Re: Reset last used date

Hello John,

Am 21.04.2022 um 03:34 schrieb John Yeung <gallium.arsenide@xxxxxxxxx>:

Doesn't make sense to me. The system records the last time the object was used, period. :-) And you can't make it "null", because the last used date naturally can't be older than the last change date.

But you absolutely can have an object which has a last change date, yet has 0 days used and no last used date. We have loads of them on our system.

There is a difference between what is technically possible and what makes sense from a human point of view. :-) I already guessed that these data is mere metadata just being updated by the OS on certain occasions but not checked for consistency.

(Same as with atime/mtime/ctime on Unix: You can set them to whatever you want with touch(1), values are never checked for consistency, or logical error.)

What goal do you want to achieve?

Clearly he wants the object to appear as though it has never been used.

Yes. But what is the higher goal? Something the OP might elaborate on.

It's not hard to imagine some situations where you'd want an object to appear "pristine". I will grant that in most such cases, resetting the last used date is probably a nice-to-have; and the presence of 0 days used should be sufficient from a functionality standpoint.

Instead of doing guesswork, I'd prefer the OP to explain what he wants to achieve. :-)

Maybe I'm right for asking about the "why", because the OP's initial question "how to reset" still hasn't been answered with 100% confidence.

:wq! PoC