ctime updated unexpectedly

[thomas dot revell at powerconv dot alstom dot com]

Hi everyone,

I wonder if someone could clear up an issue I'm having with ls -c (sorting 
files by ctime). As I understand it, the ctime is only updated when file 
status information (such as permissions) changes, or a file is completely 
recreated. It looks to me though, like the ctime is being updated every 
time the contents of a file change.

If I do this, for example (in an empty directory):

echo "First file" > file1
(wait a few seconds)
echo "Second file" > file2
(wait a few seconds)
echo "Third file" > file3

and then type ls -c, I will get the output:
file3 file2 file1
which is what I'd expect.

If I then type:
echo "Another line" >> file1
then I'd expect the output from ls -c to remain in the same order, because 
the only change has been to the file content. However, the output I 
actually get is:
file1 file3 file2

ls -lc shows that file1 does have the most recent ctime, but if I've 
understood what the ctime means correctly, then it shouldn't have. I know 
this is a very simple example, but understanding what's going on here is 
very important for some work I'm doing at the moment.

I'm using Windows 2000 Professional (SP4), and version 1.5.14 of 
cygwin1.dll. I'm using an NTFS file system.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Regards,

Tom


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