date: skip '-' flag for composite strftime specifiers - #14163
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sylvestre
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Aug 26, 2026
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| // GNU treats composite specifiers (D, F, T, r, R, c, x, X) | ||
| // as atomic: the `-` flag applies to the whole expansion, | ||
| // not to inner sub-fields. Since jiff already expands them | ||
| // correctly, strip the `-` flag so apply_modifiers doesn't | ||
| // remove leading zeros from inner fields like %m in %D. | ||
| if !parsed.flags.is_empty() || parsed.width.is_some() { | ||
| // GNU treats composite specifiers (D, F, T, r, R, c, x, X) | ||
| // as atomic: flags like `-` apply to the whole expansion, | ||
| // not to inner sub-fields. Since jiff already expands them | ||
| // correctly, strip the `-` flag so apply_modifiers doesn't | ||
| // remove leading zeros from inner fields like %m in %D. |
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i don't think it needs 10 lines of comment
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please make this comment shorter
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needs a test too |
|
GNU testsuite comparison: |
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| // not to inner sub-fields. Since jiff already expands them | ||
| // correctly, strip the `-` flag so apply_modifiers doesn't | ||
| // remove leading zeros from inner fields like %m in %D. | ||
| if !parsed.flags.is_empty() || parsed.width.is_some() { |
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This condition is identical to the condition on line 238.
GNU date treats composite strftime specifiers (%D, %F, %T, %r, %R, %c, %x, %X) as atomic: flags like '-' apply to the whole expansion, not to inner sub-fields. uutils let the '-' flag propagate into inner specifiers, producing e.g. '6/15/24' for %-D instead of '06/15/24'. Strip the '-' flag from composite specifiers before applying modifiers, so inner fields keep their default padding while width and other flags still work. Fixes uutils#11657
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Addressed all feedback: removed the duplicated comment and condition, shortened the is_composite_specifier doc comment to one line. The redundant check on line 238 is gone. |
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Test already added -- |
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* tests/date/date.pl: Add tests ensuring that %-D, %-F, %-T, %-R, %-r, %-x and %-X keep the default padding of their sub-fields, while the other flags and the field width still apply to the whole expansion. uutils/coreutils#14163 Link: #339
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sorry but it needs to be rebased |
sylvestre
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Sep 21, 2026
| spec: parsed.spec, | ||
| len: parsed.len, | ||
| } | ||
| } else { |
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this else branch is almost just a copy of parsed, do we need it?
sylvestre
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| /// Returns true if the specifier is composite (multi-field, e.g. %D = %m/%d/%y). | ||
| fn is_composite_specifier(spec: &str) -> bool { | ||
| // strip leading colons (e.g. ":z" → "z") |
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why strip colons? none of these letters take one
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Summary
Fixes #11657
The problem
GNU
datetreats composite strftime specifiers (%D,%F,%T,%r,%R,%c,%x,%X) as atomic: flags like-apply to the whole expansion, not to inner sub-fields. uutils let the-flag propagate into inner specifiers:The fix
Strip the
-flag from composite specifiers before applying modifiers, so inner fields keep their default padding while width and other flags still work.Verification
%-Dnow correctly outputs06/15/24(matching GNU)