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I used "touch" on a file, updating the file's timestamp but the parent directory's timestamp did not change. However, (as expected) when I created a new file within the parent directory, the directory's timestamp did change.
What criteria do UNIX-like operating systems (specifically AIX) use to determine when to update the timestamp of a directory?
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mv will always update the timestamp on the directory it moves files/directories from and the directory into which it moves files/directories. (Basically, it modifies these directories, so of course it updates their modify timestamp, so long as the filesystem in question has modify timestamps.
The modified time is when a file last had its contents modified. And the change time is when a file last had its metadata changed (such as file permissions or the name of the file).
The timestamp is updated when the data that represents the directory changes. A change in a subdirectory of directory D does not change anything in the representation of D because D only points to the subdirectory, not to what's inside it. On the other hand, creating a file in D changes the block of data on disk that represents D.
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