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"Date Created" Missing

Hello,
I deal with tons of jpg and tif files, and have noticed that some have Created dates and times, while others don't. I copy folders of images to a server, and when those copies are created, shouldn't they be assigned a Created date? I can't figure out why some have the data and others don't. Can anyone explain this to me? Is there any way to get the OS to refresh these files, and assign the Created date? The missing data creates a big problem with archiving.
Thanks,
Andrew

Posted on Sep 26, 2005 9:57 AM

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3 replies

Sep 26, 2005 12:53 PM in response to Andrew Higley

The "creation date" is something that is stored as a part of the record of a file in the filesystem, rather than being a part of the file itself. It seems that OS X is not able to translate "creation date" information back and forth between a disk formatted with HFS+ (the format used by Macs) and for example FAT32, used in flash memory, etc. The result seems to be that files copied from locally mounted non-HFS volumes using "Finder" will be missing the "creation date" (which may be displayed as some strange date like "1903" in some "Finder" views). On the other hand, files imported from such disks using "iPhoto.app", "Image Capture.app", or copied using the command line (in "Panther" at least - I don't know how the new command line tools in "Tiger" handle this) may be assigned a "creation date" that is equal to the modification date or the date the copy was made, which has no relation to the "creation date" of the original file.

A similar problem affects servers - I believe files copied using AFP are ok, but if the transfers use SMB ("Windows sharing") or FTP (in "Finder" at least), the "creation date" may be lost even if the transfer is between two Macs. It seems the upload works correctly (at least on a Mac to Mac transfer) - the file created at the destination will have the correct "creation date". However, at the client end, files "downloaded" from the server seem to lack the "creation date", and it makes no difference whether there was an "._AppleDouble" file on the server or not.

Recovery of the "creation date" may be possible if the image contains the information embedded in its EXIF header (this is this "creation date" that for example, "iPhoto.app" displays, rather than the file's "creation date"). If the image file does not contain this information, then I don't think it is possible to reset the date without knowing what it was to begin with.

In terms of workarounds to prevent the loss of the "creation date", avoid using anything other than AFP (personal file sharing) as the transfer protocol, and stick to HFS+ formatted disks. Otherwise, saving the images to an HFS+ formatted disk image prior to transfer might be one way to preserve an existing "creation date".

Sep 26, 2005 1:47 PM in response to biovizier

Ok, so I'm transfering files from a flash card to my hard drive via a card reader on an external drive. It's got its own back-up software, which I usually use, but sometimes I transfer the files straight from the card to a folder on my desktop. So is it possible that the hard drive/card reader is causing the problem? Or do you mean it's just a problem translating data from the card to OSX?
It seems like it's happening randomly, though. For example, I just edited and resaved 75 jpgs, and one of them was given a Creation date while the others weren't.
Thank you for responding!

Sep 26, 2005 2:33 PM in response to Andrew Higley

I didn't say so explicitly, but I'm still using "Panther" so some things may be different in "Tiger". On my system at least, OS X doesn't seem to be able to copy the "creation date" at all from a non-HFS+ formatted volume so I don't think your card reader is at fault for situations where you "transfer the files straight from the card to a folder" (ie. using "Finder").

If the card reader's backup software has a feature that is able to preserve the "creation date", that would be great, but pay attention to the relevance of the dates to make sure the files aren't just getting the "creation date" set to the "copy time" (which of course is when the copy was created).

I can't really comment on the randomness you are observing - if you mentioned the exact software involved, maybe some "Tiger" user here would have some input. You mentioned having "edited and resaved" the images. I think some software will make modifications to a file directly, whereas others will in effect create a new file in place of the original (not to mention "Save as" or "Save a Copy" functions). It might also depend on the types of operations being performed on the file. Either way, if a file is lacking a "creation date" and is modified in place, the file would continue to lack a "creation date", whereas if the editing operation actually creates a new file, then I would expect that it would acquire "creation date" at that time. And of course if that one file out of 75 came from a source different from that of the others, it may already have had a "creation date"...

"Date Created" Missing

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