5 .\" include the -mh macro file
8 .TH DP %manext8% MH.6.8 [%nmhversion%]
10 dp \- parse dates 822-style
15 \%[\-form\ formatfile]
25 \fIDp\fR is a program that parses dates according to the ARPA Internet
27 It also understands many non\-standard formats,
28 such as those produced by TOPS\-20 sites and some UNIX sites using
30 It is useful for seeing how \fInmh\fR will interpret a date.
32 The \fIdp\fR program treats each argument as a single date,
33 and prints the date out in the official 822\-format.
34 Hence, it is usually best to enclose each argument in double\-quotes for the
37 To override the output format used by \fIdp\fR,
38 the `\-format\ string' or `\-format\ file' switches are used.
39 This permits individual fields of the address to be extracted with ease.
40 The string is simply a format string and the file is simply a format file.
41 See \fImh\-format\fR(5) for the details.
43 Here is the default format string used by \fIdp\fR:
47 %<(nodate{text})error: %{text}%|%(putstr(pretty{text}))%>
50 which says that if an error was detected, print the error, a `:',
51 and the date in error.
52 Otherwise, output the 822\-proper format of the date.
54 ^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
60 \fIStandard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages\fR (RFC\-822)
62 `\-format' default as described above
64 `\-width' default to the width of the terminal
68 The argument to the `\-format' switch must be interpreted as a single token
69 by the shell that invokes \fIdp\fR.
71 one must usually place the argument to this switch inside double\-quotes.