[boost] [DateTime] Converting ptime to real POSIX Time

Subject: [boost] [DateTime] Converting ptime to real POSIX Time
From: Artyom (artyomtnk_at_[hidden])
Date: 2010-08-17 04:46:53

Hello,

I want to provide some integration between boost::posix_time::ptime and
boost::locale::date_time - make transparent conversion between two.

I have following point I either miss in ptime design or it has design flaws:

1. POSIX Time (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_time)
   is always considered Time in seconds from 1970-JAN-1 00:00:00 UTC
   not including leap seconds.

   However ptime can be constructed from "local_time" which is totally
   contradicts a well known definition of POSIX time.

2. I can't find any way to convert it to "number" POSIX time. I can convert it
   to time_t and from time_t but if I need a better accuracy -milli-seconds, 
nano-seconds etc.
   it seems to be impossible according to docs.

   How can I convert it to more accurate representation?

   Is there any way to get a notice about how ptime was created, with
   universal time scale or local time scale, also I there a way to
   get UTC POSIX time from ptime even if it was created from local time.

Artyom