...one of the most highly
regarded and expertly designed C++ library projects in the
world.
— Herb Sutter and Andrei
Alexandrescu, C++
Coding Standards
boost::date_time::date — Representation of timepoint at the one day level resolution.
// In header: <boost/date_time/date.hpp> template<typename T, typename calendar, typename duration_type_> class date { public: // types typedef T date_type; typedef calendar calendar_type; typedef calendar::date_traits_type traits_type; typedef duration_type_ duration_type; typedef calendar::year_type year_type; typedef calendar::month_type month_type; typedef calendar::day_type day_type; typedef calendar::ymd_type ymd_type; typedef calendar::date_rep_type date_rep_type; typedef calendar::date_int_type date_int_type; typedef calendar::day_of_week_type day_of_week_type; // construct/copy/destruct date(year_type, month_type, day_type); date(const ymd_type &); date(date_int_type); date(date_rep_type); // public member functions year_type year() const; month_type month() const; day_type day() const; day_of_week_type day_of_week() const; ymd_type year_month_day() const; bool operator<(const date_type &) const; bool operator==(const date_type &) const; bool is_special() const; bool is_not_a_date() const; bool is_infinity() const; bool is_pos_infinity() const; bool is_neg_infinity() const; special_values as_special() const; duration_type operator-(const date_type &) const; date_type operator-(const duration_type &) const; date_type operator-=(const duration_type &) ; date_rep_type day_count() const; date_type operator+(const duration_type &) const; date_type operator+=(const duration_type &) ; };
The date template represents an interface shell for a date class that is based on a year-month-day system such as the gregorian or iso systems. It provides basic operations to enable calculation and comparisons.
Theory
This date representation fundamentally departs from the C tm struct approach. The goal for this type is to provide efficient date operations (add, subtract) and storage (minimize space to represent) in a concrete class. Thus, the date uses a count internally to represent a particular date. The calendar parameter defines the policies for converting the the year-month-day and internal counted form here. Applications that need to perform heavy formatting of the same date repeatedly will perform better by using the year-month-day representation.
Internally the date uses a day number to represent the date. This is a monotonic time representation. This representation allows for fast comparison as well as simplifying the creation of writing numeric operations. Essentially, the internal day number is like adjusted julian day. The adjustment is determined by the Epoch date which is represented as day 1 of the calendar. Day 0 is reserved for negative infinity so that any actual date is automatically greater than negative infinity. When a date is constructed from a date or formatted for output, the appropriate conversions are applied to create the year, month, day representations.
date
public
construct/copy/destructdate(year_type y, month_type m, day_type d);
date(const ymd_type & ymd);
date(date_int_type days);
This is a private constructor which allows for the creation of new dates. It is not exposed to users since that would require class users to understand the inner workings of the date class.
date(date_rep_type days);
date
public member functionsyear_type year() const;
month_type month() const;
day_type day() const;
day_of_week_type day_of_week() const;
ymd_type year_month_day() const;
bool operator<(const date_type & rhs) const;
bool operator==(const date_type & rhs) const;
bool is_special() const;check to see if date is a special value
bool is_not_a_date() const;check to see if date is not a value
bool is_infinity() const;check to see if date is one of the infinity values
bool is_pos_infinity() const;check to see if date is greater than all possible dates
bool is_neg_infinity() const;check to see if date is greater than all possible dates
special_values as_special() const;return as a special value or a not_special if a normal date
duration_type operator-(const date_type & d) const;
date_type operator-(const duration_type & dd) const;
date_type operator-=(const duration_type & dd) ;
date_rep_type day_count() const;
date_type operator+(const duration_type & dd) const;
date_type operator+=(const duration_type & dd) ;