how to detect txt file has been changed?

I'm working on a program which needs save some temporary data in current directory. Next time, when users launch the program, it will load the data. However, users may manually change the data file. What we want is that if users manually changed the data file, we can detect that in our program. How to do it? Any suggestion is appreciated. Thanks

Compare the date?

You have a lot of options.

You could make a seperate file that you use to contain a copy or a hash in.

You could use something like the (sweet!) Opalis Robot to launch a program every time a file is changed (sweet - but expensive - I love the thing!)


You could check the modified date on the file. Here's some code (meant for Excel VBA) I copied off a web page some time ago (I can't not remember the sourse of the info - pardon):

Code:

---

Sub TestListFilesInFolder()
    Workbooks.Add ' create a new workbook for the file list
    ' add headers
    With Range("A1")
        .Formula = "Folder contents:"
        .Font.Bold = True
        .Font.Size = 12
    End With
    Range("A3").Formula = "File Name:"
    Range("B3").Formula = "File Size:"
    Range("C3").Formula = "File Type:"
    Range("D3").Formula = "Date Created:"
    Range("E3").Formula = "Date Last Accessed:"
    Range("F3").Formula = "Date Last Modified:"
    Range("G3").Formula = "Attributes:"
    Range("H3").Formula = "Short File Name:"
    Range("A3:H3").Font.Bold = True
    ListFilesInFolder "C:\FolderName\", True ' list all files included subfolders
End Sub

Sub ListFilesInFolder(SourceFolderName As String, IncludeSubfolders As Boolean)
' lists information about the files in SourceFolder
' example: ListFilesInFolder "C:\FolderName\", True
Dim FSO As Scripting.FileSystemObject
Dim SourceFolder As Scripting.Folder, SubFolder As Scripting.Folder
Dim FileItem As Scripting.File
Dim r As Long
    Set FSO = New Scripting.FileSystemObject
    Set SourceFolder = FSO.GetFolder(SourceFolderName)
    r = Range("A65536").End(xlUp).Row + 1
    For Each FileItem In SourceFolder.Files
        ' display file properties
        Cells(r, 1).Formula = FileItem.Path & FileItem.Name
        Cells(r, 2).Formula = FileItem.Size
        Cells(r, 3).Formula = FileItem.Type
        Cells(r, 4).Formula = FileItem.DateCreated
        Cells(r, 5).Formula = FileItem.DateLastAccessed
        Cells(r, 6).Formula = FileItem.DateLastModified
        Cells(r, 7).Formula = FileItem.Attributes
        Cells(r, 8).Formula = FileItem.ShortPath & FileItem.ShortName
        ' use file methods (not proper in this example)
'        FileItem.Copy "C:\FolderName\Filename.txt", True
'        FileItem.Move "C:\FolderName\Filename.txt"
'        FileItem.Delete True
        r = r + 1 ' next row number
    Next FileItem
    If IncludeSubfolders Then
        For Each SubFolder In SourceFolder.SubFolders
            ListFilesInFolder SubFolder.Path, True
        Next SubFolder
    End If
    Columns("A:H").AutoFit
    Set FileItem = Nothing
    Set SourceFolder = Nothing
    Set FSO = Nothing
    ActiveWorkbook.Saved = True
End Sub


 
 
 Check if a file exists

Sub FileExists()
Dim fso
Dim file As String
file = "C:\Test.xls" ' change to match the file w/Path
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
If Not fso.FileExists(file) Then
    MsgBox file & " was not located.", vbInformation, "File Not Found"
Else
    MsgBox file & " has been located.", vbInformation, "File Found"
End If
End Sub

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Here's the Opalis Robot homepage:
http://www.opalis.com/products/robot/index.html

It's like a visual app that you can do almost anything with. Anything that could happen on a computer, or network computer can be used as a trigger to do anything you want (launch a program, send email, start a process). I do so much cool automation stuff with it at work!