- tz - lists.iana.org

ZoneInfo.java
by Stuart D. Gathman Feb. 14, 2001

Feb. 14, 2001

You might wish to link to http://www.bmsi.com/java/#TZ It is a Java language reader for tz format zoneinfo files. -- Stuart D. Gathman <stuart(a)bmsi.com> Business Management Systems Inc. Phone: 703 591-0911 Fax: 703 591-6154 "Confutatis maledictis, flamis acribus addictis" - Mozart background song for the Microsoft "Where do you want to go from here?" commercial.

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Feb. 14, 2001

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Re: etcetera patch
by Paul Eggert Feb. 14, 2001

Feb. 14, 2001

> Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2001 18:20:39 -0800 (PST) > From: Robbin Kawabata <Robbin.Kawabata(a)eng.sun.com> > > I think etcetera is OK.... On second thought you're probably right. This stuff is so obsolete now, changing it would probably add to confusion rather than subtracting it. > Note the comments in the file itself: > > # We use POSIX-style signedness in the names and output, > # internal-style signedness in the specifications. > # For example, TZ=Etc/GMT+4 corresponds to 4 hours _behind_ UTC; > # it is equivalent to TZ=GMT+4, which is implemented directly as per POSIX. Those comments are not quite right either, and they added to my confusion. TZ=Etc/GMT+4 is not exactly equivalent to TZ=GMT+4, because they result in different abbreviations. How about if we change the above comments to be something like this instead? # We use POSIX-style signedness in the names and output, # internal-style signedness in the specifications. # For example, TZ=Etc/GMT+4 corresponds to 4 hours _behind_ UTC; # it is equivalent to TZ=GMT+4, except that it uses the abbreviation "GMT+4" # whereas TZ=GMT+4 uses the misleading abbreviation "GMT". # TZ=Etc/GMT+4 is equivalent to the TZ='<GMT+4>+4' of Draft 5 of the next # version of POSIX, but the angle-bracket notation is not yet # supported by the tz code. With the Draft 5 notation, people who # prefer the traditional time zone sign can use TZ='<GMT-4>+4'.

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Fw: What is a time zone?
by Thomas Carey Feb. 14, 2001

Feb. 14, 2001

great analysis, david. thanks. I think you hit the nail on the head about differences in approach to the problem. Of course in practical terms a simple model has some strengths in terms of user interface. Put another way - most calendaring applications dealing with timezones are concerned with coordinating events now and in the future - and assume further more that it is possible to present an interface which allows users to distinguish between timezones in different locales regardless of whether they might share a common abbreviation in popular usage. Then it is 'just' a matter of completeness to instantiate every timezone in use now, and to keep that current moving forward, while preserving the historical data. Then, given a localtime and a "timezone" (abstracted as a set of rules for computing offset from UTC) we can coordinate events around the globe. In fact it seems like that approach would work for historical events as well - as long as you could identify the timezone. Which is I guess the point you are making - it is much easier to go from locale to "timezone" than vice-versa, even in the present, and even if "timezone" is well defined for the user. Also I can see that you can better support a COMPLETE database with a locale based interface - the interface for exposing *every* enumerated timezone thoughout history would be overwhelming and unappreciated. tc ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Keegel" <djk(a)cyber.com.au> I think common usage outside this group is that a time zone has variable boundaries, and is something like the set of places which *currently* observe the same time (although perhaps US EST and CDT might be considered different time zones). In this model, counties in Kentucky change time zone, rather than creating a new time zone, when they switch. So translating this mindset to the computer world, if you are in Wayne County you would manually change your $TZ from US/Central to US/Eastern on 2000-10-29. Of course, this simplistic model has a fairly obvious problem. You can't compute times across a discontinuity like that in any sensible way, which is why this group has a different concept of what a time zone is - that it has a history attached and does not have variable boundaries (in theory). Might it reduce this confusion if the TZ group used something like "time zone history" or "time zone ruleset" instead of just "time zone", to distinguish it from the epheremal idea of "time zone" in popular usage? __________________________________________________________________________ David Keegel <djk(a)cyber.com.au> URL: http://www.cyber.com.au/users/djk/ Cybersource P/L: Unix Systems Administration and TCP/IP network management

