Change modification, access and creation time of one or many files within a directory tree, with a free command line tool for Windows, Linux and Macintosh.

• Download the free Swiss File Knife Base from Sourceforge.
• Open the Windows CMD command line, Mac OS X Terminal or Linux shell.
• OS X : type mv sfk-mac-64.exe sfk and chmod +x sfk then ./sfk
• Linux: type mv sfk-linux-64.exe sfk and chmod +x sfk then ./sfk. OS X and Linux syntax may differ, check the help within the tool.

sfk touch [-date n] [opts] file
sfk touch -from srcfile [opts] file

change date and time of file(s) or directories.
if just a file- or directory name is given then
the access and modification time is set to the
current time. with SFK for windows, creation time
is not changed by default.

options
   -force   create empty file if it doesn't exist
   -date n  set file date/time to this value
            given like YYYYMMDDhhmmss,
            for example 20130412063015.
            year 2038 and further may work only
            with newer file systems like NTFS.
            NTFS second fractions are set to 0
            unless option -nsec is given.
   -nsec n  specify nanoseconds part for -date
            as a 9 digit number. the last 2 digits
            are not used and should be 00.
   -from f  copy file date/time from another file
   -atime   change only access time
   -mtime   change only modification time
   -ctime   change only creation time (Windows only)
   -full    set or copy atime, mtime and ctime
   -copyctom  do not use current time but copy every
            file's creation time into mod. time.
            may also use -copymtoc, -copyctoa etc.
   -delay=n   wait n msec after every file touch.

command chaining support
   multiple files can be touched through chaining:
   sfk select mydir .ext +touch ...

see also
   sfk filetime   print times of a file

examples
   sfk touch foo.txt
      sets access and modification time of foo.txt
      to the current time.

   sfk touch mydir
      touch only mydir, without any contents,
      e.g. mydir\file1.txt stays unchanged.

   sfk touch -date 20130412063015 foo.txt
      sets access and modification time of foo.txt
      to 12-Apr-2013 at 06:30:15.

   sfk touch -from src.txt myfile.txt
      reads access and modification time of src.txt
      and copies it to myfile.txt

   sfk select mydir .cpp .hpp +touch
      touch all .cpp and .hpp files from mydir.

   sfk sel -withdirs mydir +touch
      touch all files and sub folders of mydir
      and mydir itself.

   sfk select -justdirs mydir +touch -copyctom
      for folder mydir itself, and all sub folders
      therein, copy creation time to modification
      time, leaving files unchanged. to view times
      use: sfk filetime -full -justdirs mydir
 

sfk touch [-date n] [opts] file
sfk touch -from srcfile [opts] file

change date and time of file(s) or 
directories. if just a file- or directory
name is given then the access and
modification time is set to the current
time. with SFK for windows, creation time
is not changed by default.

options
   -force   create empty file if it doesn't 
            exist
   -date n  set file date/time to this value
            given like YYYYMMDDhhmmss,
            for example 20130412063015.
            year 2038 and further may 
            work only with newer file
            systems like NTFS. NTFS second
            fractions are set to 0 unless
            option -nsec is given.
   -nsec n  specify nanoseconds part 
            for -date as a 9 digit number.
            the last 2 digits are not used
            and should be 00.
   -from f  copy file date/time from 
            another file
   -atime   change only access time
   -mtime   change only modification time
   -ctime   change only creation time 
            (Windows only)
   -full    set or copy atime, mtime 
            and ctime
   -copyctom  do not use current time but 
              copy every
            file's creation time into mod. 
            time. may also use -copymtoc,
            -copyctoa etc.
   -delay=n   wait n msec after every file 
              touch.

command chaining support
   multiple files can be touched through 
   chaining: sfk select mydir .ext +touch .
   ..

see also
   sfk filetime   print times of a file


examples
   sfk touch foo.txt
      sets access and modification time of 
      foo.txt to the current time.

   sfk touch mydir
      touch only mydir, without any 
      contents, e.g. mydir\file1.txt stays
      unchanged.

   sfk touch -date 20130412063015 foo.txt
      sets access and modification time of 
      foo.txt to 12-Apr-2013 at 06:30:15.

   sfk touch -from src.txt myfile.txt
      reads access and modification time of 
      src.txt and copies it to myfile.txt

   sfk select mydir .cpp .hpp +touch
      touch all .cpp and .hpp files 
      from mydir.

   sfk sel -withdirs mydir +touch
      touch all files and sub folders 
      of mydir and mydir itself.

   sfk select -justdirs mydir +touch 
                -copyctom
      for folder mydir itself, and all sub 
      folders therein, copy creation time
      to modification time, leaving files
      unchanged. to view times use: sfk
      filetime -full -justdirs mydir
 

read more about all sfk functions

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