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@xander-hirsch
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The --beast-sys-time flag allows a user to specify that Beast output messages should include the system timestamp (in milliseconds since the epoch) instead of an input device-specific timestamp. Providing this flag does not change the timestamp printed with each decoded message such as the example in issue #163.

@mutability
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What's the expected use of this new format?

Have you considered using the Radarcape-style timestamp format (which represents nanoseconds since UTC midnight) rather than introducing a third format?

I think this would need to be controlled by a negotiated option to avoid confusing existing software.

Beast clients can request for the message timestamps to be provided by
the system clock as milliseconds since the epoch. This option is
toggled by 't/T'. This option is client specific and off by default.
@xander-hirsch xander-hirsch reopened this Feb 4, 2023
@xander-hirsch
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I've revised this pull request to incorporate your suggestion of a Beast client negotiated option, enabled by "<esc>1T".

My motivation to provide system timestamps is to enable a much simpler record/replay solution. For example, a user can run $ printf '\x1a\x31\x54' | nc localhost 30005 > capture.bin to record messages for a particular duration and replay them with timing information.

I considered the Radarcape-style timestamp format; however, the date information is needed for the aforementioned use case.

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2 participants