Epoch time setting

[carg1]

If I had a list that had times in it, and I wanted to set the epoch to the first time in that list, how would I pull that off?

 

[duncdude]

On Unix, the $^T predefined variable holds the time since the beginning of 1970. This is a number measured in seconds.

print "epoch seconds since 1970: $^T\n";
print " \$localtime: " . localtime ($^T) . "\n";
$newTime = $^T - 3600;
print " take 3,600 seconds away: " . localtime ($newTime) . "\n\n";

The above example print the number of seconds since 1970, then the current date/time and finally 1 hour is taken away from the current time and displayed. You could do it adapting this method.

Regards
Duncan

 

[PaulTEG]

Are you saying you want to set the epoch?
--Paul

 

[usige]

I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to accomplish.

Epoch is by definition midnight January 1, 1970 UTC. All the time routines are based on 0 = epoch so it cannot be set at an arbitrary point.

If you can try explaining what you want to accomplish we might be able to give you some suggestions.

 

[carg1]

Yes, I want to set the epoch to the first date/time combo in a list, for example:

08/13/03 06:17:29
08/17/03 12:22:04
08/17/03 18:19:20

I would want the epoch to be set as 08/13/03 06:17:29. Unfortunately Duncan, I'm doing it in Windows, I'm sorry I failed to mention that. Is there a predefined variable for windows?

 

[carg1]

Oh, wait, usige you just gave me a thought. If I had it add that date to the epoch and use that as a starting point instead of trying to change the epoch itself, that should work, right?

 

[usige]

A quick clarification: $^T holds the time the perl interpreter started in unix time (i.e. seconds past start of Epoch). If you need the current time use the time() function.

 

[PaulTEG]

carg,
Have a look at either Dat::Manip, or Date::Calc on search.cpan.org. It'll allow you to get the difference between dates and times using functions like str2time, and time2str

HTH
--Paul