NAME Win32::UTCFileTime - Get/set UTC file times with stat/utime on Win32 SYNOPSIS # Override built-in stat()/lstat()/utime() within current package only: use Win32::UTCFileTime qw(:DEFAULT $ErrStr); @stats = stat $file or die "stat() failed: $ErrStr\n"; $now = time; utime $now, $now, $file; # Or, override built-in stat()/lstat()/utime() within all packages: use Win32::UTCFileTime qw(:globally); ... # Use an alternative implementation of stat() instead: use Win32::UTCFileTime qw(alt_stat $ErrStr); @stats = alt_stat($file) or die "alt_stat() failed: $ErrStr\n"; DESCRIPTION NOTE: In Perl 5.33.5, the built-in stat() and utime() functions were rewritten (and a proper implementation of lstat() was added) in such a way that the UTC file time handling is now correct (including the case of utime() being used on directories) regardless of which compiler perl is built with, thus rendering this module wholly redundant for Perl 5.33.5 or later. The remainder of this man page is written from the perspective of earlier versions of Perl. This module provides replacements for Perl's built-in stat() and utime() functions that respectively get and set "correct" UTC file times instead of the erroneous values read and written by Microsoft's implementation of stat(2) and utime(2), which Perl's built-in functions inherit on Win32 when built with the Microsoft C library in Visual Studio 2013 (VC12) or earlier. The bugs in the Microsoft C library have since been fixed, so there is mostly no need for this module if you build perl with Visual Studio 2015 (VC14.0) or later, except that the use of utime() on directories is a Perl extension over the underlying Microsoft C library function and still has incorrect UTC file time handling even for perls built with VC14.0 or later. INSTALLATION See the INSTALL file. COPYRIGHT Copyright (C) 2003-2008, 2012-2015, 2020 Steve Hay. All rights reserved. Portions Copyright (C) 2001 Jonathan M Gilligan. Used with permission. Portions Copyright (C) 2001 Tony M Hoyle. Used with permission. LICENCE This distribution is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, i.e. under the terms of either the GNU General Public License or the Artistic License, as specified in the LICENCE file.