@menu
* General date syntax:: Common rules.
-* Calendar date item:: 19 Dec 1994.
-* Time of day item:: 9:20pm.
-* Time zone item:: EST, DST, BST, UTC, ...
-* Day of week item:: Monday and others.
-* Relative item in date strings:: next tuesday, 2 years ago.
+* Calendar date items:: 19 Dec 1994.
+* Time of day items:: 9:20pm.
+* Time zone items:: EST, DST, BST, UTC, ...
+* Day of week items:: Monday and others.
+* Relative items in date strings:: next tuesday, 2 years ago.
* Pure numbers in date strings:: 19931219, 1440.
* Authors of getdate:: Bellovin, Salz, Berets, et al.
@end menu
zeros on numbers are ignored.
-@node Calendar date item
-@section Calendar date item
+@node Calendar date items
+@section Calendar date items
@cindex calendar date item
numerically or literally. All these strings specify the same calendar date:
@example
-1972-09-24 # ISO 8601.
-72-9-24 # Assume 19xx for 69 through 99, 20xx for 00 through 68.
-72-09-24 # Leading zeros are ignored.
-9/24/72 # Common U.S. writing.
+1972-09-24 # ISO 8601.
+72-9-24 # Assume 19xx for 69 through 99,
+ # 20xx for 00 through 68.
+72-09-24 # Leading zeros are ignored.
+9/24/72 # Common U.S. writing.
24 September 1972
-24 Sept 72 # September has a special abbreviation.
-24 Sep 72 # Three-letter abbreviations always allowed.
+24 Sept 72 # September has a special abbreviation.
+24 Sep 72 # Three-letter abbreviations always allowed.
Sep 24, 1972
24-sep-72
24sep72
@end example
-@node Time of day item
-@section Time of day item
+@node Time of day items
+@section Time of day items
@cindex time of day item
but not both.
-@node Time zone item
-@section Time zone item
+@node Time zone items
+@section Time zone items
@cindex time zone item
@end table
-@node Day of week item
-@section Day of week item
+@node Day of week items
+@section Day of week items
@cindex day of week item
The strings @samp{now} or @samp{today} are relative items corresponding
to zero-valued time displacement, these strings come from the fact
a zero-valued time displacement represents the current time when not
-otherwise change by previous items. They may be used to stress other
+otherwise changed by previous items. They may be used to stress other
items, like in @samp{12:00 today}. The string @samp{this} also has
the meaning of a zero-valued time displacement, but is preferred in
date strings like @samp{this thursday}.
-When a relative item makes the resulting date to cross the boundary
+When a relative item causes the resulting date to cross the boundary
between DST and non-DST (or vice-versa), the hour is adjusted according
to the local time.
@cindex pure numbers in date strings
-The precise intepretation of a pure decimal number is dependent of
+The precise intepretation of a pure decimal number depends
the context in the date string.
If the decimal number is of the form @var{yyyy}@var{mm}@var{dd} and no