to_timestamp function calculation error

myzhen <zhenmingyang@yeah.net>

From: myzhen <zhenmingyang@yeah.net>
To: pgsql-bugs@postgresql.org
Date: 2024-12-17T11:51:44Z
Lists: pgsql-bugs
When calling the to_timestamp function, if the actual parameter passed is a negative year and you specify BC, this will cause to_timestamp to return an AD date.
example:select to_timestamp('-2011-2-18 15:13:14 BC', 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS BC');
I tested is as follows:
postgres=# select to_timestamp('-2011-2-18 15:13:14', 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS BC');
          to_timestamp           
---------------------------------
 2011-02-18 15:13:14+08:05:43 BC
(1 row)


postgres=# select to_timestamp('-2011-2-18 15:13:14 BC', 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS BC');
      to_timestamp      
------------------------
 2011-02-18 15:13:14+08
(1 row)


postgres=# select to_timestamp('-2011-2-18 15:13:14 BC', 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS BC') = to_timestamp('2011-2-18 15:13:14', 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS');
 ?column? 
----------
 t
(1 row)


postgres=#


I found the following code snippet in do_to_timestamp function:
{
/* If a 4-digit year is provided, we use that and ignore CC. */
tm->tm_year = tmfc.year;
if (tmfc.bc)
tm->tm_year = -tm->tm_year;
/* correct for our representation of BC years */
if (tm->tm_year < 0)
tm->tm_year++;
}
As long as tmfc.bc is true, tm->tm_year = tm->tm_year * -1, that's what led to this scene.
I haven't tested on other DBMS so I'm not sure if that's an issue.
        Best regards