xkcd: Formatting Meeting
https://xkcd.com/2562/

And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
numerics like 12/31/2021.

Explained at:
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting

Lynn

On 2021-12-31 12:33 p.m., Lynn McGuire wrote:
> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>    https://xkcd.com/2562/
>
> And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
> numerics like 12/31/2021.
>
> Explained at:
>    https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
>
> Lynn

Or just write it in the way that no one misunderstands:

2021/12/31

In article <sqo2lb$1mtd$1@gioia.aioe.org>, Alan <nope@nope.com> wrote:
>On 2021-12-31 12:33 p.m., Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>>    https://xkcd.com/2562/
>>
>> And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
>> numerics like 12/31/2021.
>>
>> Explained at:
>>    https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
>>
>> Lynn
>
>Or just write it in the way that no one misunderstands:
>
>2021/12/31

That works for, hm, about half of each month.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

On 2021-12-31 4:11 p.m., Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <sqo2lb$1mtd$1@gioia.aioe.org>, Alan <nope@nope.com> wrote:
>> On 2021-12-31 12:33 p.m., Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>>>    https://xkcd.com/2562/
>>>
>>> And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
>>> numerics like 12/31/2021.
>>>
>>> Explained at:
>>>    https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
>>>
>>> Lynn
>>
>> Or just write it in the way that no one misunderstands:
>>
>> 2021/12/31
>
> That works for, hm, about half of each month.
>

I don't think there is any jurisdiction on earth that uses YYYY/DD/MM.

If you lead with the year, then it's always YYYY/MM/DD

On 12/31/21 3:33 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>    https://xkcd.com/2562/
>
> And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
> numerics like 12/31/2021.
>
> Explained at:
>    https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
>
> Lynn

I’ve been using 2021-12-31 for decades. Aside from being the ISO
standard, it’s easier to program for, and it’s effectively unambiguous,
since no one uses 2021-31-12.

--
John W. Kennedy
Algernon Burbage, Lord Roderick, Father Martin, Bishop Baldwin,
King Pellinore, Captain Bailey, Merlin -- A Kingdom for a Stage!

On 12/31/21 7:37 PM, Alan wrote:
> On 2021-12-31 4:11 p.m., Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <sqo2lb$1mtd$1@gioia.aioe.org>, Alan  <nope@nope.com> wrote:
>>> On 2021-12-31 12:33 p.m., Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>>>>      https://xkcd.com/2562/
>>>>
>>>> And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
>>>> numerics like 12/31/2021.
>>>>
>>>> Explained at:
>>>>
>>>> https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
>>>>
>>>> Lynn
>>>
>>> Or just write it in the way that no one misunderstands:
>>>
>>> 2021/12/31
>>
>> That works for, hm, about half of each month.
>>
>
> I don't think there is any jurisdiction on earth that uses YYYY/DD/MM.
>
> If you lead with the year, then it's always YYYY/MM/DD

Properly, it’s supposed to be hyphens, not slashes.

--
John W. Kennedy
Algernon Burbage, Lord Roderick, Father Martin, Bishop Baldwin,
King Pellinore, Captain Bailey, Merlin -- A Kingdom for a Stage!

On 2021-12-31 5:30 p.m., John W Kennedy wrote:
> On 12/31/21 7:37 PM, Alan wrote:
>> On 2021-12-31 4:11 p.m., Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>> In article <sqo2lb$1mtd$1@gioia.aioe.org>, Alan  <nope@nope.com> wrote:
>>>> On 2021-12-31 12:33 p.m., Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>>>>>      https://xkcd.com/2562/
>>>>>
>>>>> And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
>>>>> numerics like 12/31/2021.
>>>>>
>>>>> Explained at:
>>>>> https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
>>>>>
>>>>> Lynn
>>>>
>>>> Or just write it in the way that no one misunderstands:
>>>>
>>>> 2021/12/31
>>>
>>> That works for, hm, about half of each month.
>>>
>>
>> I don't think there is any jurisdiction on earth that uses YYYY/DD/MM.
>>
>> If you lead with the year, then it's always YYYY/MM/DD
>
> Properly, it’s supposed to be hyphens, not slashes.
>

And either way, it will be understood..

....which is what's actually important.

