java.util.Timer not handling negative System.currentTimeMillis()

Fri Nov 25 16:24:00 GMT 2005

> > > > I just encountered a funny (initially strange) problem arising because 
> > > > my embedded RT-Clock was set to the year 1909.
> > > > Hence System.currentTimeMillis() returns a negative number, and this is 
> > > > used internally in java.util.Timer#schedule(), and throws an unchecked 
> > > > exception - aarghh...
> > > > 
> > > > I know this is an obscure problem, but is there is requirement that we 
> > > > are only "allowed" to run gcj on targets with clocks > 1970.
> > > > One could change the Timer code to handle this situation, or just ignore it.
> > > > 
> > > > For now I will just make sure the time is not less than 1970 and larger 
> > > > than some other limit overflowing the long.
> > > > 
> > > > The problem arises because my target's RTC comes with an undefinded 
> > > > initial time - hence anything is possible :-)
> > > 
> > > This is a tricky one, because even if we fix gcj to allow this I
> > > suspect some user code will be confused. It is perhaps not
> > > unreasonable for a programmer to assume that the "current time" during
> > > a program's execution will not predate her birth!
> > > 
> > > You need to make sure that your RTC is initialized to some sane value.
> >
> > Now, that's the hole key issue: "Sane" is not necessarily 1970+ for one 
> > that doesn't bother about the absolute time, but just wants to do 
> > something in relative time...
>> "Sane" in this context just means > 1970. If you want to work in
> relative time, start at 1970.
Baah! :-)
I'll go with Mark's suggestion! I just need a way to set the date back 
again to pre-1970 - my "date" command does not allow it...
// Martin