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Specification of Combination Time?

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The Question is:

 
Combination Time Format (DCL),
 
F$cvtime("1-") yields the first day of this month.
 
F$cvtime("-45-") yields 45 days ago
 
Why can't I combine these time formats?
 
write sys$output F$CVTIME("1- -45-")
%DCL-W-IVATIME, invalid absolute time - use DD-MMM-YYYY:HH:MM:SS.CC format
 \1- -45-\

The Answer is :

 
 
  What you have specified is an invalid Absolute Time format (as the error
  message indicates), and both the Absolute Time and the Delta Time that
  are the required components of the Combination Time must be individually
  correct.  In other words, use the following:
 
    $ wayback = f$cvtime("1--:::.-45-","absolute")
 
  (or, minimally):
 
    $ wayback = f$cvtime("1---45-")
 
  The following is NOT a valid Absolute Time:
 
    $ wayback = f$cvtime("1--45-")
 
  Syntactically, both hyphens from the absolute time are required to remove
  the ambiguity of the hyphen at the start of the delta time.
 

  
     
     answer written or last revised on ( 3-SEP-2000 )
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