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diff --git a/Doc/libtime.tex b/Doc/libtime.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fe8b7dc --- /dev/null +++ b/Doc/libtime.tex @@ -0,0 +1,121 @@ +\section{Built-in Module \sectcode{time}} + +\bimodindex{time} +This module provides various time-related functions. +It is always available. (On some systems, not all functions may +exist; e.g. the ``milli'' variants can't always be implemented.) + +An explanation of some terminology and conventions is in order. + +\begin{itemize} + +\item +The ``epoch'' is the point where the time starts. On January 1st that +year, at 0 hours, the ``time since the epoch'' is zero. For UNIX, the +epoch is 1970. To find out what the epoch is, look at the first +element of \code{gmtime(0)}. + +\item +UTC is Coordinated Universal Time (formerly known as Greenwich Mean +Time). The acronym UTC is not a mistake but a compromise between +English and French. + +\item +DST is Daylight Saving Time, an adjustment of the timezone by +(usually) one hour during part of the year. DST rules are magic +(determined by local law) and can change from year to year. The C +library has a table containing the local rules (often it is read from +a system file for flexibility) and is the only source of True Wisdom +in this respect. + +\item +The precision of the various real-time functions may be less than +suggested by the units in which their value or argument is expressed. +E.g. on most UNIX systems, the clock ``ticks'' only every 1/50th or +1/100th of a second, and on the Mac, it ticks 60 times a second. + +\end{itemize} + +Functions and data items are: + +\renewcommand{\indexsubitem}{(in module time)} + +\begin{datadesc}{altzone} +The offset of the local DST timezone, in seconds west of the 0th +meridian, if one is defined. Only use this if \code{daylight} is +nonzero. +\end{datadesc} + + +\begin{funcdesc}{asctime}{tuple} +Convert a tuple representing a time as returned by \code{gmtime()} or +\code{localtime()} to a 24-character string of the following form: +\code{'Sun Jun 20 23:21:05 1993'}. Note: unlike the C function of +the same name, there is no trailing newline. +\end{funcdesc} + + +\begin{funcdesc}{ctime}{secs} +Convert a time expressed in seconds since the epoch to a string +representing local time. \code{ctime(t)} is equivalent to +\code{asctime(localtime(t))}. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{datadesc}{daylight} +Nonzero if a DST timezone is defined. +\end{datadesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{gmtime}{secs} +Convert a time expressed in seconds since the epoch to a tuple of 9 +integers, in UTC: year (e.g. 1993), month (1-12), day (1-31), hour +(0-23), minute (0-59), second (0-59), weekday (0-6, monday is 0), +julian day (1-366), dst flag (always zero). Fractions of a second are +ignored. Note subtle differences with the C function of this name. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{localtime}{secs} +Like \code{gmtime} but converts to local time. The dst flag is set +to 1 when DST applies to the given time. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{millisleep}{msecs} +Suspend execution for the given number of milliseconds. (Obsolete, +you can now use use \code{sleep} with a floating point argument.) +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{millitimer}{} +Return the number of milliseconds of real time elapsed since some +point in the past that is fixed per execution of the python +interpreter (but may change in each following run). The return value +may be negative, and it may wrap around. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{mktime}{tuple} +This is the inverse function of \code{localtime}. Its argument is the +full 9-tuple (since the dst flag is needed). It returns an integer. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{sleep}{secs} +Suspend execution for the given number of seconds. The argument may +be a floating point number to indicate a more precise sleep time. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{time}{} +Return the time as a floating point number expressed in seconds since +the epoch, in UTC. Note that even though the time is always returned +as a floating point number, not all systems provide time with a better +precision than 1 second. An alternative for measuring precise +intervals is \code{millitimer}. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{datadesc}{timezone} +The offset of the local (non-DST) timezone, in seconds west of the 0th +meridian (i.e. negative in most of Western Europe, positive in the US, +zero in the UK). +\end{datadesc} + +\begin{datadesc}{tzname} +A tuple of two strings: the first is the name of the local non-DST +timezone, the second is the name of the local DST timezone. If no DST +timezone is defined, the second string should not be used. +\end{datadesc} |