Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cmcl2!phri!cooper!dasys1!jpr
From: jpr@dasys1.UUCP (Jean-Pierre Radley)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: reverse asctime()? EEEK!
Keywords: dates
Message-ID: <9903@dasys1.UUCP>
Date: 6 Jun 89 02:43:14 GMT
References: <5178@b11.ingr.com>
Reply-To: jpr@dasys1.UUCP (Jean-Pierre Radley)
Distribution: usa
Organization: TANGENT
Lines: 19

In article <5178@b11.ingr.com> abashian@b11.ingr.com (Pete Abashian) writes:
>Now the problem.  I need to be able to take an ascii string and 
>convert it back to the internal storage - number of seconds since epoch.
>
>The task would normally entail some simple mathematics to incorporate leap
>[gag] years, etc...  But what about the sticky user(s) that want to be
>able to input virtually any valid combination of dates/times?  12MAY89,
>12-MAY-89, May 12, 1989....etc.  For the life of me I cannot remember EVER  
>seeing an include file or archive with a reference to such a routine.

In one of the LIBraries of the TANGENT Forum on CompuServe, there is
DATECALC, which permits users to input 12-may-88, or May 12, 1988, or even
12;may;88, then compare it to anothr date, or add or subtract days to the
original date. I do believe that in accomplishing this, input data are
converted into seconds from the epoch. This what you're after? 

E-Mail me if you haven't Compuserve access.
-- 
Jean-Pierre Radley		CIS: 72160,1341		jpr@jpradley.UUCP