Is there a method that shows that a file was "last accessed" as opposed to "last modified", in C# or are they the same?

Question

I want to check that the file was last accessed as opposed to last modified. I have the resources needed to check "last modified" information on MSDN, but wasn't sure if "last accessed" was a thing. I am under the impression that last modified means that something was written to a file/folder, rather than being accessed and timestamped.

I mostly googled, I haven't attempted any coding at all, it's more for an informational resource before I delve into making code.

Answer 1

Assuming:

check that the file was last accessed

means getting the time that the file was accessed last.

Using File.GetLastAccessTime(path) I was able to get the last time the file was accessed. This uses system.io namespace.

Example:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    try
    {
        string path = @"C:\test.txt";

        if (!File.Exists(path))
        {
            File.Create(path);
        }
        //get original access time
        DateTime dt = File.GetLastAccessTime(path);
        Console.WriteLine("The last access time for this file was {0}.", dt);

        // Update the last access time.
        File.SetLastAccessTime(path, DateTime.Now);
        dt = File.GetLastAccessTime(path);
        Console.WriteLine("The last access time for this file was {0}.", dt);
        Console.Read();
    }

    catch (Exception e)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString());
    }
}

Took the example from : File.GetLastAccessTime(String) Method