From: Simon Marlow [mailto:simonmar@microsoft.com]
I like the idea of having a single notion of absolute time, which is independent of TAI or UTC time. You can do arithmetic on absolute time (add/subtract absolute units of time, find absolute time differences), and convert to/from TAI and UTC.
This is something I don't see any motivation for, from a user's point of view. AFAICT, there _is_ no notion of absolute time, just time w.r.t. a given calendar (if you view TAI and UTC as calendars). The representation of time as "units since epoch" is "just an implementation detail" :-) Seriously, though, what use is being able to find the difference between two times like this? If I want the difference between two times, I want to specify in what units the difference should be e.g. millisecs, seconds, days, years, etc. The difference between times tA and tB might be 86400 seconds, but they might still be on the same day e.g. leap seconds, so if I ask for (diffDays tA tB) I might get zero, one, or two, depending on the date. Alistair. ----------------------------------------- ***************************************************************** Confidentiality Note: The information contained in this message, and any attachments, may contain confidential and/or privileged material. It is intended solely for the person(s) or entity to which it is addressed. Any review, retransmission, dissemination, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient(s) is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. *****************************************************************