[ILUG] C compilation error

[Colm MacCárthaigh]

On Sat, Jan 26, 2002 at 10:35:58PM +0000, Nick Murtagh wrote:
> On Saturday 26 January 2002 22:26, you wrote:
> > On Sat, Jan 26, 2002 at 09:53:39PM +0000, Nick Murtagh wrote:
> > > What exactly is localtime() supposed to do? As far as i can tell
> > > localtime takes a parameter of type time_t. What about
> > >
> > >   tp = localtime(time());
> >
> > no, it takes a pointer to a parameter of type time_t.  never knew why -
> > it makes that call impossible - localtime(time(NULL)) - which is annoying.
> > but it is a pointer to time_t which is an important distinction.
> 
> doh! i sometimes wonder how the people who came up with this stuff
> intended it to be used....
> 

time_t is specified as a macro in ansi c, so you should never depend
on it's type. integer compaibility and seconds since epoch are actually
implementation specific :o) it could just as easily by a struct of
some type, hence the pointer.


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colmmacc at redbrick.dcu.ie            webmaster at redbrick.dcu.ie