fatodate - convert ASCII to date value
#include
int fatodate (sptr, format, d, size)
char *sptr;
char *format;
DATE *d;
int size;
Fatodate converts a string pointed to by sptr to a DATE value
using format to control the conversion. The result of the
conversion is stored in the DATE value pointed at by d. Size is
the size of the DATE value.
Date values are stored internally as the number of days beginning
with January 1, 1800. January 1, 1800, has a value of 1. This
format allows accurate representation of birth dates, and also
allows date comparison and date arithmetic.
Fatodate first tries to convert sptr using format. If this fails,
two standard input formats are tried. These have the form:
nn[s]nn[s]nn[nn] and dd[s]mmm[s]yy[yy]. In either form, s is an
optional separator character. Any punctuation character can be
used, but the same character must be used in both places.
To convert the first standard input format, nn[s]nn[s]nn[nn] the
value returned by getforder(C-3)
determines the order of month,
day, and year values.
The second standard input format, dd[s]mmm[s]yy[yy], is used when
a letter appears after two digits and an optional separator
character. In this case, the abbreviated month names returned by
getfamth(C-3) determine the month.
Trailing blanks or tabs are allowed, leading blanks or tabs are
not.
Fatodate returns the number of characters in sptr used to convert
the value.
fcountry(C-3), atodate(C-3),
getforder(C-3), getfamth(C-3)
C/Base Reference Manual Chapter 13, "Formatting Data Values"
DIAGNOSTICS
If an error occurs, fatodate returns a negative number and the
contents of d are undefined. The following symbolic error codes
are defined in
FTOOBIG size is not the size of a DATE value (use sizeof
function)
FFORMAT format contains invalid key letters
FEDIT sptr does not match either specifier in format or
the month, day, or year are invalid (such as
03/32/81)
FINCON the string sptr is inconsistent, e.g. a string of
Fri, 2 Aug 1986 is inconsistent (August 2, 1986
is a Saturday)
FIFORMAT sptr does not conform to any format