NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     inittodr - initialize system time

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     void
     inittodr(time_t base);

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     The inittodr() function determines the  time  and  sets  the
system clock.
     It  tries to pick the correct time using a set of heuristics
that examine
     the system's battery-backed clock and the time  reported  by
the file system,
 as given in base.  Those heuristics include:

     +o    If  the  battery-backed  clock  has a valid time, it is
used.

     +o   If the battery-backed clock does not have a valid  time,
and the time
         provided  in  base is within reason, base is used as the
current time.

     +o   If the battery-backed clock appears  invalid,  and  base
appears nonsensical
  or was not provided (was given as zero), an arbitrary base
         (typically some time in the late 1970s) will be used.

     Once a system time has been determined, it is stored in  the
time variable.

DIAGNOSTICS    [Toc]    [Back]

     The inittodr() function prints diagnostic messages if it has
trouble figuring
 out the system time.  Conditions that can cause  diagnostic messages
     to be printed include:

     +o   The battery-backed clock's time appears nonsensical.

     +o   The base time appears nonsensical.

     +o   The base time and the battery-backed clock's time differ
by a large
         amount.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     resettodr(9), time(9)

BUGS    [Toc]    [Back]

     On many systems, inittodr() has to convert from a  time  expressed in terms
     of  year,  month,  day, hours, minutes, and seconds to time,
expressed in
     seconds.  Many of the implementations could share code,  but
do not.

     Each  system's  heuristics  for picking the correct time are
slightly different.


OpenBSD     3.6                        November     13,      1995