[Python-Dev] proposal: add basic time type to the standard library

[Fredrik Lundh]

mal wrote:

> > Doesn't the proposal sort of imply time-zone
> > awareness of some kind? Or does it simply imply
> > UT storage?
> 
> I tried that in early version of mxDateTime -- it fails
> badly.

can you elaborate?

> > Does this imply leap second hell, or will we
> > simply be vague about expectations?
> 
> The type will store a fixed point in time, so why
> worry about leap seconds (most system's don't support these
> anyway and if they do, the support is usually switched off per
> default) ?

the updated proposal adds __hash__ and __cmp__, and
the following (optional?) operations:

    deltaobject = timeobject - timeobject
    floatobject = float(deltaobject) # fractional seconds
    timeobject = timeobject + integerobject
    timeobject = timeobject + floatobject
    timeobject = timeobject + deltaobject

note that "deltaobject" can be anything; the abstract type
only says that if you manage to subtract one time object from
another one of the same type, you get some object that you
can 1) convert to a float, and 2) add to another time object.

vague, but pretty useful.

> > I'd also like to see simple access methods for year,
> > month, day, hours, minutes, and seconds, with date parts
> > being one based and time parts being zero based.
> 
> In the abstract base type ?

Q. does mxDateTime provide separate accessors for individual
members?

</F>