Time Library

The Time Library contains functions and type definitions for time calculations in the UNIX time format which counts the number of seconds since the "epoch". This is very convenient for programs that work with time intervals: the difference between two UNIX time values is a real-time difference measured in seconds.

What is the epoch?
Originally it was defined as the beginning of 1970 GMT. (January 1, 1970 Julian day) GMT, Greenwich Mean Time, is a traditional term for the time zone in England.

The TimeStruct type is a structure type suitable for time and date storage.

Time_dateToEpoch

Prototype	sub function Time_dateToEpoch(dim byref ts as TimeStruct) as longint
Returns	Number of seconds since January 1, 1970 0h00mn00s.
Description	This function returns the UNIX time : number of seconds since January 1, 1970 0h00mn00s. Parameters : `ts:` time and date value for calculating UNIX time.
Requires	Nothing.
Example	dim ts1 as TimeStruct Epoch as longint ... ' what is the epoch of the date in ts ? epoch = Time_dateToEpoch(@ts1)

Time_epochToDate

Prototype	sub procedure Time_epochToDate(dim e as longint, dim byref ts as TimeStruct)
Returns	Nothing.
Description	Converts the UNIX time to time and date. Parameters : `e:` UNIX time (seconds since UNIX epoch) `ts:` time and date structure for storing conversion output
Requires	Nothing.
Example	dim ts2 as TimeStruct epoch as longint ... ' what date is epoch 1234567890 ? epoch = 1234567890 Time_epochToDate(epoch,@ts2)

Time_dateDiff

Prototype	sub function Time_dateDiff(dim t1 as ^TimeStruct, dim t2 as ^TimeStruct) as longint
Returns	Time difference in seconds as a signed long.
Description	This function compares two dates and returns time difference in seconds as a signed long. Result is positive if `t1` is before `t2`, result is null if `t1` is the same as `t2` and result is negative if `t1` is after `t2`. Parameters : `t1:` time and date structure (the first comparison parameter) `t2:` time and date structure (the second comparison parameter)
Requires	Nothing.
Example	dim ts1, ts2 as TimeStruct diff as longint ... ' how many seconds between these two dates contained in ts1 and ts2 buffers? diff = Time_dateDiff(@ts1, @ts2)

Library Example

Demonstration of Time library routines usage for time calculations in UNIX time format.

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program Time_Demo

dim epoch, diff as longint
    ts1, ts2    as TimeStruct

main:
  ts1.ss = 0
  ts1.mn = 7
  ts1.hh = 17
  ts1.md = 23
  ts1.mo = 5
  ts1.yy = 2006

  ' What is the epoch of the date in ts ?
  epoch = Time_dateToEpoch(@ts1)               '  1148404020

  ' What date is epoch 1234567890 ?
  epoch = 1234567890
  Time_epochToDate(epoch, @ts2)                '  (0x1E, 0x1F, 0x17, 0x0D, 0x04, 0x02, 0x07D9)

  ' How much seconds between this two dates ?
  diff = Time_dateDiff(@ts1, @ts2)             '  86163870
  nop
end.

TimeStruct type definition

structure TimeStruct
  dim ss as byte     ' seconds
  dim mn as byte     ' minutes
  dim hh as byte     ' hours
  dim md as byte     ' day in month, from 1 to 31
  dim wd as byte     ' day in week, monday=0, tuesday=1, .... sunday=6
  dim mo as byte     ' month number, from 1 to 12 (and not from 0 to 11 as with unix C time !)
  dim yy as word     ' year Y2K compliant, from 1892 to 2038
end structure

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