yugabyte/yugabyte-db

[DocDB] Print HybridTime in a more human readable format

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#28,719 opened on Sep 26, 2025

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area/docdbgood first issuekind/enhancementkind/improve-uxpriority/medium

Description

Jira Link: DB-18420

Description

Currently, when printing an object of type HybridTime, the string output is in the format: { days: 20356 time: 23:18:03 }

For example: the following error status:

STATUS_FORMAT(
          IllegalState,
          "Trying to restore to $0 which is earlier than the minimum allowed restore time $1.",
          restore_at, ComputeMinRestoreTime(**begin));

Will be printed as follows:

Error running restore_snapshot_schedule: Illegal state (yb/master/master_snapshot_coordinator.cc:810): Trying to restore to { days: 20356 time: 23:18:03 }, which is earlier than the minimum allowed restore time { days: 20357 time: 23:03:12.559151 }

The part days:20357 is confusing to the end user and should be replaced by a more human-readable data format.

Issue Type

kind/improve-ux

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Contributor guide

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
database
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
basic C++understanding of date/time formatting
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
Locate the HybridTime class definition (likely in src/yb/util/hybrid time.h and .cc). Find the method responsible for converting HybridTime to string (e.g., ToString() or operator<<). Modify it to format the output as a human readable date instead of days since epoch. Use standard C++ chrono or Boost date libraries if available. Ensure any existing tests are updated to reflect the new format.