Is there any way to monitor the attributes of files such as 'Date Created' or 'Modified Date' rather than modify the actual contents of the files? I am currently indexing the path to a shared folder on a remote server using the 'Files and Directories' data input and it is indexing the contents.
I am on Splunk ver. 4.1.3.
You should be able to use the file system change monitoring inputs:
http://www.splunk.com/base/Documentation/latest/Admin/Monitorchangestoyourfilesystem