Xref: utzoo comp.lang.c:36668 comp.unix.programmer:1194
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!think.com!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-picayune.mit.edu!news
From: scs@adam.mit.edu (Steve Summit)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.unix.programmer
Subject: Re: help to new C programmer with time.h
Summary: not OS-specific after all
Message-ID: <1991Mar1.165132.7053@athena.mit.edu>
Date: 1 Mar 91 16:51:32 GMT
References: <5284@vela.acs.oakland.edu> <1991Mar1.071615.18895@athena.mit.edu>
Sender: news@athena.mit.edu (News system)
Reply-To: scs@adam.mit.edu
Organization: Thermal Technologies, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 15

In article <1991Mar1.071615.18895@athena.mit.edu> jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens) writes:
>   First of all, this is an OS-specific question, not a C question, because
>the C language does not define how to get the time; any functions for getting
>the time in C are OS-specific library functions, not standard C functions. 

Surprisingly enough, the functions time() and ctime() (as well as
asctime, localtime, gmtime, and the new, more flexible strftime),
*are* in the ANSI C Standard, X3.159.  (See section 4.12 .)
Therefore, these functions *should* be used in C programs which
wish to manipulate dates and times, in preference to the redundant,
system-specific, nonportable alternatives several vendors
incongruously provide.

                                            Steve Summit
                                            scs@adam.mit.edu