tdiff2

Synopsis

$tdiff2(<seconds>)

Technical

Formats an elapsed duration using abbreviated units: d, h, m, and s. Components are separated by spaces, with no space between a number and its unit. Zero components are omitted, except that a zero duration returns 0s. There is no trailing space.

The first function word is parsed as a signed integer using base-zero conversion. Decimal input normally uses base ten, a leading zero selects octal, and 0x selects hexadecimal. Conversion stops at the first unrecognized character: 90.5 becomes 90 seconds, while 1e3 becomes one second. Nonnumeric input becomes zero. Additional words are ignored; missing input returns the empty string. There is no JSON form.

The duration is decomposed into 86400-second days, 24-hour remainders, and 60-minute/second remainders. Negative input gives separately negative components, such as -1h -2s, rather than one leading minus sign. No singular/plural distinction is made.

Practical

Use this function for a compact idle time or duration since an event. It does not subtract timestamps itself. tdiff provides full unit names and supports fractional seconds and JSON input; the two functions have separate parsers and different zero behavior.

Returns and restrictions

A human-readable duration string, or empty for missing input. Fractional text is not preserved or formatted.

The parsed value uses intmax_t and is assigned to the platform's time_t without a range check. Parsing overflow is not reported; the library returns its signed integer boundary value. On platforms where time_t is narrower, out-of-range conversion can change the value. Components are printed after conversion to C long, so their representable range also depends on the platform. There is no fixed 32-bit seconds limit in this implementation; keep inputs within the platform's signed integer and component ranges. No options, settings, or server connection are required.

Examples

History

First appeared in ircII+CS.

Source

Handler and formatting: source/functions.c. Integer parsing: include/functions.h.