UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi,

I need to know
1.the usage of LC_TIME with setlocale().
2.the usage of getdate() utility

I read that date formatting for different languages needs
1.user-supplied template file and
2.DATEMSK environment variable set to path of the template fie.

Can anyone pls tell me how to do this ?

First off, the format strings are the same regardless of NLS (locale) settings.
ie. %Y is a four digit number %A = day of week. This works unless you are using wide characters- ie, a charset like Greek or Arabic. Then you use alternates. These begin with %E or %O.

Next.
What locale for LC_TIME? And to answer that we need to know which UNIX you're using.
Plus, you do know LC_TIME can affect things like the first day of the week as well.

Do you know about setlocale()?

Finally.
Read the man page about strptime(). It is far easier to use than getdate(), because it does not require an external file.

If you give us exact specifications it would help a lot.

I need to do date conversions between german and french at runtime.

mine is red hat linux 9
am a beginner & I ve a little knowledge about setlocale and LC_TIME.
I tried a sample helloworld L10N program through gettext utility.

Thanks for the quick reply jim,

Aeon.