Setting FileModifyDate fails for old files

[Archive]

[Originally posted by pavink on 2008-01-02 09:57:02-08]

Phil,
With ExifTool and the help you provided earlier, I can now construct and write EXIF time stamps from a filename like '20071225_ChristmasParty.tif'.
 In order to get proper file sorting on a filesystem basis, I am also writing back the new EXIF date/time to the file date/time (with -DateTimeOriginal &lt FileModifyDate). However, this fails for old files such as '19531225_ChristmasParty.tif' with ExifTool reporting a warning that it cannot set the 1953 date on the file.
 I realise 1953 pre-dates any digital file, but I thought that DOS/Windows can have filedates back to 1600 or so? Is this a problem with ExifTool, or is it the Windows file system?
thanks,

PaVink

[Archive]

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-01-02 13:41:22-08]

This is a limitation of the filesystem.  In Unix, dates start at 1970,
but I'm not sure when Windows time zero is.

You should be able to write DateTimeOriginal from Filename for
such files, since EXIF:DateTimeOriginal has no restriction like this.
However, FileModifyDate is limited by the filesystem.

- Phil