diff --git a/Doc/library/zipfile.rst b/Doc/library/zipfile.rst index a1261ec471c92e..f6ec33640b60d2 100644 --- a/Doc/library/zipfile.rst +++ b/Doc/library/zipfile.rst @@ -830,7 +830,10 @@ Instances have the following methods and attributes: .. attribute:: ZipInfo.date_time The time and date of the last modification to the archive member. This is a - tuple of six values: + tuple of six values representing the "last [modified] file time" and "last [modified] file date" + fields from the ZIP file's central directory. + + The tuple contains: +-------+--------------------------+ | Index | Value | @@ -850,7 +853,15 @@ Instances have the following methods and attributes: .. note:: - The ZIP file format does not support timestamps before 1980. + The ZIP format supports multiple timestamp fields in different locations + (central directory, extra fields for NTFS/UNIX systems, etc.). This attribute + specifically returns the timestamp from the central directory. The central + directory timestamp format in ZIP files does not support timestamps before + 1980. While some extra field formats (such as UNIX timestamps) can represent + earlier dates, this attribute only returns the central directory timestamp. + + The central directory timestamp is interpreted as representing local + time, rather than UTC time, to match the behavior of other zip tools. .. attribute:: ZipInfo.compress_type