Hello Wilfred!   
      
   24 Nov 17 00:55, you wrote to Kees van Eeten:   
      
    WV> The most reliable way would be, to read the first line of the file and   
    WV> try to determine the date from that, before using the file date. (file   
    WV> dates can change)   
      
   This is only the case if the lower level submits updates using MakeNL or other    
   nodelist generating software.  For ZCs receiving updates from RCs, this is    
   usually the case.  However, it is fairly common for NCs of smaller nets to    
   just edit their segment by hand with a text editor.  In cases such as these,    
   you can't expect the segment date to be in any particular format on the first    
   line of the file; in fact it may not even be there at all.  Even the default    
   date line inserted by MakeNL isn't in the most convenient format for sorting    
   by date, unless you are going to rely on the 3 digit day number, which will    
   cause issues when crossing year boundaries.   
      
   In most cases where a segment is sent shortly after being generated, the file    
   date stored on disk should be close enough.   
      
   Andrew   
      
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