A file's ctime is it's inode change time. The inode changes when file metadata changes (for example when file permissions change). The inode also changes whenever the file's contents change, but since the inode changes for other reasons, it's more accurate to use mtime to get the age of the contents of a file. See SPLFileInfo::getMTime
Also, please note ctime is not creation time. (Most UNIX-like filesystems do not record a file's creation time.)SplFileInfo::getCTime
(PHP 5 >= 5.1.2, PHP 7, PHP 8)
SplFileInfo::getCTime — Gets the inode change time
Description
Returns the inode change time for the file. The time returned is a Unix timestamp.
Parameters
This function has no parameters.
Return Values
The last change time, in a Unix timestamp on success, or false on failure.
Errors/Exceptions
Throws RuntimeException on error.
Examples
Example #1 SplFileInfo::getCTime() example
<?php
$info = new SplFileInfo('example.jpg');
echo 'Last changed at ' . date('g:i a', $info->getCTime());
?>The above example will output something similar to:
Last changed at 1:49 pm
See Also
- filectime() - Gets inode change time of file
- SplFileInfo::getATime() - Gets last access time of the file
- SplFileInfo::getMTime() - Gets the last modified time
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User Contributed Notes 1 note
michael at smith-li dot com ¶
11 years ago