@c GNU date syntax documentation
@c Copyright (C) 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002,
-@c 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+@c 2003, 2004, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
@c under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
Mon Mar 1 00:21:42 UTC 2004
$ TZ=UTC0 date +'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%SZ'
2004-03-01 00:21:42Z
-$ date --iso-8601=ns # a GNU extension
-2004-02-29T16:21:42,692722128-0800
+$ date --iso-8601=ns | tr T ' ' # --iso-8601 is a GNU extension.
+2004-02-29 16:21:42,692722128-0800
$ date --rfc-2822 # a GNU extension
Sun, 29 Feb 2004 16:21:42 -0800
$ date +'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %z' # %z is a GNU extension.
The time may alternatively be followed by a time zone correction,
expressed as @samp{@var{s}@var{hh}@var{mm}}, where @var{s} is @samp{+}
or @samp{-}, @var{hh} is a number of zone hours and @var{mm} is a number
-of zone minutes. When a time zone correction is given this way, it
+of zone minutes. You can also separate @var{hh} from @var{mm} with a colon.
+When a time zone correction is given this way, it
forces interpretation of the time relative to
Coordinated Universal Time (@sc{utc}), overriding any previous
-specification for the time zone or the local time zone. The @var{minute}
+specification for the time zone or the local time zone. For example,
+@samp{+0530} and @samp{+05:30} both stand for the time zone 5.5 hours
+ahead of @sc{utc} (e.g., India). The @var{minute}
part of the time of day may not be elided when a time zone correction
is used. This is the best way to specify a time zone correction by
fractional parts of an hour.
non-daylight-saving time zone by the string @samp{DST} in a separate
word (that is, separated by some white space), the corresponding
daylight saving time zone may be specified.
+Alternatively, a non-daylight-saving time zone can be followed by a
+time zone correction, to add the two values. This is normally done
+only for @samp{UTC}; for example, @samp{UTC+05:30} is equivalent to
+@samp{+05:30}.
Time zone items other than @samp{UTC} and @samp{Z}
are obsolescent and are not recommended, because they