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RE: What is a time zone?
by Syed Sajjath Feb. 13, 2001

Feb. 13, 2001

You are correct, we do offer two timezones EST(no daylight Savings) and EST(with daylight Saving) in Australia for the user to select. Sometimes, users schecule conference in another timezone, and we cannot always depend on the users to know the current time at that location . For example, a user flying to the United states may request a conference to be scheduled in US Central Time (while he is still in Australia), and has no knowledge of what the local time in US Central time(he will eventually when he lands there), or is Daylight Savings in effect or not. All he will say is, I request a conference call on Feb, 21, 2001 at 10:00 am in US Central time. There is a problem when within a country, there are differrent interpretations of the timezone abbreviations (these are very few, I think Australia is the only place). In the tz list, there are representatives from many countries, and people knowledgeble of local traditions. Their inputs would be very valuable in setting up a list of timezone abbreviations and names, known and used locally. Please forgive me if my arguments are not coherent / clear. But I hope you get the gist of my request. I am sure it would be valuable to lot of tzdata users. For now, I would like to know how many are interested. If the tz list does not want to be filled with responses, you can just reply to me and I will summarize it for the list. So far, I have got response from Thomas Carey, who is also interested in such a file. Regards, -Syed -----Original Message----- From: Eric Ulevik [mailto:eau@ozemail.com.au] Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 4:03 PM To: Syed.Sajjath(a)wcom.com; 'Gwillim Law'; tz(a)elsie.nci.nih.gov Subject: Re: What is a time zone? > if an Australian user asks for 10:00 am EST, we know it is australian time, > not US. Whether it is Standart or Summer we calculate based on the > scheduled time(our assumption is user just wants the conference at that > local time). Of course, this isn't enough. Right now, in Sydney EST means Eastern Summer Time and in Brisbane EST means Eastern Standard Time. A simple solution to scheduling in the near future would be to determine the current difference between UTC and the user's local time. The comprehensive solution requires the user to specify their location. Regards, Eric Ulevik

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UK/Concession Time
by Paul L. Allen Feb. 13, 2001

Feb. 13, 2001

Just grabbed the tz stuff for the first time in a year or two. My understanding of Clive Feather's post, which I no longer have a copy of, is that Cheriton Terminal runs on Concession Time (Concession comes from the "Channel Tunnel Concession") - the station clocks are set to Concesion Time. Concession time is formally defined to be the same as French Civil Time and uses the distinctive :) abbreviations of CT in the winter and CT in the summer. I am not sure about the police issue. There are special Rail Transport Police but I believe it's rare for them to be permanently located at a station. The normal police may also be called in to deal with matters. I'd expect the normal police would go by GMT/BST since they're trained to check their watches. I'd expect an RTP who had to travel to the terminal to deal with an incident to use GMT/BST for the same reason. If there are RTPs permanently stationed at the terminal, it could be that they'd set their watches to CT but it's anybody's guess how they'd record times. Anyway, it is a fact that the terminal operates on Concession Time. As such, if they have any Unix boxes there it's likely that they will be configured to run on Concession Time by pretending they're in the Europe/France timezone. We don't need a Europe/Concession zone but I think it's a nice touch to have one. At the very least, knowing about Concession Time is useful for astounding people in pubs. :) -- Paul

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IERS Message No. 4
by central_bureau＠iers.org Feb. 12, 2001

