linux - How can I sort a directory by creation date in BASH? -

i'm trying create simple script list 16 recent folders created in directory on nas machine way display recent movies added collection.

the script using @ moment is:

#!/bin/bash rm -f /volume1/new-movies/* ifs=$'\x0a' fresh=$(ls -1ct /volume1/movies | head -16) folder in $fresh     file=$(find "/volume1/movies/$folder" -maxdepth 1 -type f)     movie=$(basename "$file")     ln -s "$file" "/volume1/new-movies/$movie" done ls -1 /volume1/new-movies 

which ok (the movies folder ever contain folders). problem sorted file/folders modification time rather creation time.

the filesystem ext4 , should support birth time have had no luck accessing it.

scott@pandora scripts $ stat  /volume1/movies/example/   file: '/volume1/movies/example/'   size: 4096            blocks: 8          io block: 4096   directory device: 902h/2306d      inode: 373800961   links: 2 access: (0755/drwxr-xr-x)  uid: ( 1028/   scott)   gid: (  100/   users) access: 2013-04-09 13:39:53.243991684 +1000 modify: 2013-04-06 13:26:00.965998952 +1100 change: 2013-04-09 11:46:23.280991727 +1000  birth: - 

however, samba seems have no issue displaying correct creation date/time. there way access same information bash? or going have program in python/other need accessing smb directly , listing each folder creation date?

scott@pandora scripts $ smbclient \\\\localhost\\movies\\ enter scott's password: domain=[examplenet] os=[unix] server=[samba 3.6.9] smb: \> allinfo "example" altname: e06kne~a create_time:    fri jun 18 17:23:49 2010 est access_time:    tue apr  9 13:39:53 2013 est write_time:     sat apr  6 13:26:01 2013 est change_time:    sat apr  6 13:26:01 2013 est attributes: da (30) smb: \> quit 

edit: see below answer final solution issue.

after fiddling have come solution appears work little better trying rely on ls -lc. here's full script using.

#!/usr/bin/env sh  # remove existing symbolic links- rm -f /volume1/new-movies/*  # retrieve folder listing smbclient (the date used 'modified' # appears closer 'creation' else) folders=$(smbclient \\\\localhost\\movies -n -c ls 2>/dev/null)  # format output better sorting. eg # folder da 0 mon  2 oct 12:23:00 2012 # 2012-oct-2 12:23:00 "folder" fmt1=$(echo "$folders" | sed -e 's/^  (.*\))\s+da.* (\w+)\s+([0-9]{1,2})\s+([0-9:]{8})\s+([0-9]{4})$/\5-\2-\3 \4 "\1"/')  # change month names numeric representations , pad single digit # dates 2 characters. eg. # 2012-oct-2 12:23:00 "folder" # 2012-10-02 12:23:00 "folder" fmt2=$(echo -e "$fmt1" |sed 's/-jan-/-01-/;s/-feb-/-02-/;s/-mar-/-03-/;s/-apr-/-04-/;s/-may-/-05-/;s/-jun-/-06-/;s/-jul-/-07-/;s/-aug-/-08-/;s/-sep-/-09-/;s/-oct-/-10-/;s/-nov-/-11-/;s/-dec-/-12-/;s/-\([0-9]\) /-0\1 /')  # sort folders in reverse order sortd=$(echo -e "$fmt2" | sort -r)  # grab last 16. (16 items per page displayed on wd tv streaming) latest=$(echo -e "$sortd" | head -16 | cut -d\" -f2)  # loop through each folder using new line rather dft. space ifs=$'\x0a' l in $latest    # find movie file in directory, dont in subdirectories ,    # match movie files. skips subtitles, bonus features, etc.    f=$(find "/volume1/movies/$l" -maxdepth 1 -type f \    \( -iname \*.avi -o \       -iname \*.mp4 -o \       -iname \*.mkv -o \       -iname \*.mpg -o \       -iname \*.ts -o \       -iname \*.m4v \    \) -exec echo "{}" \;)     # grab filename    b=$(basename "$f")     # link file $f new movie folder base name.    ln -s "$f" "/volume1/new-movies/$b"  done ifs= ls -1 /volume1/new-movies