Mark Crispin writes:
On Wed, 4 Jun 2003, Arnt Gulbrandsen wrote:
date-time is used a few times in the grammar, but in SEARCH date is
used, e.g. SINCE date, not SINCE date-time. Is there any particular
reason for that?
Yes. When IMAP was first defined, times and timezones were much less
reliable than they are today.
Also, do you really want to search for a message on the exact second?
That's what a date-time search would be. I suspect that what you want
is a fuzzier search at about a particular time.
No - I was just curious. I'd have liked to have date-time, but merely
since I would then generate fewer different grammar elements. No big
deal.
But in the case of the sent-on date/time, do you use the sender's
timezone, the timezone of the sender's mail injection point, or your
own timezone (all three of which can be different!)?
For me, date has all the same problems. *shrug* Implementations differ.
Once you think about it, you realize that it's much more complicated
than it seems at first glance. IMAP punts on all of this; a date-only
SEARCH gives you a 24 hour fuzz (a 48-hour fuzz using a combination
of SINCE and BEFORE may be safer than ON) and then the client can
zoom in depending upon the client's design.
Makes sense. Thanks.
--Arnt
