Subject: Re: bug#641: format-time-string %Z does not work, starting with Emacs 22.2

From: "Juanma Barranquero" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 22:34:51 +0200

On Wed, Aug 6, 2008 at 21:48, Drew Adams <[email-masked]> wrote:

>> `format-time-string' is a Lisp interface to the Posix function
>> `strftime' from the standard C library.
>
> That's what I question. Where does it say that that is the mission of
> `format-time-string'? This is a new interpretation, AFAICT. Where does it say
> that `format-time-string' must be implemented only as a transparent front end to
> `strftime'?

At the time the function was introduced, the docstring clearly said:
"The number of options reflects the strftime(3) function."

http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/emacs/emacs/src/editfns.c?r1=1.67&r2=1.68&pathrev=HEAD

Two years later Richard rewrote the docstring and that bit disappeared:

http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/emacs/emacs/src/editfns.c?r1=1.153&r2=1.154&pathrev=HEAD

It is open to interpretation (or asking him) whether the intent was to
detach strftime from format-time-string or not.

 Juanma