JavaScript Date functions in Safari

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Level 1

9 points

JavaScript Date functions in Safari

My JavaScript program runs fine in several browsers but not Safari. The following JavaScript code snippet demonstrates the problem:

var seconds=2264773322794;
day = new Date();
day.setTime(seconds);
alert(day);

Most browsers show this as October 7, 2041, but Safari shows this as January 18, 2038, which is obviously wrong. I'm really stuck doing anything with Safari if it can't handle this.

Posted on Oct 14, 2005 1:44 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 13, 2005 7:25 PM in response to Mark Hardy

That means.. Your time will be up on 19th Jan 2038 if u continue to use the same OS . 🙂

Its a bug of all 32 bit OS.

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Answer 2

Mark Hardy Author

Level 1

9 points

Dec 19, 2005 8:12 AM in response to Amit Chaturvedi

Yes, the "Year 2038 Bug" is nicely documented at http://www.2038bug.com/ . It's odd, though, that most implementations of JavaScript on most platforms are not affected by the 2038 bug; Safari on the Mac is the only browser/platform combination that I have found that displays the problem. It is also noteworth that the bug affects the 32-bit UTC scheme, which measures time in seconds. However, by convention, JavaScript measures time in milliseconds. Apparently, Safari stores time values in UTC seconds with a separate field for one-thousandths of a second. Other browsers must use some other scheme, as they are able to project far beyond the year 2038 without running into a brick wall.

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