strptime(3) - NetBSD Manual Pages

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STRPTIME(3)             NetBSD Library Functions Manual            STRPTIME(3)


NAME

     strptime -- converts a character string to a time value


LIBRARY

     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)


SYNOPSIS

     #include <time.h>

     char *
     strptime(const char * restrict buf, const char * restrict format,
         struct tm * restrict tm);


DESCRIPTION

     The strptime() function converts the character string pointed to by buf
     to values which are stored in the tm structure pointed to by tm, using
     the format specified by format.

     The format string consists of zero or more conversion specifications,
     whitespace characters as defined by isspace(), and ordinary characters.
     All ordinary characters in format are compared directly against the cor-
     responding characters in buf; comparisons which fail will cause
     strptime() to fail.  Whitespace characters in format match any number of
     whitespace characters in buf, including none.

     A conversion specification consists of a percent sign `%' followed by one
     or two conversion characters which specify the replacement required.
     There must be white-space or other non-alphanumeric characters between
     any two conversion specifications.

     Conversion of alphanumeric strings (such as month and weekday names) is
     done without regard to case.  Conversion specifications which cannot be
     matched will cause strptime() to fail.

     The LC_TIME category defines the locale values for the conversion speci-
     fications.  The following conversion specifications are supported:

     %a    the day of week, using the locale's weekday names; either the
           abbreviated or full name may be specified.

     %A    the same as %a.

     %b    the month, using the locale's month names; either the abbreviated
           or full name may be specified.

     %B    the same as %b.

     %c    the date and time, using the locale's date and time format.

     %C    the century number [0,99]; leading zeros are permitted but not
           required.  This conversion should be used in conjunction with the
           %y conversion.

     %d    the day of month [1,31]; leading zeros are permitted but not
           required.

     %D    the date as %m/%d/%y.

     %e    the same as %d.

     %F    the date as %Y-%m-%d (the ISO 8601 date format).

     %h    the same as %b.

     %H    the hour (24-hour clock) [0,23]; leading zeros are permitted but
           not required.

     %I    the hour (12-hour clock) [1,12]; leading zeros are permitted but
           not required.

     %j    the day number of the year [1,366]; leading zeros are permitted but
           not required.

     %k    the same as %H.

     %l    the same as %I.

     %m    the month number [1,12]; leading zeros are permitted but not
           required.

     %M    the minute [0,59]; leading zeros are permitted but not required.

     %n    any white-space, including none.

     %p    the locale's equivalent of a.m. or p.m.

     %r    the time (12-hour clock) with %p, using the locale's time format.

     %R    the time as %H:%M.

     %S    the seconds [0,61]; leading zeros are permitted but not required.

     %t    any white-space, including none.

     %T    the time as %H:%M:%S.

     %U    the week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week)
           as a decimal number [0,53]; leading zeros are permitted but not
           required.  All days in a year preceding the first Sunday are con-
           sidered to be in week 0.

     %w    the weekday as a decimal number [0,6], with 0 representing Sunday;
           leading zeros are permitted but not required.

     %W    the week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week)
           as a decimal number [0,53]; leading zeros are permitted but not
           required.  All days in a year preceding the first Monday are con-
           sidered to be in week 0.

     %x    the date, using the locale's date format.

     %X    the time, using the locale's time format.

     %y    the year within the 20th century [69,99] or the 21st century
           [0,68]; leading zeros are permitted but not required.  If specified
           in conjunction with %C, specifies the year [0,99] within that cen-
           tury.

     %Y    the year, including the century (i.e., 1996).

     %Z    timezone name or no characters when time zone information is
           unavailable.  (A NetBSD extension.)

     %%    matches a literal `%'.  No argument is converted.

   Modified conversion specifications
     For compatibility, certain conversion specifications can be modified by
     the E and O modifier characters to indicate that an alternative format or
     specification should be used rather than the one normally used by the
     unmodified conversion specification.  As there are currently neither
     alternative formats nor specifications supported by the system, the
     behavior will be as if the unmodified conversion specification were used.

     Case is ignored when matching string items in buf, such as month and
     weekday names.


RETURN VALUES

     If successful, the strptime() function returns a pointer to the character
     following the last character parsed.  Otherwise, a null pointer is
     returned.


SEE ALSO

     ctime(3), isspace(3), localtime(3), strftime(3)


STANDARDS

     The strptime() function conforms to X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4
     (``XPG4'').


BUGS

     The %Z format specifier only accepts timezone abbreviations of the local
     timezone, or the value ``GMT''.  This limitation is caused by the ambigu-
     ity of overloaded timezone abbreviations, for example EST is both Eastern
     Standard Time and Eastern Australia Summer Time.

NetBSD 5.2.2                    April 25, 2008                    NetBSD 5.2.2