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Re: [PATCH] format-patch: use current date in mbox 'From COMMIT DATE' header line

From
Chris Webb <chris@arachsys.com>
Date
Apr 15, 2010, 15:55 UTC
Message-ID
<20100415155523.GL12365@arachsys.com>
In-Reply-To
<201004151735.31415.trast@student.ethz.ch>
Thomas Rast <trast@student.ethz.ch> writes:
> Have you read
> 
>   http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/124082/focus=124092

I hadn't but have now. I don't buy the idea that this date is an unused placeholder in mbox files, and therefore can be sensibly set to an arbitary constant date in the distant past.

RFC4155 appendix A defines this date as the date a message was received. This isn't directly applicable to the context of format-patch, but other users of mbox format (e.g. MUAs doing an fcc) tend to fill it with the date the message was generated, and might reasonably expect to be able to sort on this date, e.g. when displaying a drafts folder.

If nothing else, it's extremely surprising to run format-patch, see a ridiculous date and wonder how your system time has become corrupted while you've been working!

Cheers,
Chris.
Previous: Thomas RastNext: Junio C Hamano
Message 4 of 12 in “format-patch: use current date in mbox 'From COMMIT DATE' header line”
  1. format-patch: use current date in mbox 'From COMMIT DATE' header lineChris Webb, Apr 15, 2010
  2. Chris WebbApr 15, 2010
  3. Thomas RastApr 15, 2010
  4. Chris WebbApr 15, 2010
  5. Junio C HamanoApr 17, 2010
  6. Fix t4013 with current date in mbox 'From COMMIT DATE' header linesChris Webb, Apr 15, 2010
  7. Jonathan NiederApr 15, 2010
  8. Chris WebbApr 16, 2010
  9. 1/2 format-patch: use commit date in mbox 'From COMMIT DATE' header lineChris Webb, Apr 16, 2010
  10. 2/2 Fix t4013 with commit date in mbox 'From COMMIT DATE' header linesChris Webb, Apr 16, 2010
  11. Santi BéjarApr 16, 2010
  12. format-patch: use commit date in mbox 'From COMMIT DATE' header lineChris Webb, Apr 17, 2010

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