document.lastModified returns current date!

[John Norvell]

I just noticed that recently the javascript I was using to format and
display the last modified date of my web page is always reporting the
current date instead. It used to work fine. This is true both on the
university web server on which the page is hosted and the local mirror I
keep on my desktop (SuSE 8.2 Linux). It is a new university, but my
desktop filesystem is the same as before. I can see with "ls -l" that the
modified date of the file has not been changed. I am really befuddled! I
have tried several different scripts now, and they all show the same
behavior. Any clues about this?

Here's what I've been using:

// Formatted last-modified date
if (Date.parse(document.lastModified) != 0) {
var modiDate = new Date(document.lastModified); var modiYear =
modiDate.getYear();
modiYear = (modiYear < 2000) ? modiYear + 1900 : modiYear; var
monthName = new Array("January", "February", "March", "April",
"May",
"June", "July", "August", "September", "October", "November",
"December");
document.write(monthName[modiDate.getMonth()] + " ");
document.write(modiDate.getDate() + ", " + modiYear); }
//

I call it like this:

<SCRIPT SRC="datemod.js" LANGUAGE="JavaScript"></SCRIPT>

--John

[Dr John Stockton]

JRS: In article <pan.2004.01.17.23.21.59.594253@remove-this-nospam-
part.fas.harvard.edu>, seen in news:comp.lang.javascript, John Norvell
<no*****@remove-this-nospam-part.fas.harvard.edu> posted at Sat, 17 Jan
2004 18:22:00 :-

I just noticed that recently the javascript I was using to format and
display the last modified date of my web page is always reporting the
current date instead. It used to work fine. This is true both on the
university web server on which the page is hosted and the local mirror I
keep on my desktop (SuSE 8.2 Linux). It is a new university,
?? Even by Oxbridge, Harvard is no longer considered really "new" ??
but my
desktop filesystem is the same as before. I can see with "ls -l" that the
modified date of the file has not been changed. I am really befuddled! I
have tried several different scripts now, and they all show the same
behavior. Any clues about this?
Perhaps you meant "the University's server is new"?

Here's what I've been using:

// Formatted last-modified date
if (Date.parse(document.lastModified) != 0) {
var modiDate = new Date(document.lastModified); var modiYear =
modiDate.getYear();
modiYear = (modiYear < 2000) ? modiYear + 1900 : modiYear; var
monthName = new Array("January", "February", "March", "April",
"May",
"June", "July", "August", "September", "October", "November",
"December");
document.write(monthName[modiDate.getMonth()] + " ");
document.write(modiDate.getDate() + ", " + modiYear); }
//
Since that gives date-like but unsatisfactory results, look directly at
lastModified. If that shows "today", you cannot hope to get a desired
earlier modification date by correcting the code shown.

If you think your Subject line is an accurate representation of the
situation, why did you think it necessary to give the code that
interprets it?
That code, on a test page dated 2003-12-30, reports "December 30, 1903";
your Y2k logic is inadequate, but the interpreting code is presumably
NOT responsible for giving you "today".

For that page, lastModified shows me 12/30/03 20:20:54, and getYear
gives 3, in my MSIE 4. Note that, as well as missing 20, the date field
order is incorrect.
You should have read the c.l.j FAQ, which gives relevant advice; you
should read <URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/js-date3.htm#lM>.
It seems evident that either the server is returning the current date in
the Last-Modified line of the HTTP header, in which case reconfigure the
server and/or its operator; or that it is returning no such line, in
which case the fault is on your machine, in interpreting the absence of
data unsatisfactorily.
Note that L-M is transmitted in GMT & marked as such, or AIUI should be;
d.lM is likely to use the same figures, without GMT, for at least some
browsers; Date.parse assumes local time by default. The zone of origin
is not known, so the author's upload date cannot be known for a WWW
page. The coder can cause either the GMT date or the reader's date to
be shown; but should indicate clearly which is the case.

The only sensible move is for the author to write the date, in an
internationally unambiguous manner, in the HTML; it should then be
assumed to be author's local civil date, unless otherwise specified.
--John

FYI:
A correct SigSep is a line containing only the three characters '-- '.

--
© John Stockton, Surrey, UK. ?@merlyn.demon.co.uk Turnpike v4.00 IE 4 ©
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