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From: exspes@gdr.bath.ac.uk (P E Smee)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: So, anyone got an imitation Multics 'memo' command?
Message-ID: <1991May30.103104.24322@gdr.bath.ac.uk>
Date: 30 May 91 10:31:04 GMT
References: <45901@cos.com>
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol c/o University of Bath
Lines: 35

In article <45901@cos.com> fetter@cos.UUCP (Bob Fetter) writes:
>
>  Actually, a Unix implementation of convert_date_to_binary_ would IMHO
>be the most useful product of this type of effort.  I would have to
>think, though, that someone, somewhere, has done this already.
>
>  The usefulness of dealing with date/time strings like
>
>	next friday at noon
>	two weeks after easter
>	tomorrow at 9pm
>
>would be nice.  An "extention" to the Multics notation, though, would
>be negative times -- such as "last Thursday".  I don't think (remember)
>the Multics routines handling negative offsets.  Did it?

Yep.  In later incarnations it also knew about 'before' and 'after', so
(to pick an example from the manual)

   Tuesday after Monday on or after 11/1

is Election Day in the US -- i.e. the Tuesday after the first Monday
in November.  The baroque

   Tuesday after Monday on or after 11/1 -1 week

would be the Tuesday before that, as would

   Tuesday before Monday on or after 11/1

'Easter -2 days' is Good Friday.

-- 
Paul Smee, Computing Service, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, UK
 P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk - ..!uunet!ukc!bsmail!p.smee - Tel +44 272 303132