andrew wrote (2021-02-10):

 ac> 10 Feb 21 11:04, you wrote to me:

 Ol>> What happens if xmsg.__ftsc_date is empty? Local messages don't
 Ol>> have an __ftsc_date and it could also be missing for other reasons
 Ol>> (messages converted from another message base format, copied/moved
 Ol>> in a message editor or tossed by a tosser that doesn't copy the
 Ol>> __ftsc_date).

 ac> Good point. But it's easy to test for that condition.

 ac> if (*xmsg.__ftsc_date == '\0')
 ac> {
 ac>      /* __ftsc_date is empty, so use xmsg.date_written */
 ac>      sc_time( ...
 ac> }
 ac> else
 ac> {
 ac>      /* use xmsg.__ftsc_date */
 ac>      strcpy( ...
 ac> }

That seems to work:

$ pktview outbound/23e73b00.pkt | grep 'Date'

Date and time      : 09 Feb 21  13:14:00
Date and time      : 09 Feb 21  06:31:33
Date and time      : 09 Feb 21  05:08:19
Date and time      : 07 Feb 21  18:49:35
Date and time      : 10 Feb 21  03:55:02
Date and time      : 10 Feb 21  14:58:42

Last one is a message with an empty __ftsc_date field.
(I had to use an hex editor, because Golded does write the __ftsc_date for messages created in the editor, even the Squish developer documentation strongly advises against it).

I haven't tested JAM and .MSG message bases.

---