DP(8)                         [mh.6]                        DP(8)


NAME
       dp - parse dates 822-style

SYNOPSIS
       /usr/contrib/mh/lib/dp [-form formatfile] [-format string]
            [-width columns] dates ...  [-help]

DESCRIPTION
       Dp is a program that parses dates according  to  the  ARPA
       Internet  standard.  It also understands many non-standard
       formats, such as those produced by TOPS-20 sites and  some
       UNIX  sites  using ctime (3).  It is useful for seeing how
       MH will interpret a date.

       The dp program treats each argument as a single date,  and
       prints the date out in the official 822-format.  Hence, it
       is usually best to enclose each argument in  double-quotes
       for the shell.

       To   override   the   output   format   used  by  dp,  the
       `-format string'  or  `-format file'  switches  are  used.
       This  permits  individual  fields  of  the  address  to be
       extracted with  ease.   The  string  is  simply  a  format
       stringand   thefile   is   simply   a  format  file.   See
       mh-format (5) for the details.

       Here is the default format string used by dp:

            %<(nodate{text})error:
       %{text}%|%(putstr(pretty{text}))%>

       which says that if an error was detected, print the error,
       a `:', and the  date  in  error.   Otherwise,  output  the
       822-proper format of the date.

FILES
       $HOME/.mh_profile                     The user profile

PROFILE COMPONENTS
       None

SEE ALSO
       ap(8)
       Standard  for  the  Format  of ARPA Internet Text Messages
       (aka RFC-822)

DEFAULTS
       `-format' default as described above
       `-width' default to the width of the terminal

CONTEXT
       None





MH                        April 22, 1986                        1

DP(8)                         [mh.6]                        DP(8)


BUGS
       The argument to the `-format' switch must  be  interpreted
       as  a  single  token by the shell that invokes dp.  There-
       fore, one must usually place the argument to  this  switch
       inside double-quotes.




















































MH                        April 22, 1986                        2