dp Command

Purpose

Parses and reformats dates.

Syntax

dp [ -form File | -format String ] [ -width Number ] Date

Description

The dp command parses and reformats dates. The dp command is not started by the user. The dp command is called by other programs, typically by its full path name, /usr/lib/mh/dp.

The dp command parses each mail header string specified as a date and attempts to reformat the string. The default output format for the dp command is the ARPA RFC 822 standard. For each string it is unable to parse, the dp command displays an error message.

Parameter

Item	Description
Date	Specifies the date to be parsed.

Flags

Item	Description
-form File	Reformats the date specified in the Date parameter to the alternate format described by the File variable.
-format String	Reformats the date specified in the Date parameter to the alternate format specified by the String variable. The default format string follows: `%<(nodate{text})error:%{text}%\|%(putstr(pretty{text}))%>`
-help	Lists the command syntax, available switches (toggles), and version information. Note: For Message Handler (MH), the name of this flag must be fully spelled out.
-width Number	Sets the maximum number of columns the dp command uses to display dates and error messages. The default is the width of the display.

Files

Item	Description
$HOME/.mh_profile	Contains the MH user profile.
/etc/mh/mtstailor	Contains MH command definitions.