Time/Format version 0.13
========================

Time::Format provides a very easy way to format dates and times.  The
formatting functions are tied to hash variables, so they can be used
inside strings as well as in ordinary expressions.  The formatting
codes used are meant to be easy to remember, use, and read.

Also provided is a tied-hash interface to POSIX::strftime and
Date::Manip::UnixDate.

If the I18N::Langinfo module is available, Time::Format provides
weekday and month names in a language appropriate for your locale.

A companion module, Time::Format_XS, is also available; if it is
installed, Time::Format will detect and use it, which will result in a
significant speed improvement.

EXAMPLES

 $time{'Weekday Month d, yyyy'}   Thursday June 5, 2003
 $time{'Day Mon d, yyyy'}         Thu Jun 5, 2003
 $time{'DAY MON d, yyyy'}         THU JUN 5, 2003
 $time{'dd/mm/yyyy'}              05/06/2003
 $time{yymmdd}                    030605
 $time{'yymmdd',time-86400}       030604

 $time{'H:mm:ss am'}              1:02:14 pm
 $time{'hh:mm:ss.uuuuuu'}         13:02:14.171447

 $time{'yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss.mmm'} 2003/06/05 13:02:14.171

 $strftime{'%A %B %d, %Y'}             Thursday June 05, 2003
 $strftime{'%A %B %d, %Y',time+86400}  Friday June 06, 2003

 $manip{'%m/%d/%Y'}               06/05/2003
 $manip{'%m/%d/%Y','yesterday'}   06/04/2003
 $manip{'%m/%d/%Y','first monday in November 2000'}  11/06/2000

There are also corresponding functions for each of these hashes, which
you can use if you prefer (or need) a function-based interface.


DEVELOPMENT STATE

Time::Format is a brand new module.  It has a good test suite, but it
hasn't been used much in the Real World yet.  Thus it should be
considered "late beta" software.  When six months pass without any
bugs being reported, or any features being added, I'll bump the
version to 1.0.

If you find any bugs, or if any behavior of Time::Format surprises
you, I would be grateful if you could send me an email message about
it.  Thanks.


INSTALLATION

To install this module, do the standard Perl module four-step:

   perl Makefile.PL    or    perl Makefile.pl LIB='my/install/path'
   make
   make test
   make install

WINDOWS (ACTIVESTATE) USERS

Versions 0.11 and 0.13 fix some problems ActiveState users had with
installation.  Also, a ppm installation is now available.  This is
still experimental, as the author is not experienced with the AS
product.  Try the included PPD file.  It points to the Time::Format
ppm file at CPAN.  The author would appreciate feedback on this. :-)


DEPENDENCIES

This module requires these other modules and libraries:

  I18N::Langinfo  (optional)
  POSIX           (optional)
  Time::HiRes     (optional)
  Date::Manip     (optional)
  Time::Format_XS (optional)
  Test::More      (used by the test suite only)
  Time::Local     (used by the test suite only)


COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Eric J. Roode, roode@cpan.org

Copyright (c) 2003 by Eric J. Roode. All Rights Reserved.  This module
is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
same terms as Perl itself.
