time_t(3)                  Linux Programmer's Manual                 time_t(3)



NAME
       time_t - type representing time

SYNOPSIS
       #include <time.h>

       typedef ... time_t;

DESCRIPTION
       time_t is an arithmetic type capable of representing time.

       In  POSIX,  time_t  is  defined  as counting non-leap seconds since the
       Epoch (1970-01-01T00:00:00 UTC).

   Conversions
       Use localtime(3), gmtime(3) and strftime(3) to convert time_t values to
       more manageable form.  Use mktime(3) to convert back to time_t.

NOTES
       On  many  platforms time_t is a signed 32-bit integer, counting seconds
       since 1970.  On such platforms it will overflow in AD 2038.

       The POSIX definition as a count of  non-leap-seconds  since  the  Epoch
       means  that leap seconds cannot be represented in time_t, and that sub-
       tracting two time_t values will not count any leap seconds  that  occur
       between them; i.e. it will not give the actual elapsed time.

CONFORMING TO
       ISO/IEC 9899, IEEE Std 1003.1

SEE ALSO
       time(2), localtime(3), gmtime(3), mktime(3), difftime(3)



                                  2005-02-03                         time_t(3)