date: width prefix in %N format specifier ignored if it is a negative number.
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U - date
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Description
uu coreutils' date's width prefix in %N format specifier is ignored if its a negative number. What GNU coreutils does is that when the width prefix in %N is a negative number, it returns an output identical to what the abstract value of the width prefix is.
Maybe we can change width to be an isize and effective_width to be equal to width's abstract value if width < 0?
How to reproduce
$ cargo run date +%-2N
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.12s
Running `target/debug/coreutils date '+%-2N'`
807837678
GNU coreutils' output
$ date +%-2N
36
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First steps
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Research direction
Start with the date command and reproduce the issue using cargo run date +%-2N, then compare its output with GNU date +%-2N. Trace the %N width handling and verify that negative widths produce the same output as their absolute value; done means the reproduction matches GNU behavior.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- rust
- Domain
- cli
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 65/100