1CTIME(3P)                  POSIX Programmer's Manual                 CTIME(3P)
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PROLOG

6       This  manual  page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux
7       implementation of this interface may differ (consult the  corresponding
8       Linux  manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may
9       not be implemented on Linux.
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NAME

12       ctime, ctime_r - convert a time value to a date and time string
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SYNOPSIS

15       #include <time.h>
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17       char *ctime(const time_t *clock);
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20       char *ctime_r(const time_t *clock, char *buf);
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DESCRIPTION

24       For ctime():   The functionality described on this  reference  page  is
25       aligned  with the ISO C standard. Any conflict between the requirements
26       described here and the ISO C standard is unintentional. This volume  of
27       IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 defers to the ISO C standard.
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29       The ctime() function shall convert the time pointed to by clock, repre‐
30       senting time in seconds since the Epoch, to local time in the form of a
31       string. It shall be equivalent to:
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34              asctime(localtime(clock))
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36       The  asctime(),  ctime(),  gmtime(),  and  localtime()  functions shall
37       return values in one of two static objects: a broken-down  time  struc‐
38       ture  and an array of char. Execution of any of the functions may over‐
39       write the information returned in either of these objects by any of the
40       other functions.
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42       The  ctime()  function  need  not  be reentrant. A function that is not
43       required to be reentrant is not required to be thread-safe.
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45       The ctime_r() function shall convert the calendar time  pointed  to  by
46       clock  to  local  time  in exactly the same form as ctime() and put the
47       string into the array pointed to by buf (which shall  be  at  least  26
48       bytes in size) and return buf.
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50       Unlike  ctime(),  the  thread-safe version ctime_r() is not required to
51       set tzname.
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RETURN VALUE

54       The ctime() function shall return the  pointer  returned  by  asctime()
55       with that broken-down time as an argument.
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57       Upon  successful  completion,  ctime_r()  shall return a pointer to the
58       string pointed to by buf. When an error is encountered, a null  pointer
59       shall be returned.
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ERRORS

62       No errors are defined.
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64       The following sections are informative.
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EXAMPLES

67       None.
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APPLICATION USAGE

70       Values  for  the  broken-down time structure can be obtained by calling
71       gmtime() or localtime(). The ctime() function is included for  compati‐
72       bility  with older implementations, and does not support localized date
73       and time formats.  Applications should use the strftime()  function  to
74       achieve maximum portability.
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76       The  ctime_r()  function  is  thread-safe  and shall return values in a
77       user-supplied buffer instead of possibly using a static data area  that
78       may be overwritten by each call.
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RATIONALE

81       None.
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FUTURE DIRECTIONS

84       None.
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SEE ALSO

87       asctime(),  clock(), difftime(), gmtime(), localtime(), mktime(), strf‐
88       time(), strptime(), time(), utime(), the  Base  Definitions  volume  of
89       IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <time.h>
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92       Portions  of  this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
93       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
94       --  Portable  Operating  System  Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
95       Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003  by  the  Institute  of
96       Electrical  and  Electronics  Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
97       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
98       The  Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
99       is the referee document. The original Standard can be  obtained  online
100       at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
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104IEEE/The Open Group                  2003                            CTIME(3P)
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