git format-patch from date never set

git format-patch always sets the date in the From: line to the git
default date, e.g.

    From b9ff0ba6f3e228e1a8b67a25bc7be6b1da5ed1f3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001

The command uses GIT_COMMITTER_DATE as the date, but this env variable
is never set in cmd_format_patch(). Is this a bug or 'feature'?

--
Dan

On Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 23:39, Dan Savilonis[off-list ref] wrote:

git format-patch always sets the date in the From: line to the git
default date, e.g.

   From b9ff0ba6f3e228e1a8b67a25bc7be6b1da5ed1f3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001

The command uses GIT_COMMITTER_DATE as the date, but this env variable
is never set in cmd_format_patch(). Is this a bug or 'feature'?

Neither. This is not a date, but a part of "loosely defined" mbox format.

On Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 6:31 PM, Alex Riesen[off-list ref] wrote:

Neither. This is not a date, but a part of "loosely defined" mbox format.

In the examples of mbox format I have found, the date in the From:
line is generally the same as in the Date: line, albeit in a more
ambiguous format. Further, the the git code treats it as a date and
attempts to set it. It remains at the default date only because
git_committer_info() is called without GIT_COMMITTER_DATE set.

So is the code misleading? Was it designed to just meet the minimal
requirement of having a date-like string to comform to the mbox
format? What's the disadvantage to using the real commit date?

--
Dan