Issue 1726687: Bug found in datetime for Epoch time = -1 (original) (raw)

Created on 2007-05-28 02:27 by blais, last changed 2022-04-11 14:56 by admin. This issue is now closed.

Files
File name Uploaded Description Edit
timebug.py blais,2007-05-28 02:28 reproduce the bug
timebug.c blais,2007-05-28 02:29 chech mktime()'s behaviour
timebug.patch blais,2007-05-28 02:30 the patch that pretends to fix this nasty buggerdibug bug!
mktime_fix_and_tests.patch vstinner,2008-11-11 04:06
fix_mktime-2.patch vstinner,2009-03-20 01:02
Messages (20)
msg52686 - (view) Author: Martin Blais (blais) * (Python committer) Date: 2007-05-28 02:27
There is a bug in datetime.fromtimestamp(), whereby if it is called with -1, it fails with "mktime argument out of range" when it should not (see attached test program to reproduce the problem). The bug is that the way that mktime() signals an error code is subtle and error-prone: you need to set a sentinel in the tm's wday or yday and not only check the return value of mktime, but also check if those values have been modified; it figures: -1 is a valid value in the return domain of mktime() and is not a sufficient condition for signaling an error. Here is the relevant excerpt from the Linux man page: The mktime() function converts a broken-down time structure, expressed as local time, to calendar time representation. The function ignores the specified contents of the structure members tm_wday and tm_yday and recomputes them from the other information in the broken-down time structure. If structure members are outside their legal interval, they will be normalized (so that, e.g., 40 October is changed into 9 Novem- ber). Calling mktime() also sets the external variable tzname with information about the current time zone. If the specified broken-down time cannot be represented as calendar time (seconds since the epoch), mktime() returns a value of (time_t)(-1) and does not alter the tm_wday and tm_yday members of the broken-down time structure. This was found under Linux, I do not know if this bug also occurs on Windows or the Mac. I attached a couple of files: - timebug.py: reproduce the bug - timebug.c: tests that mktime()'s behaviour is as wicked as expected - timebug.patch: the fix to the datetime module. P.S. I hit this bug in a graphics application while zooming in/out of a viewer rendering time-based data. Sheer luck.
msg52687 - (view) Author: Martin Blais (blais) * (Python committer) Date: 2007-05-28 02:28
File Added: timebug.py
msg52688 - (view) Author: Martin Blais (blais) * (Python committer) Date: 2007-05-28 02:29
File Added: timebug.c
msg52689 - (view) Author: Martin Blais (blais) * (Python committer) Date: 2007-05-28 02:30
File Added: timebug.patch
msg52690 - (view) Author: Martin Blais (blais) * (Python committer) Date: 2007-05-28 02:38
(Additional note: this bug was found and fixed with Peter Wang from Enthought.)
msg52691 - (view) Author: Martin v. Löwis (loewis) * (Python committer) Date: 2007-05-29 05:09
Reclassifying as a patch.
msg75728 - (view) Author: STINNER Victor (vstinner) * (Python committer) Date: 2008-11-11 04:06
The patch is correct. I tried to use errno, but errno is unchanged on error. Here is a new patch with regression tests.
msg75901 - (view) Author: STINNER Victor (vstinner) * (Python committer) Date: 2008-11-15 00:43
Can anyone review the last patch?
msg75918 - (view) Author: Amaury Forgeot d'Arc (amaury.forgeotdarc) * (Python committer) Date: 2008-11-15 22:33
on Windows (with Visual Studio), mktime() also sets tm_wday only if successful. But negative time_t are still not allowed by the Microsoft CRT, the tests fail. There are workaround to this - for example python could use techniques similar to http://robertinventor.com/software/t64/ OTOH, the docs of the time module explicitly says that dates before the Epoch are not handled. Do you want to change this? in other words: is this a bug or a feature request? http://docs.python.org/library/time.html
msg80797 - (view) Author: STINNER Victor (vstinner) * (Python committer) Date: 2009-01-29 23:48
> But negative time_t are still not allowed by the Microsoft CRT, > the tests fail. > (...) > is this a bug or a feature request? Linux mktime() supports any timestamp from 1901..2038. Should we limit the timestamp to 1970 just because of Microsoft? Test tm_wday fixes a bug on Linux and doesn't change the behaviour on Windows. So the problem is just the unit test: the test should be different on Windows (make sure that -1 raises an error).
msg80799 - (view) Author: STINNER Victor (vstinner) * (Python committer) Date: 2009-01-30 00:05
My test included in mktime_fix_and_tests.patch has a problem: the timezone is constant and it's mine (GMT+1). I don't know how to write a generic test working on any time zone. I can't use datetime.fromtimestamp() because datetime.fromtimestamp() uses time.mktime() :-)
msg83838 - (view) Author: STINNER Victor (vstinner) * (Python committer) Date: 2009-03-20 01:02
New version of my fix: - the test doesn't depend on _my_ local anymore: it uses localtime() to get the time tuple in the host local - ignore the test if mktime(-2) raise an OverflowError: avoid the test on Windows Is it now ok for everyone?