On 12/31/2021 6:22 PM, Alan wrote:
> On 2021-12-31 5:30 p.m., John W Kennedy wrote:
>> On 12/31/21 7:37 PM, Alan wrote:
>>> On 2021-12-31 4:11 p.m., Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>> In article <sqo2lb$1mtd$1@gioia.aioe.org>, Alan  <nope@nope.com> wrote:
>>>>> On 2021-12-31 12:33 p.m., Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>>> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>>>>>>      https://xkcd.com/2562/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
>>>>>> numerics like 12/31/2021.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Explained at:
>>>>>> https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Lynn
>>>>>
>>>>> Or just write it in the way that no one misunderstands:
>>>>>
>>>>> 2021/12/31
>>>>
>>>> That works for, hm, about half of each month.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I don't think there is any jurisdiction on earth that uses YYYY/DD/MM.
>>>
>>> If you lead with the year, then it's always YYYY/MM/DD
>>
>> Properly, it’s supposed to be hyphens, not slashes.
>>
>
> And either way, it will be understood..
>
> ...which is what's actually important.

Said someone who will never be upper management. :P

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On Fri, 31 Dec 2021 20:10:06 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

>On 12/31/2021 6:22 PM, Alan wrote:
>> On 2021-12-31 5:30 p.m., John W Kennedy wrote:
>>> On 12/31/21 7:37 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>> On 2021-12-31 4:11 p.m., Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>>> In article <sqo2lb$1mtd$1@gioia.aioe.org>, Alan  <nope@nope.com> wrote:
>>>>>> On 2021-12-31 12:33 p.m., Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>>>> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>>>>>>>      https://xkcd.com/2562/
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
>>>>>>> numerics like 12/31/2021.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Explained at:
>>>>>>> https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Lynn
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Or just write it in the way that no one misunderstands:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2021/12/31
>>>>>
>>>>> That works for, hm, about half of each month.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I don't think there is any jurisdiction on earth that uses YYYY/DD/MM.
>>>>
>>>> If you lead with the year, then it's always YYYY/MM/DD
>>>
>>> Properly, it’s supposed to be hyphens, not slashes.
>>>
>>
>> And either way, it will be understood..
>>
>> ...which is what's actually important.
>
>Said someone who will never be upper management. :P

There's a reason the military spells the month (or three letters of
it).

In article <POydnVEmy-TYM1L8nZ2dnUU7-LXNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
John W Kennedy <john.w.kennedy@gmail.com> wrote:

> On 12/31/21 3:33 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> > xkcd: Formatting Meeting
> >    https://xkcd.com/2562/
> >
> > And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
> > numerics like 12/31/2021.
> >
> > Explained at:
> >    https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
> >
> > Lynn
>
> I’ve been using 2021-12-31 for decades. Aside from being the ISO
> standard, it’s easier to program for, and it’s effectively unambiguous,
> since no one uses 2021-31-12.

I use the abbreviation of the month as in "2021Dec31".

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

On 2021-12-31, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
> https://xkcd.com/2562/

This raises the question: Who in Europe even uses slashes as date
separators?
(There's probably a Wikipedia page.)

--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@mips.inka.de

On 2021-12-31, Alan <nope@nope.com> wrote:

>> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>>    https://xkcd.com/2562/
>
> Or just write it in the way that no one misunderstands:
> 2021/12/31

That uses slashes, so I guess it's American... but it isn't...
or is it?... so I have no idea how to read, say, 2022/02/03.

--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@mips.inka.de

On Fri, 31 Dec 2021 21:42:29 -0800, Robert Woodward
<robertaw@drizzle.com> wrote:

>In article <POydnVEmy-TYM1L8nZ2dnUU7-LXNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
> John W Kennedy <john.w.kennedy@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On 12/31/21 3:33 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> > xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>> >    https://xkcd.com/2562/
>> >
>> > And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
>> > numerics like 12/31/2021.
>> >
>> > Explained at:
>> >    https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
>> >
>> > Lynn
>>
>> I’ve been using 2021-12-31 for decades. Aside from being the ISO
>> standard, it’s easier to program for, and it’s effectively unambiguous,
>> since no one uses 2021-31-12.
>
>I use the abbreviation of the month as in "2021Dec31".

In my home database, I am currently using
2021 12Dec 31
which both sorts by year-month-day and is completely unambiguous.

And doesn't need hyphens or slashes.
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."

John W Kennedy <john.w.kennedy@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 12/31/21 3:33 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>> https://xkcd.com/2562/
>
>I’ve been using 2021-12-31 for decades. Aside from being the ISO
>standard, it’s easier to program for, and it’s effectively unambiguous,
>since no one uses 2021-31-12.

A big benefit with ISO 8601 dates is that they sort correctly using
standard alphanumeric sort.

Pretty much every other formatting requires significant extra
processing for sorting dates while ISO just works.

