to pull up a file\'s create date, and last modified date

Answer 1

Problem is the standard Java File object only supports a method for returning the last modified date:

• How to discover a File's creation time with Java?
• Determine file creation date in Java

The problem is addressed in Java 7, using the new NIO classes:

• http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/io/fileAttr.html

Obviously to take advantage of this in ANT you'd need to write a custom task or embed a script.