This chapter describes the date and time functions in NSPR.
NSPR represents time in two ways, absolute time and clock/calendar time. NSPR provides types and constants for both representations, and functions to convert time values between the two.
- Absolute time representation treats time instants as points along the time line. A time instant is represented by its position on the time line relative to the origin, called the epoch. NSPR defines the epoch to be midnight (00:00:00) 1 January 1970 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). In this form, time is just a point on the time line. There is no notion of time zone.
- Clock/calendar time, used for human interfaces, represents time in the familiar year, month, day, hour, minute, second components. In this form, the time zone information is important. For example, without specifying the time zone, the time 8:00AM 1 May 1998 is ambiguous. The NSPR data type for clock/calendar time, called an exploded time, has the time zone information in it, so that its corresponding point in absolute time is uniquely specified.
Note that absolute and clock times are not normally used in timing operations. For functions that deal with the measurement of elapsed time and with timeouts, see Interval Timing.
Macros for Time Unit Conversion
Macros for converting between seconds, milliseconds, microseconds, and nanoseconds.
Types and Constants
Types and constants defined for NSPR dates and times are:
Time Parameter Callback Functions
In some geographic locations, use of Daylight Saving Time (DST) and the rule for determining the dates on which DST starts and ends have changed a few times. Therefore, a callback function is used to determine time zone information.
You can define your own time parameter callback functions, which must conform to the definition PRTimeParamFn. Two often-used callback functions of this type are provided by NSPR:
Functions
The functions that create and manipulate time and date values are: