---
name: "dp"
section: "8mh"
platform: "linux"
package: "nmh"
version: "1.8-3"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/dp/8mh"
---

# dp(8mh)

nmh parser of RFC 822-style dates

## NAME

dp - nmh parser of RFC 822-style dates

## SYNOPSIS

**/usr/lib/mh/dp** \[**-help**\] \[**-version**\] \[**-form** *formatfile*\] \[**-format** *string*\] \[**-width** *columns*\] *dates* ...

## DESCRIPTION

**dp** is a program that parses dates according to the ARPA Internet standard. It also understands many non-standard formats, such as those produced by TOPS-20 sites and some Unix sites using [*ctime*(3)](/ctime/3.md). It is useful for seeing how **nmh** will interpret a date.

The **dp** program treats each argument as a single date, and prints the date out in the official RFC 822 format. Hence, it is usually best to enclose each argument in quotes for the shell.

To override the output format used by **dp**, the **-format** *string* or **-format** *file* switches are used. This permits individual fields of the address to be extracted with ease. The string is simply a format string and the file is simply a format file. See [*mh-format*(5)](/mh-format/5.md) for the details.

Here is the default format string used by **dp**:

%\<(nodate{text})error: %{text}%\|%(putstr(pretty{text}))%\>

which says that if an error was detected, print the error, a \`:', and the date in error. Otherwise, output the RFC 822-proper format of the date.

## FILES

- $HOME/.mh\_profile

  The user's profile.

## PROFILE COMPONENTS

None

## SEE ALSO

*fmttest*(1), [*ap*(8)](/ap/8.md)

*Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages* (RFC 822)

## DEFAULTS

- \-format

  As described above.

- \-width

  The width of the terminal.

## CONTEXT

None