


     SetDate(V1.3)


     NAME
          SetDate - Set the DOS datestamp for files.

     SYNOPSIS
          1.3:
          SetDate File [DATE] [TIME] [QUIET]

          2.x/3.x:
          SetDate File [DATE] [TIME] [QUIET] [ALL]


     DESCRIPTION
            SetDate changes the last modification date of a file.  
        This is useful with programs such as Make, or if a file 
        was inadvertently created when the operating system was 
        set to a bad date or time.  The last modification date 
        may be viewed using the List command.  As with all 
        programs which accept date and time information, you may 
        use words such as YESTERDAY, MONDAY, etc., to specify the 
        date.

            In the 2.x/3.x version of SetDate, you can of course 
        use wildcard patterns to specify more than one filename.  
        If you supply only the filename to SetDate, the current 
        date will be assumed. This is probably the most common 
        use of a program like SetDate, and is very convenient (it 
        performs similarly to the Unix Touch command).

            Also under 2.x/3.x SetDate uses the value of the 
        environment variable 'dateformat' to determine the style 
        of input entry it expects.
     
     KEYWORDS

        File
            The name of directory or file to SetDate. Under 
        2.x/3.x you can use wildcards to change multiple files.

        DATE
            The day, month, and year you wish to change the date 
        to. The recognized format is: DD-MMM-YY.  DD is the 
        two-digit number for the day. MMM is a three-letter 
        abbreviation for the month (eg FEB or APR). YY is the 
        last two digits of the year. 
            You may also use words like SATURDAY, YESTERDAY, 
        TOMORROW, etc.  Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and the rest of 
        the days of the week can be used as flags. The system 
        will evaluate the day then advance the system date to 
        match the specified day of the week. So, if it is Monday 
        and you specify Thursday, the system clock will advance 
        by three days.
            If the date is not specified then the file is set to 
        the current system date and time.


        Time
            You can set the time along with the date with the use 
        of this optional keyword. The recognized format is 
        HH:MM:SS, for hours, minutes, and seconds respectfully. 
        Hours are recognized in a 24-hour format (aka Military 
        Time) where 1:00pm is represented by 1300 hours. If you 
        leave out minutes and/or seconds they are defaulted to 
        00. If you don't include this keyword then the time-stamp 
        on the file is defaulted to 00:00:00.

    EXAMPLE
          
            1. To set the date to January 1st, 1988 to 12:15 for 
        the file 'myfile'.

          SETDATE myfile 01-jan-88 12:15

            2. To give the file 'foo' yesterday's date:

          SETDATE foo YESTERDAY

            3. To set all files ending in .o to the current
        date.


          SETDATE *.o  


     SEE ALSO
          DATE, LIST
