std.date time problem

[Regan Heath]

Stewart Gordon wrote:
> "Regan Heath" <regan at netmail.co.nz> wrote in message 
> news:fagv8h$24kn$1 at digitalmars.com...
>> Stewart Gordon wrote:
> <snip>
>>> "It isn't documented but the input to toTimeString() is assumed to be
>>> UTC, and it outputs a Local time string."
>>
>> Ahhh.  Ick.  That's a bit counter-intuitive no?
>>
>> I'd prefer timezone conversions to be restricted to the explicit calls 
>> UTCtoLocalTime and LocalTimetoUTC.
> <snip>
> 
> AISI the problem is that d_times can be in an arbitrary mix of time 
> zones, yet don't contain time zone information.
 >
> My utility library
> 
> http://pr.stewartsplace.org.uk/d/sutil/
> 
> does it better - a DateTime or TimeValue is always stored in UTC.

Thanks.  I hope you guys sit down at/after the conference and sort out 
some sort of method by which these sorts of things can get included into 
Phobos.

Or better yet;  Walter sits down with you guys and agrees to a set of 
design guidelines for the standard library, things like:

* Use classes when state is required between function calls.
   - Otherwise, use free functions.
   - Provide an optional class wrapper.

(As D allows many different development styles a totally class based 
standard library would be wrong, but I think the rule above should keep 
both camps happy.  There may be a slight performance penalty for a class 
wrapper, maybe inlining will remove it, who knows)

It may be that once the rules are defined that Tango with few 
modifications/additions would fall within the rules.  In which case 
Phobos and Tango could be merged and one standard library produced.

This library would continue to be maintained, as Tango is, allowing 
everyone to contribute.

Well, that's my ideal world anyway.

I do however recall some fundamental disagreements over such things as 
how to handle console input/output, whether to maintain C compatibility 
etc.  I only hope that it's possible to make both sides happy, perhaps 
by splitting this part off and and linking the correct option based on 
version statements and pragmas or something.

Regan