The output of the @command{date} command
is not always acceptable as a date string,
not only because of the language problem, but also because there is no
-standard meaning for time zone items like @samp{IST}. When using
+standard meaning for time zone items like @samp{IST}@. When using
@command{date} to generate a date string intended to be parsed later,
specify a date format that is independent of language and that does not
-use time zone items other than @samp{UTC} and @samp{Z}. Here are some
+use time zone items other than @samp{UTC} and @samp{Z}@. Here are some
ways to do this:
@example
nested. Hyphens not followed by a digit are currently ignored. Leading
zeros on numbers are ignored.
+@cindex leap seconds
Invalid dates like @samp{2005-02-29} or times like @samp{24:00} are
rejected. In the typical case of a host that does not support leap
seconds, a time like @samp{23:59:60} is rejected even if it
20:02-0500 # In @sc{est} (U.S. Eastern Standard Time).
@end example
+@cindex leap seconds
More generally, the time of day may be given as
@samp{@var{hour}:@var{minute}:@var{second}}, where @var{hour} is
a number between 0 and 23, @var{minute} is a number between 0 and
of seconds with nanosecond subcounts, and can represent all the times
in the known lifetime of the universe to a resolution of 1 nanosecond.
+@cindex leap seconds
On most hosts, these counts ignore the presence of leap seconds.
For example, on most hosts @samp{@@915148799} represents 1998-12-31
23:59:59 @sc{utc}, @samp{@@915148800} represents 1999-01-01 00:00:00
@cindex Berry, K.
This chapter was originally produced by Fran@,{c}ois Pinard
(@email{pinard@@iro.umontreal.ca}) from the @file{parse_datetime.y} source code,
-and then edited by K.@: Berry (@email{kb@@cs.umb.edu}).
+and then edited by K. Berry (@email{kb@@cs.umb.edu}).