[Numpy-discussion] fixing up datetime

[Chris Barker]

On 6/7/11 4:53 PM, Pierre GM wrote:
>  Anyhow, each time yo
> read 'frequency' in scikits.timeseries, think 'unit'.

or maybe "precision" -- when I think if unit, I think of something that 
can be represented as a floating point value -- but here, with integers, 
it's the precision that can be represented. Just a thought.

> Well, it can be argued that the epoch is 0...

yes, but that really should be transparent to the user -- what epoch is 
chosen should influence as little as possible (e.g. only the range of 
values representable)

> Mmh. How would you define a quarter unit ? [3M] ? But then, what if
> you want your year to start in December, say (we often use
> DJF/MAM/JJA/SON as a way to decompose a year in four 'hydrological'
> seasons, for example)

And the federal fiscal year is Oct - Sept, so the first quarter is (Oct, 
Nov, Dec) -- clearly that needs to be flexible.


-Chris




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