[Rd] ?strptime ambiguity (PR#7907)

[Tobias Verbeke]

>----- Oorspronkelijk bericht -----
>Van: Prof Brian Ripley [mailto:ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk]
>Verzonden: donderdag, juni 2, 2005 08:17 AM
>Aan: tobias.verbeke at telenet.be
>CC: r-devel at stat.math.ethz.ch
>Onderwerp: Re: [Rd] ?strptime ambiguity (PR#7907)
>
>On Mon, 30 May 2005 tobias.verbeke at telenet.be wrote:
>
>> Full_Name: Tobias Verbeke
>> Version: 2.1.0
>> OS: GNU/Linux
>> Submission from: (NULL) (81.247.252.229)
>>
>>
>> Would it be possible to use a non-ambiguous example
>> of expressing a day according to the ISO 8601 international
>> standard in the first sentence of the Note section of
>> ?strptime, e.g. "2001-04-18" instead of "2001-02-03" ?
>
>What is ambiguous about that (deliberate) example?  The ISO 8601 standard 
>is an international standard, and the meaning of "2001-02-03" is defined 
>there.  There is even a reference to the standard on the help page, and 
>the `default formats' are specified under `Arguments'.
>
>The point was that people should not guess at the meaning, but follow up 
>the pointers given.

If that was the purpose, it worked. 

"This art does not so easily get anything done, it teaches to read 
well, that is to say, to read slowly, deeply, looking cautiously 
before and aft, with reservations, with doors left open, with delicate 
eyes and fingers..." 
        (F. Nietzsche, Preface to Daybreak).

Thanks,
Tobias

>-- 
>Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk
>Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
>University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
>1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272866 (PA)
>Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595
>
>