INN 2.6.2
2016-10-07
NAME
convdate - Convert to/from RFC 5322 dates and seconds since epoch
SYNOPSIS
convdate [-dhl] [-c | -n | -s] [date ...]
DESCRIPTION
convdate translates the date/time strings given on the command line, outputting the results one to a line. The input can either be a date in RFC 5322 format (accepting the variations on that format that innd(8) is willing to accept), or the number of seconds since epoch (if -c is given). The output is either ctime(3) results, the number of seconds since epoch, or a Usenet Date: header, depending on the options given.
If date is not given, convdate outputs the current date.
OPTIONS
| -c | Each argument is taken to be the number of seconds since epoch (a time_t) rather than a date. |
| -d | Output a valid Usenet Date: header instead of the results of ctime(3) for each date given on the command line. This is useful for testing the algorithm used to generate Date: headers for local posts. Normally, the date will be in UTC, but see the -l option. |
| -h | Print usage information and exit. |
| -l | Only makes sense in combination with -d. If given, Date: headers generated will use the local time zone instead of UTC. |
| -n | Rather than outputting the results of ctime(3) or a Date: header, output each date given as the number of seconds since epoch (a time_t). This option doesn’t make sense in combination with -d. |
| -s | Pass each given date to the RFC 5322 date parser and print the results of ctime(3) (or a Date: header if -d is given). This is the default behavior. |
EXAMPLES
Most of these examples are taken, with modifications from the original man page dating from 1991 and were run in the EST/EDT time zone.
% convdate 10 Feb 1991 10:00:00 -0500
Sun Feb 10 10:00:00 1991
% convdate 13 Dec 91 12:00 EST 04 May 1990 0:0:0
Fri Dec 13 12:00:00 1991
Fri May 4 00:00:00 1990
% convdate -n 10 feb 1991 10:00 4 May 90 12:00
666198000
641880000
% convdate -c 666198000
Sun Feb 10 10:00:00 1991
ctime(3) results are in the local time zone. Compare to:
% convdate -dc 666198000
Sun, 10 Feb 1991 15:00:00 -0000 (UTC)
% env TZ=PST8PDT convdate -dlc 666198000
Sun, 10 Feb 1991 07:00:00 -0800 (PST)
% env TZ=EST5EDT convdate -dlc 666198000
Sun, 10 Feb 1991 10:00:00 -0500 (EST)
The system library functions generally use the environment variable TZ to determine (or at least override) the local time zone.
