[p5sagit/p5-mst-13.2.git] / ext / Time / Piece / README

NAME
    Time::Object - Object Oriented time objects

SYNOPSIS
        use Time::Object;
        
        my $t = localtime;
        print "Time is $t\n";
        print "Year is ", $t->year, "\n";

DESCRIPTION
    This module replaces the standard localtime and gmtime functions
    with implementations that return objects. It does so in a
    backwards compatible manner, so that using localtime/gmtime in
    the way documented in perlfunc will still return what you
    expect.

    The module actually implements most of an interface described by
    Larry Wall on the perl5-porters mailing list here:
    http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2000-
    01/msg00241.html

USAGE
    After importing this module, when you use localtime or gmtime in
    a scalar context, rather than getting an ordinary scalar string
    representing the date and time, you get a Time::Object object,
    whose stringification happens to produce the same effect as the
    localtime and gmtime functions. There is also a new()
    constructor provided, which is the same as localtime(), except
    when passed a Time::Object object, in which case it's a copy
    constructor. The following methods are available on the object:

        $t->sec               # also available as $t->second
        $t->min               # also available as $t->minute
        $t->hour
        $t->mday              # also available as $t->day_of_month
        $t->mon               # based at 1
        $t->_mon              # based at 0
        $t->monname           # February
        $t->month             # same as $t->monname
        $t->year              # based at 0 (year 0 AD is, of course 1 BC).
        $t->_year             # year minus 1900
        $t->yr                # 2 digit year
        $t->wday              # based at 1 = Sunday
        $t->_wday             # based at 0 = Sunday
        $t->day_of_week       # based at 0 = Sunday
        $t->wdayname          # Tuesday
        $t->day               # same as wdayname
        $t->yday              # also available as $t->day_of_year
        $t->isdst             # also available as $t->daylight_savings
        $t->hms               # 01:23:45
        $t->ymd               # 2000/02/29
        $t->mdy               # 02/29/2000
        $t->dmy               # 29/02/2000
        $t->date              # Tue Feb 29 01:23:45 2000
        "$t"                  # same as $t->date
        $t->epoch             # seconds since the epoch
        $t->tzoffset          # timezone offset in a Time::Seconds object
        $t->strftime(FORMAT)  # same as POSIX::strftime (without POSIX.pm)

  Date Calculations

    It's possible to use simple addition and subtraction of objects:

        use Time::Seconds;
            
            my $seconds = $t1 - $t2;
            $t1 += ONE_DAY; # add 1 day (constant from Time::Seconds)

    The following are valid ($t1 and $t2 are Time::Object objects):

            $t1 - $t2; # returns Time::Seconds object
            $t1 - 42; # returns Time::Object object
            $t1 + 533; # returns Time::Object object

    However adding a Time::Object object to another Time::Object
    object will cause a runtime error.

    Note that the first of the above returns a Time::Seconds object,
    so while examining the object will print the number of seconds
    (because of the overloading), you can also get the number of
    minutes, hours, days, weeks and years in that delta, using the
    Time::Seconds API.

  Date Comparisons

    Date comparisons are also possible, using the full suite of "<",
    ">", "<=", ">=", "<=>", "==" and "!=".

  Global Overriding

    Finally, it's possible to override localtime and gmtime
    everywhere, by including the 'overrideGlobally' tag in the
    import list:

            use Time::Object 'overrideGlobally';

    I'm not too keen on this name yet - suggestions welcome...

AUTHOR
    Matt Sergeant, matt@sergeant.org

  License

    This module is free software, you may distribute it under the
    same terms as Perl.

  Bugs

    The test harness leaves much to be desired. Patches welcome.
Commit	Line	Data
302d38aa	1	NAME
	2	Time::Object - Object Oriented time objects
	3
	4	SYNOPSIS
	5	use Time::Object;
	6
	7	my $t = localtime;
	8	print "Time is $t\n";
	9	print "Year is ", $t->year, "\n";
	10
	11	DESCRIPTION
	12	This module replaces the standard localtime and gmtime functions
	13	with implementations that return objects. It does so in a
	14	backwards compatible manner, so that using localtime/gmtime in
	15	the way documented in perlfunc will still return what you
	16	expect.
	17
	18	The module actually implements most of an interface described by
	19	Larry Wall on the perl5-porters mailing list here:
	20	http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2000-
	21	01/msg00241.html
	22
	23	USAGE
	24	After importing this module, when you use localtime or gmtime in
	25	a scalar context, rather than getting an ordinary scalar string
	26	representing the date and time, you get a Time::Object object,
	27	whose stringification happens to produce the same effect as the
	28	localtime and gmtime functions. There is also a new()
	29	constructor provided, which is the same as localtime(), except
	30	when passed a Time::Object object, in which case it's a copy
	31	constructor. The following methods are available on the object:
	32
	33	$t->sec # also available as $t->second
	34	$t->min # also available as $t->minute
	35	$t->hour
	36	$t->mday # also available as $t->day_of_month
	37	$t->mon # based at 1
	38	$t->_mon # based at 0
	39	$t->monname # February
	40	$t->month # same as $t->monname
	41	$t->year # based at 0 (year 0 AD is, of course 1 BC).
	42	$t->_year # year minus 1900
	43	$t->yr # 2 digit year
	44	$t->wday # based at 1 = Sunday
	45	$t->_wday # based at 0 = Sunday
	46	$t->day_of_week # based at 0 = Sunday
	47	$t->wdayname # Tuesday
	48	$t->day # same as wdayname
	49	$t->yday # also available as $t->day_of_year
	50	$t->isdst # also available as $t->daylight_savings
	51	$t->hms # 01:23:45
	52	$t->ymd # 2000/02/29
	53	$t->mdy # 02/29/2000
	54	$t->dmy # 29/02/2000
	55	$t->date # Tue Feb 29 01:23:45 2000
	56	"$t" # same as $t->date
	57	$t->epoch # seconds since the epoch
	58	$t->tzoffset # timezone offset in a Time::Seconds object
	59	$t->strftime(FORMAT) # same as POSIX::strftime (without POSIX.pm)
	60
	61	Date Calculations
	62
	63	It's possible to use simple addition and subtraction of objects:
	64
65	use Time::Seconds;
66
67	my $seconds = $t1 - $t2;
68	$t1 += ONE_DAY; # add 1 day (constant from Time::Seconds)
69
70	The following are valid ($t1 and $t2 are Time::Object objects):
71
72	$t1 - $t2; # returns Time::Seconds object
73	$t1 - 42; # returns Time::Object object
74	$t1 + 533; # returns Time::Object object
75
76	However adding a Time::Object object to another Time::Object
77	object will cause a runtime error.
78
79	Note that the first of the above returns a Time::Seconds object,
80	so while examining the object will print the number of seconds
81	(because of the overloading), you can also get the number of
82	minutes, hours, days, weeks and years in that delta, using the
83	Time::Seconds API.
84
85	Date Comparisons
86
87	Date comparisons are also possible, using the full suite of "<",
88	">", "<=", ">=", "<=>", "==" and "!=".
89
90	Global Overriding
91
92	Finally, it's possible to override localtime and gmtime
93	everywhere, by including the 'overrideGlobally' tag in the
94	import list:
95
96	use Time::Object 'overrideGlobally';
97
98	I'm not too keen on this name yet - suggestions welcome...
99
100	AUTHOR
101	Matt Sergeant, matt@sergeant.org
102
103	License
104
105	This module is free software, you may distribute it under the
106	same terms as Perl.
107
108	Bugs
109
110	The test harness leaves much to be desired. Patches welcome.
111