[bug-mailutils] Only one date format

[積丹尼 Dan Jacobson]

(info "(mailutils) Mail Variables")
says

'headline'
Letter Meaning
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
%d The date when the message was received.

Gee only one date format!

Please also provide additional granularity like
(info "(coreutils) Time conversion specifiers")
(info "(coreutils) Date conversion specifiers")
Thanks!

[Sergey Poznyakoff]

Post by 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson
Please also provide additional granularity like
(info "(coreutils) Time conversion specifiers")
(info "(coreutils) Date conversion specifiers")

Thanks for the suggestion.

Regards,
Sergey

[Neil R. Ormos]

Post by Sergey Poznyakoff

Post by 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson
Please also provide additional granularity like
(info "(coreutils) Time conversion specifiers")
(info "(coreutils) Date conversion specifiers")

Thanks for the suggestion.

I agree with the substance of this feature
request.

It would be helpful if the user could define the
appearance of the date/time field using any
combination of the format specifiers supported by
strftime(3).

The find(1) utility -printf action has a syntax
that might be an example of how to address
collisions of the existing format codes and those
of strftime (though it requires much error-prone
typing).

Also, the Pine and Alpine MUAs include "smart"
dates and times that might be helpful to some
users. See, e.g., SMARTTIME in:

http://www.washington.edu/alpine/tech-notes/config.html

Best regards,

--Neil Ormos

[Sergey Poznyakoff]

I have pushed 5a7b63b213, which implements the new %D specifier.

The new specifier allows you to supply arbitrary strftime(3) format
string for outputting message date/time. E.g.:

set headline="%4m %20D{%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S} %18f %s"

In simplified form, %D can be followed by a single time format
specifier. E.g. %DH can be used instead of %D{%H}.

See the doc for details.

Regards,
Sergey

[Neil R. Ormos]

Post by Sergey Poznyakoff
I have pushed 5a7b63b213, which implements the new %D specifier.
The new specifier allows you to supply arbitrary strftime(3) format
set headline="%4m %20D{%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S} %18f %s"
In simplified form, %D can be followed by a single time format
specifier. E.g. %DH can be used instead of %D{%H}.
See the doc for details.

Thank you. The feature works nicely in my (superficial)
testing.

Best regards,

--Neil Ormos