How to change the date of creation and the date of modification of files on macOS, based on filename (and add an offset).

change-creation-and-modified-dates.py

import os
import re
import subprocess
from datetime import datetime, timedelta


def set_creation_date(file_path, creation_date):
    """
    Set the creation date of a file.

    Parameters:
    - file_path: The path to the file.
    - creation_date: The desired creation date.

    The creation_date parameter should be a string in the format 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS'.
    """
    try:
        # Convert the creation date string to a datetime object
        creation_datetime = datetime.strptime(creation_date, '%Y-%m-%d %H %M %S')
        creation_datetime = creation_datetime + timedelta(days=18310, hours=19, minutes=34)

        # Get the timestamp from the datetime object for os.utime
        timestamp = creation_datetime.timestamp()

        # Get the string from the datetime object for SetFile
        timestring = creation_datetime.strftime("%m/%d/%Y %H:%M:%S")

        # Set the access/modification date using the os.utime function
        os.utime(file_path, (timestamp, timestamp))

        # Set the creation date using the SetFile command
        subprocess.run(['SetFile', '-d', timestring, file_path])

        print(f"Creation date set successfully for {file_path}")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error setting creation date for {file_path}: {e}")


def extract_creation_date_from_filename(filename):
    """
    Extract the creation date from the filename.

    This assumes that the filename follows a specific format that includes the creation date.
    Modify the regular expression pattern as needed.
    """
    pattern = r'(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2} \d{2} \d{2} \d{2})'
    match = re.search(pattern, filename)
    if match:
        return match.group(1)
    else:
        return None


def process_files_in_folder(folder_path):
    """
    Process all files in the specified folder.

    Parameters:
    - folder_path: The path to the folder containing the files.
    """
    for filename in os.listdir(folder_path):
        file_path = os.path.join(folder_path, filename)

        # Check if the item in the folder is a file (not a subdirectory)
        if os.path.isfile(file_path):
            creation_date_from_filename = extract_creation_date_from_filename(filename)

            if creation_date_from_filename:
                set_creation_date(file_path, creation_date_from_filename)
            else:
                print(f"Creation date not found in the filename for {file_path}.")


# Example usage:
folder_path = '/Users/qin-yu/temp/'
process_files_in_folder(folder_path)