IntelliJ: Dynamically updated file header - intellij-idea

Question

By default, IntelliJ Idea will insert (something like) the following as the header of a new source file:
/**
* Created by JohnDoe on 2016-04-27.
*/
The corresponding template is:
/**
* Created by ${USER} on ${DATE}.
*/
Is it possible to update this template so that it inserts the last date of modification when the file is changed? For example:
/**
* Created by JohnDoe on 2016-03-27.
* Last modified by JaneDoe on 2016-04-27
*/

Answer 1

It is not supported out of the box. I suggest you do not include information about author and last edit/create time in file at all.
The reason is that your version control system (Git, SVN) contains the same information automatically. So the manual labelling is just duplicate of already existing info, but is only more error prone and needs to be manually updated.

Answer 2

Here's a working solution similar to what I'm using. Tested on mac os.
Create a bash script which will replace first occurrence of Last modified by JaneDoe on $DATE only if the exact value is not contained in the file:
#!/bin/bash
FILE=src/java/test/Test.java
DATE=`date '+%Y-%m-%d'`
PREFIX="Last modified by JaneDoe on "
STRING="$PREFIX.*$"
SUBSTITUTE="$PREFIX$DATE"
if ! grep -q "$SUBSTITUTE" "$FILE"; then
sed -i '' "1,/$(echo "$STRING")/ s/$(echo "$STRING")/$(echo "$SUBSTITUTE")/" $FILE
fi
Install File Watchers plugin.
Create a file watcher with appropriate scope (it may be this single file or any other scope, so that any change in project's source code will update modified date or version etc.) and put a path to your bash script into Program field.
Now every time the file changes the date will update. If you want to update date for each file separately, an argument $FilePath$ should be passed to the script.

Answer 3

This might have been just a comment to #oleg-mikhailov excellent idea, but the code snippet won't fit. Basically, I just tweaked his solution.
I needed a slightly different syntax but that's not the issue. The issue was that when the script ran automatically upon file save using the File Watchers plugin, if ran on a file which doesn't include PREFIX it would run over and over for ever.
I presume the that the issue is with the plugin itself, as it didn't happen when run from the shell, but I'm not sure why it happened.
Anyway, I ended up running the following script (as I said only a slight change with respect to the original). The new script also raises an error if the the prefix doesn't exist. For me this is a feature as Pycharm prompts me with the error, and I can fix the file.
Tested with PyCharm 2021.2.3 on macOS 11.6.
#!/bin/bash
FILE=$1
DATE=`date '+%Y-%m-%d'`
PREFIX="last_modified_date: "
STRING="$PREFIX.*$"
SUBSTITUTE="$PREFIX$DATE"
if ! grep -q "$SUBSTITUTE" "$FILE"; then
if grep -q "$PREFIX" "$FILE"; then
sed -i '' "s/$(echo "$STRING")/$(echo "$SUBSTITUTE")/" $FILE
else
echo "Error!"
echo "'$PREFIX' doesn't appear in $FILE"
exit 1
fi
fi

Answer 4

PHPStorm has not a "hook" for launching task after detect a change in file (just for uploading in server yes). Code templating is based on the creation of file not change.
The behaviour you want (automatic change file after manual change file) can be useful for lot of things but it's circular headhache for editor. Because if you change a file it must change file (and if a file is change ? it change file ?).
However, You can, perhaps, "enable Live Templates" when you launch a "reformat code" which able to rewrite your begin template code that way rewrite date modification.
Other solution is that use a tools with as grunt but I don't know if manage php file.