And if someone doesn't want separators for some reason, just use the
alternative ISO form (YYYYMMDD), it still sort fine as long as it's
done consistently.

It's really the "right" time format for any kind of computer logging,
usually done using either "T" (local, often replaced by space instead)
or "Z" (UTC) time-zone identifier (also sometimes replaced by space).

Using UTC for logging avoids both leap second and winter/summer time
mucking things up, any time someone has things in more than one time
zone this is really nice.

On 12/31/2021 8:28 PM, John W Kennedy wrote:

> I’ve been using 2021-12-31 for decades. Aside from being the ISO
> standard, it’s easier to program for, and it’s effectively unambiguous,
> since no one uses 2021-31-12.

Randall Munroe is with you on this:
https://xkcd.com/1179/

--
Mike Benveniste -- mhb@murkyether.com (Clarification Required)
Its name is Public opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles
everything. Some think it is the voice of God. -- Mark Twain

On 1/1/22 2:31 PM, Torbjorn Lindgren wrote:
> John W Kennedy <john.w.kennedy@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 12/31/21 3:33 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>>> https://xkcd.com/2562/
>>
>> I’ve been using 2021-12-31 for decades. Aside from being the ISO
>> standard, it’s easier to program for, and it’s effectively unambiguous,
>> since no one uses 2021-31-12.
>
> A big benefit with ISO 8601 dates is that they sort correctly using
> standard alphanumeric sort.
>
> Pretty much every other formatting requires significant extra
> processing for sorting dates while ISO just works.
>
> And if someone doesn't want separators for some reason, just use the
> alternative ISO form (YYYYMMDD), it still sort fine as long as it's
> done consistently.
>
> It's really the "right" time format for any kind of computer logging,
> usually done using either "T" (local, often replaced by space instead)
> or "Z" (UTC) time-zone identifier (also sometimes replaced by space).
>
> Using UTC for logging avoids both leap second and winter/summer time
> mucking things up, any time someone has things in more than one time
> zone this is really nice.

You can, of course, use a binary format, such as Julian Date or (taking
it down to tiny fractions of a second), proprietary formats such as
z/Architecture Time-Of-Day clock or Apple “Date” (possibly to be renamed
“Instant” or some other name in the near future). (I don’t know what’s
going on just now with **ix or Windows.)

--
John W. Kennedy
Algernon Burbage, Lord Roderick, Father Martin, Bishop Baldwin,
King Pellinore, Captain Bailey, Merlin -- A Kingdom for a Stage!

On 1/1/2022 6:52 PM, John W Kennedy wrote:
> On 1/1/22 2:31 PM, Torbjorn Lindgren wrote:

>> Using UTC for logging avoids both leap second and winter/summer
>> time mucking things up, any time someone has things in more than
>> one time zone this is really nice.
>
> You can, of course, use a binary format, such as Julian Date or
> (taking it down to tiny fractions of a second), proprietary formats
> such as z/Architecture Time-Of-Day clock or Apple “Date” (possibly to
> be renamed “Instant” or some other name in the near future). (I don’t
> know what’s going on just now with **ix or Windows.)

Be careful how you encode:

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-exchange-year-2022-bug-in-fip-fs-breaks-email-delivery/

--
Mark Jackson - https://mark-jackson.online/
I love being told I'm growing up wrong by people
I don't want to turn out like. - Caulfield (Jef Mallett)

On 1/1/22 8:09 PM, Mark Jackson wrote:
> On 1/1/2022 6:52 PM, John W Kennedy wrote:
>> On 1/1/22 2:31 PM, Torbjorn Lindgren wrote:
>
>>> Using UTC for logging avoids both leap second and winter/summer
>>> time mucking things up, any time someone has things in more than
>>> one time zone this is really nice.
>>
>> You can, of course, use a binary format, such as Julian Date or
>> (taking it down to tiny fractions of a second), proprietary formats
>> such as z/Architecture Time-Of-Day clock or Apple “Date” (possibly to
>> be renamed “Instant” or some other name in the near future). (I don’t
>> know what’s going on just now with **ix or Windows.)
>
> Be careful how you encode:
>
> https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-exchange-year-2022-bug-in-fip-fs-breaks-email-delivery/
>
>
I was supposing cases of raw binary, mainly for high-volume logging.
(I’m old enough to regard complex human-readable formats for non-human
readers with a certain horror, especially on architectures that, unlike,
say, the 1401 or S/360, have no “edit” instruction.)

--
John W. Kennedy
Algernon Burbage, Lord Roderick, Father Martin, Bishop Baldwin,
King Pellinore, Captain Bailey, Merlin -- A Kingdom for a Stage!

