How to get file create date in SQL? - sql

Question

Using openrowset, I am loading the XML file to a temp table.
How do I get the file created date?
CREATE TABLE #T
(
IntCol int,
XmlCol xml
);
INSERT INTO #T (XmlCol)
SELECT *
FROM OPENROWSET(BULK 'c:\Test.xml', SINGLE_BLOB) AS x;
SELECT * FROM #t

Answer 1

Not the most concise way to do this, but using Ole Automation in SQL Server is one way to get this information. The following sample uses C:\Temp\testfile.txt as an example. This not really "SQL", don't know if this good enough for you.
DECLARE #hr INT;
DECLARE #dt_created DATETIME;
DECLARE #obj_file INT;
DECLARE #obj_file_system INT;
DECLARE #file_name VARCHAR(100)='C:\Temp\testfile.txt';
-- Create a FileSystemObject. Create this once for all subsequent file manipulation. Don't forget to destroy this object once you're done with file manipulation (cf cleanup)
EXEC #hr = sp_OACreate 'Scripting.FileSystemObject', #obj_file_system OUT;
IF #hr<>0 GOTO __cleanup;
-- Get a handle for the file. Don't forget to release the handle for each file you get a handle for (see cleanup). The return will be different from 0 if the file doesn't exist
EXEC #hr = sp_OAMethod #obj_file_system, 'GetFile', #obj_file out, #file_name;
IF #hr<>0 GOTO __print_created_date;
-- Retrieve the created date.
EXEC sp_OAGetProperty #obj_file, 'DateCreated', #dt_created OUT;
__print_created_date:
SELECT #dt_created AS file_date;
__cleanup:
EXEC sp_OADestroy #obj_file_system;
EXEC sp_OADestroy #obj_file;
Ole Automation needs to be enabled first though (just once):
sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1;
GO
RECONFIGURE;
GO
sp_configure 'Ole Automation Procedures', 1;
GO
RECONFIGURE;
GO

Answer 2

T-SQL is not a language with which you can access file systems. However you can write a stored procedure in C# to accomplish this task. You would read the metadata with the appropriate classes in the .Net Framework. You can write a custom function with CLR integration to get every information you need from your filesystem.
Here is a little working sample to get an file created date with CLR integration in C#:
public class UserDefinedFunctions
{
[SqlFunction]
public static SqlDateTime GetCreatedDate(SqlString filePath)
{
return filePath.IsNull ? SqlDateTime.Null : File.GetCreationTime(filePath.Value);
}
}
Then you've got to deploy the assembly and register it to SQL Server, then create the proper function with Create function commands.
see more in CodeProject Sample

Answer 3

declare #f varchar(1000)='E:\work\share\data.txt';
declare #cmd varchar(1000)='for %a in ('+#f+') do echo %~ta'
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#t1') IS NOT NULL
DROP TABLE #t1
create table #t1(_output varchar(1000))
insert #t1
exec xp_cmdshell #cmd
declare #fileDate varchar(100)
set #fileDate=(select _output from #t1 where _output not like '%echo%')
print #fileDate
and convert #fileDate to dateTime by your settings