Telegram API, including the ability to set messages or files to send as historical dates when operating through the Telethon library. All sent messages and files will be marked with the server time when they are actually sent, which is to maintain the integrity of the message and prevent timestamp forgery. Users should manage the context of historical data through message content, file naming, or local organization.

1. Analysis of Telegram message timestamp mechanism

As a secure and data integrity instant messaging application, Telegram is designed with a very rigorous message timestamping mechanism. When a user sends any message (including text, pictures, videos, files, etc.) through the client or API, the exact time when the message arrives on the Telegram server will be marked immediately on the server to receive it. This timestamp is an inherent property of the message and is tamper-free.

This design has its core considerations:

• Data integrity and authenticity: Ensure that the message is sent to the real time, preventing users or programs from forging historical messages, thereby avoiding potential fraudulent behavior or misleading information propagation.
• Accuracy of event sequences: Maintain the logical order of chat records so that all participants can see a unified, trusted message timeline.

Therefore, neither using an official client nor a third-party library (such as Telethon) can be used to specify a past date or time to "trace back" the timeline of the message when sent. The date property of a message always reflects the actual time it was received and processed by the server.

2. Telethon send_file and send_message function limitations

Telethon is a Python implementation of the Telegram API, which provides rich interfaces to interact with Telegram, including sending files and messages. However, due to the limitations of the Telegram API itself, Telethon's send_file and send_message methods do not provide parameters for setting the message send date.

Here is a basic example of sending a file using send_file, which you can observe that there are no options related to "date" or "timestamp" in its parameter list:

 from telethon.sync import TelegramClient
from telethon.tl.types import PeerChannel
import os

# Replace with your API ID and API Hash
api_id = 1234567
api_hash = 'your_api_hash_here'

# Replace with your phone number in the format like '8612345678900'
phone_number = ' 8612345678900'

# Session file path, used to save login status session_name = 'my_telegram_session'

client = TelegramClient(session_name, api_id, api_hash)

async def send_file_example():
    try:
        # Connect to Telegram
        print("Try to connect to Telegram...")
        await client.start(phone=phone_number)
        print("Connected successfully.")

        # Replace with the target entity you want to send to (user ID, channel ID, group ID, or their username)
        # For example: 'me' (self), '@your_channel_username', -100123456789 (channel ID)
        # For private channels or groups, you may need to get their object through get_entity first # entity = await client.get_entity('https://t.me/joinchat/YourInviteLink')
        # Or directly use ID: entity = PeerChannel(channel_id)
        target_entity = 'me' # Send to "Save Message"

        # Prepare the file to be sent file_path = 'example_photo.jpg' # Make sure this file exists in the script running directory if not os.path.exists(file_path):
            # Create a fake image file to demonstrate from PIL import Image
            img = Image.new('RGB', (60, 30), color = 'red')
            img.save(file_path)
            print(f"Sample file created: {file_path}")

        caption_text = "This is a picture sent through Telethon. Please note that the sending time is the current time."

        print(f"Sending file '{file_path}' to '{target_entity}'...")
        # Use send_file method to send a file# Note: This method does not have any parameters to set the "send date" of the file to the past message = await client.send_file(
            target_entity,
            file_path,
            caption=caption_text,
            # Other optional parameters such as: force_document=False, thumb=None, reply_to=None, etc.
            # But there is no date or timestamp parameter)
        print(f"File sent successfully! Message ID: {message.id}, message date: {message.date}")

    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Failed to send file: {e}")
    Finally:
        # Disconnect if client.is_connected():
            await client.disconnect()
            print("Disconnected.")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    import asyncio
    asyncio.run(send_file_example())

In the above code, message.date will always display the date and time when the file was received by the Telegram server. No matter how you try to name or modify the creation/modification date of a file in your local file system, this information is not passed to the Telegram server to affect the timestamp of the message.

3. Alternatives and Organizational Strategies

Since the historical date cannot be set at sending, the following alternative strategies can be considered for users who need to "back up" or "archive" files with specific historical timestamps (such as old photos, videos) to provide context information:

1. Date in the message title or description: This is the most direct and effective method. When sending a file, use the caption parameter or the text content of send_message to clearly mark the original date corresponding to the file.

    # ... (Continued with Telethon client initialization above)
   original_date = "2012-06-05"
   caption_text = f"[{original_date}] This photo was taken that year."
   message = await client.send_file(target_entity, file_path, caption=caption_text)
   print(f"File sent successfully, note date: {original_date}")

   In this way, even if Telegram shows the current sending time, the user can quickly identify his historical context through the message content.

2. Leverage local file naming and folder structure: Keep your habit of organizing local files by date (for example, 2012-06-05/photo1.jpg). When you need to find a file for a specific date, you first locate it locally and then send it to Telegram as needed. Telegram channels or groups are more of a storage and sharing platform for content than a timeline archiving tool in the strict sense.

3. Telegram Album Features: When you send multiple pictures or videos at once, Telegram will automatically organize them into one album. Although this does not affect the timestamp, it can improve visual organization and make it easier for users to browse content in the same batch. For a large number of photos on the same day, try sending them at once and using a unified title to date.

Summarize

The design philosophy of Telegram API determines its strict management of message timestamps and does not allow users or applications to forge or backtrack the sending time of messages. Telethon, as an encapsulation of Telegram API, naturally follows this limitation. Therefore, for scenarios where historical date content needs to be associated, the best practice is to provide time context through the message content itself and combine local file organization strategies to meet the needs of data archiving and retrieval. Understanding and accepting this limitation helps to more efficiently utilize Telegram as a tool for content backup and sharing.

The above is the detailed content of Telegram message timestamp control: Telethon's date limit for sending files and messages. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!