On 2021-12-31 10:42 p.m., Robert Woodward wrote:
> In article <POydnVEmy-TYM1L8nZ2dnUU7-LXNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
> John W Kennedy <john.w.kennedy@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On 12/31/21 3:33 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>>>    https://xkcd.com/2562/
>>>
>>> And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
>>> numerics like 12/31/2021.
>>>
>>> Explained at:
>>>    https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
>>>
>>> Lynn
>>
>> I’ve been using 2021-12-31 for decades. Aside from being the ISO
>> standard, it’s easier to program for, and it’s effectively unambiguous,
>> since no one uses 2021-31-12.
>
> I use the abbreviation of the month as in "2021Dec31".
>

That's not confusing for people but is confusing for spreadsheets.

On 1/2/2022 10:58 AM, David Johnston wrote:
> On 2021-12-31 10:42 p.m., Robert Woodward wrote:
>> In article <POydnVEmy-TYM1L8nZ2dnUU7-LXNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
>>   John W Kennedy <john.w.kennedy@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On 12/31/21 3:33 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>>>>      https://xkcd.com/2562/
>>>>
>>>> And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
>>>> numerics like 12/31/2021.
>>>>
>>>> Explained at:
>>>>
>>>> https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
>>>>
>>>> Lynn
>>>
>>> I’ve been using 2021-12-31 for decades. Aside from being the ISO
>>> standard, it’s easier to program for, and it’s effectively unambiguous,
>>> since no one uses 2021-31-12.
>>
>> I use the abbreviation of the month as in "2021Dec31".
>>
>
> That's not confusing for people but is confusing for spreadsheets.

I don't know about other spreadsheet programs but Excel "saves" a date
as the number of days since a fixed date (1 Jan 1970 I believe someone
mentioned). The user can chose any number of different formats to
display the date in, including the one above I believe. (Or at least
one very similar to it.) So I'm not sure how confusing it actually is
for Excel.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 1/2/22 5:05 PM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
> On 1/2/2022 10:58 AM, David Johnston wrote:
>> On 2021-12-31 10:42 p.m., Robert Woodward wrote:
>>> In article <POydnVEmy-TYM1L8nZ2dnUU7-LXNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
>>>   John W Kennedy <john.w.kennedy@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 12/31/21 3:33 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>>>>>      https://xkcd.com/2562/
>>>>>
>>>>> And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
>>>>> numerics like 12/31/2021.
>>>>>
>>>>> Explained at:
>>>>> https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
>>>>>
>>>>> Lynn
>>>>
>>>> I’ve been using 2021-12-31 for decades. Aside from being the ISO
>>>> standard, it’s easier to program for, and it’s effectively unambiguous,
>>>> since no one uses 2021-31-12.
>>>
>>> I use the abbreviation of the month as in "2021Dec31".
>>>
>>
>> That's not confusing for people but is confusing for spreadsheets.
>
> I don't know about other spreadsheet programs but Excel "saves" a date
> as the number of days since a fixed date (1 Jan 1970 I believe someone
> mentioned).  The user can chose any number of different formats to
> display the date in, including the one above I believe.  (Or at least
> one very similar to it.)  So I'm not sure how confusing it actually is
> for Excel.
>
A service of that sort is an intrinsic function of all Apple operating
systems. Something of the kind is also to be found in **ix, though, the
last I heard, it had a looming problem of the Y2K sort coming up.

--
John W. Kennedy
Algernon Burbage, Lord Roderick, Father Martin, Bishop Baldwin,
King Pellinore, Captain Bailey, Merlin -- A Kingdom for a Stage!

In article <FJCdnRPlT_77xU_8nZ2dnUU7-dvNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
>>
>> I don't know about other spreadsheet programs but Excel "saves" a date
>> as the number of days since a fixed date (1 Jan 1970 I believe someone
>> mentioned).  The user can chose any number of different formats to
>> display the date in, including the one above I believe.  (Or at least
>> one very similar to it.)  So I'm not sure how confusing it actually is
>> for Excel.
>>
>A service of that sort is an intrinsic function of all Apple operating
>systems.

Because their OS is a GUI built on top of BSD UNIX.

Something of the kind is also to be found in **ix, though, the
>last I heard, it had a looming problem of the Y2K sort coming up.

I asked Hal whether UNIX had done anything about this problem,
and he said, "I don't know about UNIX, but Linux has."

