GNU bug report logs - #51288
Break date SYNOPSIS into two sections

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Package: coreutils;

Reported by: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2021 13:46:01 UTC

Severity: normal

Done: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>

Bug is archived. No further changes may be made.

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Report forwarded to bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org:
bug#51288; Package coreutils. (Tue, 19 Oct 2021 13:46:01 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.
Acknowledgement sent to 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>:
New bug report received and forwarded. Copy sent to bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org. (Tue, 19 Oct 2021 13:46:01 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.

Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
To: bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org
Subject: Break date SYNOPSIS into two sections
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2021 21:04:11 +0800

On the 'date' man and info pages,

SYNOPSIS
       date [OPTION]... [+FORMAT]
       date [-u|--utc|--universal] [MMDDhhmm[[CC]YY][.ss]]

Synopses:

     date [OPTION]... [+FORMAT]
     date [-u|--utc|--universal] [ MMDDhhmm[[CC]YY][.ss] ]

please break these down into:

printing the date:

     date [OPTION]... [+FORMAT]

setting the date:

     date [-u|--utc|--universal] [ MMDDhhmm[[CC]YY][.ss] ]
     date [-s|--set] DATESTR

else the user in a panic to set the date, will try
# date -s 10140110
date: cannot set date: Invalid argument
Mon Jan 10 00:00:00 LMT 1014
Instead of
$ date    10140110

Only on
(info "(coreutils) Setting the time")
is the mystery revealed. P.S., on that page you should mention the
MMDDhhmm... string again, not just its components.
Reply sent to Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>:
You have taken responsibility. (Sat, 05 Feb 2022 02:26:01 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.
Notification sent to 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>:
bug acknowledged by developer. (Sat, 05 Feb 2022 02:26:01 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.

Message #10 received at 51288-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
Cc: 51288-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#51288: Break date SYNOPSIS into two sections
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2022 18:25:20 -0800

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]
Thanks for reporting the problem. It'd be a bit of a pain to implement 
your suggestion exactly since the synopsis is generated automatically. 
However, I installed the attached to try to attack the problem of 
confusion that you reported.

It's been years since I set the date by hand but we might as well be 
clear about it, if only for nostalgia's sake.
[0001-date-improve-doc.patch (text/x-patch, attachment)]
bug archived. Request was from Debbugs Internal Request <help-debbugs <at> gnu.org> to internal_control <at> debbugs.gnu.org. (Sat, 05 Mar 2022 12:24:09 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.
This bug report was last modified 2 years and 52 days ago.

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