Don't change created date of a Lotus Notes document via LotusScript

Is it possible to change or modify the created date of a Lotus Notes document and a Notes database – either with (or without) LotusScript or with another Windows utility.

Cregg Hardwick:The obvious approach is to change the system date in the computer you are using, then cut and paste the documents. This will wipe out the $modifiedby and $revisions system fields (and modifying these fields directly is not a good idea). But it is very likely that you will end up creating more problems when you replicated back to the server. The bottom line is, you are not meant to modify the created date, and you are playing with fire, your job and possibly the law if you do so. Being able to modify document creation dates would compromise, among other things, the ability to perform audits and respond to data requests related to litigation or regulation. (And since the CIA is a major client for Notes, I wouldn't invest much time in trying to get around this one.)

In theory, you could modify the database file directly. I have had some success with using a hex editor to modify certain information in a non-encrypted database without going through one Notes client, but I'll leave that dangerous exercise to your own ingenuity. FYI: Exporting the data to DXL, changing the created date, and re-importing it will not work--it will set the created date to the date you do import.

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One simple way is to create a new document based on the old one is to Call notesDocument.CopyAllItems( notesDocument [, replace ] ). Now, the same document has a new creation date.
—Paul R.

Cregg Hardwick is Collaboration Solutions Technical Lead for CenterPoint Energy in Houston. He has an MBA, a PCLP and an MCAD and has been a Notes developer since 1998. He focuses on collaboration and business process support applications. If you have a question for Cregg Hardwick on LotusScript, send it to editor@searchdomino.com and simply write "LotusScript question for Cregg" on the subject line.