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

On Sun, 2 Jan 2022 14:05:36 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

>On 1/2/2022 10:58 AM, David Johnston wrote:
>> On 2021-12-31 10:42 p.m., Robert Woodward wrote:
>>> In article <POydnVEmy-TYM1L8nZ2dnUU7-LXNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
>>>   John W Kennedy <john.w.kennedy@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 12/31/21 3:33 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>> xkcd: Formatting Meeting
>>>>>      https://xkcd.com/2562/
>>>>>
>>>>> And that is why I write the date as Dec 31, 2021 instead of using all
>>>>> numerics like 12/31/2021.
>>>>>
>>>>> Explained at:
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2562:_Formatting_Meeting
>>>>>
>>>>> Lynn
>>>>
>>>> I’ve been using 2021-12-31 for decades. Aside from being the ISO
>>>> standard, it’s easier to program for, and it’s effectively unambiguous,
>>>> since no one uses 2021-31-12.
>>>
>>> I use the abbreviation of the month as in "2021Dec31".
>>>
>>
>> That's not confusing for people but is confusing for spreadsheets.
>
>I don't know about other spreadsheet programs but Excel "saves" a date
>as the number of days since a fixed date (1 Jan 1970 I believe someone
>mentioned).

This is easily determined by entering 0 in a cell and formatting as
date, which turns out to be "Saturday, January 00, 1900". There is no
graceful way of handling a date before Januaru 1, 1900.

>The user can chose any number of different formats to
>display the date in, including the one above I believe. (Or at least
>one very similar to it.) So I'm not sure how confusing it actually is
>for Excel.

John W Kennedy <john.w.kennedy@gmail.com> writes:
>On 1/2/22 5:05 PM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

>> I don't know about other spreadsheet programs but Excel "saves" a date
>> as the number of days since a fixed date (1 Jan 1970 I believe someone
>> mentioned).  The user can chose any number of different formats to
>> display the date in, including the one above I believe.  (Or at least
>> one very similar to it.)  So I'm not sure how confusing it actually is
>> for Excel.
>>
>A service of that sort is an intrinsic function of all Apple operating
>systems. Something of the kind is also to be found in **ix, though, the
>last I heard, it had a looming problem of the Y2K sort coming up.

The *nix issue only applys to 32-bit versions of the operating system,
most of which should have been decomissioned by 2038.

Although, applications that process historical log data with 32-bit
dates stored as the number of seconds since midnight on 31DEC1969
will need to be modified (if they have not already been) to support
both 32-bit and 64-bit datestamps.

On 1/2/22 10:59 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <FJCdnRPlT_77xU_8nZ2dnUU7-dvNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
>>>
>>> I don't know about other spreadsheet programs but Excel "saves" a date
>>> as the number of days since a fixed date (1 Jan 1970 I believe someone
>>> mentioned).  The user can chose any number of different formats to
>>> display the date in, including the one above I believe.  (Or at least
>>> one very similar to it.)  So I'm not sure how confusing it actually is
>>> for Excel.
>>>
>> A service of that sort is an intrinsic function of all Apple operating
>> systems.
>
> Because their OS is a GUI built on top of BSD UNIX.

No, although the traditional Unix features built around time_t are there
if you want them, in normal Apple programming in Objective-C or Swift,
there is a rather more sophisticated facility that presents more digits
on both sides of the decimal point, and can handle multiple calendars
and timezones at once. (It’s quite similar to the date/time support in
Java, which is not surprising, because Java ripped off NextStep, which
is the direct ancestor of all Apple operating systems since 2001.)

A taste in Swift:

import Foundation

let myDate = Date()

let localFormatter = DateFormatter()
localFormatter.dateStyle = .full
localFormatter.timeStyle = .full
print(localFormatter.string(from: myDate))

let uctFormatter = DateFormatter()
uctFormatter.dateStyle = .medium
uctFormatter.timeStyle = .medium
uctFormatter.timeZone = TimeZone(abbreviation: "UTC")
print(uctFormatter.string(from: myDate))

let isoFormatter = ISO8601DateFormatter()
print(isoFormatter.string(from: myDate))

----------------------------------------

Monday, January 3, 2022 at 7:57:44 PM Eastern Standard Time
Jan 4, 2022 at 12:57:44 AM
2022-01-04T00:57:44Z

> Something of the kind is also to be found in **ix, though, the
>> last I heard, it had a looming problem of the Y2K sort coming up.
>
> I asked Hal whether UNIX had done anything about this problem,
> and he said, "I don't know about UNIX, but Linux has."
>

--
John W. Kennedy
Algernon Burbage, Lord Roderick, Father Martin, Bishop Baldwin,
King Pellinore, Captain Bailey, Merlin -- A Kingdom for a Stage!