The tool allows you to save modification time information of files and restore them later.
- subcommand: save [--add-directory VAR]... [--add-file VAR]... --output VAR
Generates a database that stores the mtime of files.
Optional arguments:
-d, --add-directory Add a directory. [nargs=0..1] [default: {"."}] [may be repeated]
-f, --add-file Add a file. [may be repeated]
-o, --output Where to save the database file? [required]
- subcommand: restore [--base-dir VAR] --input VAR
Restore the file's mtime from the database.
Optional arguments:
-b, --base-dir Set the base path for restore. [nargs=0..1] [default: "."]
-i, --input Where is the database that stores file mtime? [required]
To be honest, this tool is designed to be used with actions/cache.
When building a C++ project, the build system uses mtime (modification time of the file) to decide whether to do an incremental build. When we try to use actions/cache to save the build cache and restore it the next time, the build system often does a fresh build because actions/cache only simply downloads the file and puts it in the specified location - in other words, the mtime of the file is changed.
The problem can be solved by simply changing the build.yml:
# For reference only, some configurations have been omitted
# Assume:
# Build directory is: build
# Source code directory is: src
name: Build
on:
...
+ env:
+ RESTORE_MTIME_VERSION: 0.1.0
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: xmake-io/github-action-setup-xmake@v1
- uses: actions/cache@v4
with:
path: |
build
key: build-${{ github.run_id }}
restore-keys: |
build-
+ - name: Setup restore-mtime
+ run: |
+ wget -O restore-mtime.zip https://github.com/Redbeanw44602/restore-mtime/releases/download/v$RESTORE_MTIME_VERSION/restore-mtime-debug-linux-x64.zip
+ unzip restore-mtime.zip
+ chmod +x restore-mtime
+
+ # test
+ ./restore-mtime -v
+
+ - name: Restore cache's mtime
+ if: ${{ hashFiles('build/saved_mtime_db') != '' }} # is exists
+ run: |
+ ./restore-mtime restore -b src -i build/saved_mtime_db
- run: |
xmake f
- run: |
xmake build
+ - name: Save cache's mtime
+ run: |
+ ./restore-mtime save -d src -o build/saved_mtime_db
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
...Hmm, this might be a bit bloated, I will study how to package it into a custom step later.
- Files with the same hash value are considered to be the same file.
- The mtime of all files is saved in text format. You can view the details in the output file.
- Only process regular files (skip symlinks/block devices/...)
Open source under the MIT license.