[FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH v3 0/3] Add option to log timing

[Soft Works]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Marth64 <marth64 at proxyid.net>
> Sent: Friday, February 7, 2025 5:47 AM
> To: Soft Works <softworkz at hotmail.com>
> Cc: FFmpeg development discussions and patches <ffmpeg-
> devel at ffmpeg.org>; Michael Niedermayer <michael at niedermayer.cc>; Soft
> Works <softworkz-at-hotmail.com at ffmpeg.org>
> Subject: Re: [FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH v3 0/3] Add option to log timing
> 
> > it would probably also be odd when there's a single white space in-
>   between.
>
> Yes, it would look worse on white background. OK as is, then.

Fine. If someone has a specific wish or idea, feel free to comment.

> > Why wouldn't it be machine-parsable without those letters?
>
> It is more about having timezone, etc.
> I actually think it is better for readability as is, but was checking
> if preservation for machine parsing* (phrasing what I meant
> better) was a goal, then it should be compliant. But I don't see much
> value in that.

We actually parse this output in some analysis tool, but only the time.

> The example I was thinking of was if I wanted to look at the logs 2
> years later, it would have time zone in case of DST or whatever.
> But it's a total obscure stretch case IMO. I'm not advocating for it,
> just sharing what I meant with my logic.
> (And if someone really needs it later they can make a +rfc3339 switch
> or whatever)

I don’t find that case "obscure" at all. In fact, the time zone can get really important when correlating information from multiple log files (e.g. ffmpeg + application). 
For this, we are printing the full date with time zone just once at the top of the logs and let ffmpeg print the time only. The date occupies a lot of horizontal screen estate which is inconvenient for manual review and largely redundant anyway. 
The only corner case would be a long-running process where ffmpeg doesn't print a single log line for a whole day - in that case, the time-only output would become ambiguous..

Thanks
sw