msg83863 - (view) Author: Amaury Forgeot d'Arc (amaury.forgeotdarc) * (Python committer) Date: 2009-03-20 14:38
Is the "break" intended in the test function? it seems that this will skip the whole test. Isn't "continue" better?
msg83864 - (view) Author: STINNER Victor (vstinner) * (Python committer) Date: 2009-03-20 15:20
@Amaury: You wrote: << But negative time_t are still not allowed by the Microsoft CRT, the tests fail.>> So I choosed to skip mktime(-1) test if mktime(-2) fails. I don't have Windows to test my patch nor current behaviour.
msg99528 - (view) Author: Alexander Belopolsky (Alexander.Belopolsky) Date: 2010-02-18 21:22
Victor, With , you included a variant of this patch where you use -1 as a sentinel value for tm_wday. I think this is a better choice. (The answer to the ultimate question of life is not universally known.:-) On a more serious note, is checking for the -1 return value necessary? I would think a check for changed tm_wday would be enough. Finally, a coding style nitpick: don't use superfluous parenthesis in logical expressions.
msg99540 - (view) Author: Alexander Belopolsky (Alexander.Belopolsky) Date: 2010-02-18 22:28
I wonder: with year bounds being checked in gettmarg() and mktime accepting arbitrary values for the rest of the tm structure members (at least it appears to on my Mac), is it possible trigger "mktime argument out of range"? If it is possible, then a unit test should be added for such case. Note that the patch contains a typo that assures that overflow is never reported, but the unit test presented here does not catch that bug: """ + buf.tm_wday = -1; tt = mktime(&buf); - if (tt == (time_t)(-1)) { + if (tt == (time_t)(-1) && buf.tm_wday == 1) { PyErr_SetString(PyExc_OverflowError, "mktime argument out of range"); """ (Note missing '-' in buf.tm_wday == 1 check. See .)
msg108045 - (view) Author: Alexander Belopolsky (belopolsky) * (Python committer) Date: 2010-06-17 18:47
Is this important enough to try to get in 2.7 before rc2? Victor?
msg108054 - (view) Author: STINNER Victor (vstinner) * (Python committer) Date: 2010-06-17 19:44
> Is this important enough to try to get in 2.7 before rc2? I prefer to not include this patch in 2.7. I don't think that many people have this problem and it can be fixed later. It's too late for 2.7. Should it be fixed in 2.7.1 or only in 3.2 (and maybe in 3.1)?
msg125976 - (view) Author: Alexander Belopolsky (belopolsky) * (Python committer) Date: 2011-01-11 01:24
Committed in revision 87919. If bots are happy about the unit test, this should be backported to 3.1 and 2.7.
msg128689 - (view) Author: Alexander Belopolsky (belopolsky) * (Python committer) Date: 2011-02-16 18:57
Backported in r88425 (3.1) and r88427 (2.7).
History
Date User Action Args
2022-04-11 14:56:24 admin set github: 45007
2011-02-16 18:57:10 belopolsky set status: open -> closednosy:loewis, amaury.forgeotdarc, blais, belopolsky, vstinnermessages: +
2011-01-11 01:24:46 belopolsky set nosy:loewis, amaury.forgeotdarc, blais, belopolsky, vstinnermessages: + resolution: fixedstage: test needed -> resolved
2010-06-17 19:47:26 belopolsky set priority: normal -> lowstage: patch review -> test neededversions: + Python 3.1, - Python 2.7
2010-06-17 19:44:16 vstinner set messages: +
2010-06-17 18:47:16 belopolsky set versions: + Python 3.2, - Python 2.5, Python 3.1nosy:loewis, amaury.forgeotdarc, blais, belopolsky, vstinnermessages: + components: + Extension Modules, - Nonetype: behavior
2010-06-06 01:40:18 belopolsky set assignee: belopolskynosy: + belopolsky, - Alexander.Belopolsky
2010-02-18 22:28:55 Alexander.Belopolsky set messages: +
2010-02-18 21:22:08 Alexander.Belopolsky set nosy: + Alexander.Belopolskymessages: +
2009-03-20 15:20:31 vstinner set messages: +
2009-03-20 14:38:22 amaury.forgeotdarc set messages: +
2009-03-20 01:02:24 vstinner set files: + fix_mktime-2.patchmessages: +
2009-01-30 00:05:28 vstinner set messages: +
2009-01-29 23:48:38 vstinner set messages: +
2008-11-15 22:33:47 amaury.forgeotdarc set nosy: + amaury.forgeotdarcmessages: +
2008-11-15 00:43:55 vstinner set keywords: + needs reviewmessages: + stage: patch review
2008-11-11 04:07:00 vstinner set files: + mktime_fix_and_tests.patchnosy: + vstinnermessages: + versions: + Python 3.1, Python 2.7
2007-05-28 02:27:51 blais create