Feb. 12, 2001

*************************************************************************** IERS Message No. 4 February 12, 2001 *************************************************************************** ----------------------- IERS EOP-PC and ICRS-PC ----------------------- Paris, 9 February 2001 Subject : Submissions for the 2000 IERS Annual Report Dear colleagues: You are invited to submit Earth orientation and reference frame results for annual analyses of the Earth Orientation Centre (EOP-PC) and of the ICRS Centre (ICRS-PC) for publication in the 2000 IERS Annual Report. ICRS-PC: CELESTIAL SYSTEMS AND FRAMES ===================================== The VLBI catalogues provided by the Analysis Centers will be analyzed and validated. New information will be used to check the ICRF-Ext.1, the current conventional celestial reference frame. Individual solutions will be used to study the effect of models, geometry, etc. We would appreciate that a special effort be made concerning the modeling and the adoption of the IERS Conventions. EOP-PC: EARTH ORIENTATION ========================= The EOP submission is unchanged with regard to last year submission. Analysis centers are invited to make their solutions using either the ITRF reference frame or deriving their own terrestrial frame that should be sent to the ITRF Bureau for consistency analyses. Specifications for the terrestrial frames submissions are provided by the ITRF Section: http://lareg.ensg.ign.fr/ITRF/ITRF-submit.html Long time series (over at least five years) tied to well described reference frames are extremely useful for the monitoring of the tie of IERS EOP and reference frames. Warning!!! ---------- A new EOP format was developed at the EOP-PC for homogeneity between the different techniques contributions. Please adopt this new format. DOCUMENTATION ============= To help you to prepare and send your contributions, various files are available at the anonymous ftp : hpiers.obspm.fr login : anonymous password : your e-mail address directory : iers/annreport/Call_2000AR guidelines : general description of the submission files techni_des : technical description of solutions format_rsc : format for submitting sets of radiosource coordinates format_eop : formats for submission of eop series You can also get the information on our Website: http://hpiers.obspm.fr/eop-pc/ HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR SOLUTIONS, THE SUMMARY AND THE DESCRIPTION FILES =================================================================== Send your files to iers(a)obspm.fr In case of large files put them on the following anonymous ftp (with acknowledgement to iers(a)obspm.fr) ftp hpiers.obspm.fr cd pub/annreport See the guidelines file for files name description. Your contribution is highly appreciated. Thank you for your cooperation. _________________________________________________________________________ | | | Send all files by 31 March 2001 | |_______________________________________________________________________| ***************************************************************************

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Time in Falkland Islands and Moldova
by Jesper Nørgaard Feb. 12, 2001

Feb. 12, 2001

Hi. I have investigated time in Falkland Islands and Moldova, and have found discrepancies with the current tz database. Falkland Islands is represented like this in the tz database (2000h): # Falklands # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule Falk 1937 1938 - Sep lastSun 0:00 1:00 S Rule Falk 1938 1942 - Mar Sun>=19 0:00 0 - Rule Falk 1939 only - Oct 1 0:00 1:00 S Rule Falk 1940 1942 - Sep lastSun 0:00 1:00 S Rule Falk 1943 only - Jan 1 0:00 0 - Rule Falk 1983 only - Sep lastSun 0:00 1:00 S Rule Falk 1984 1985 - Apr lastSun 0:00 0 - Rule Falk 1984 only - Sep 16 0:00 1:00 S Rule Falk 1985 1995 - Sep Sun>=9 0:00 1:00 S Rule Falk 1986 max - Apr Sun>=16 0:00 0 - Rule Falk 1996 max - Sep Sun>=8 0:00 1:00 S # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone Atlantic/Stanley -3:51:24 - LMT 1890 -3:51:24 - SMT 1912 Mar 12 # Stanley Mean Time -4:00 Falk FK%sT 1983 May # Falkland Is Time -3:00 Falk FK%sT 1985 Sep 15 -4:00 Falk FK%sT The rules "Sun>=9" that was later substituted with "Sun>=8", and "Sun>=16", arose my curiosity. The rule "Sun>=9" means the Sunday after the Second Saturday which is pretty awkward to say the least (but possible), and not supported by Windows (which support First, Second, Third, Fourth and Last weekday of a given month). It was replaced in 1996 with the rule "Sun>=8" which means the Second Sunday which *is* supported by Windows. It just so happens that 1996 was the first year in several years back where it would make a difference which rule to use. With the first rule we would get the 15.th. September, while the second rule we would get the 8.th. September. Similarly looking at the rule "Sun>=16" it means the Sunday after the third Saturday, which is an awkward rule and not supported by Windows. I got the suspicion that it should have been "Sun>=15" instead, which means the third Sunday. It just happens that this gives a difference this year, because using the first rule sets the date to Sunday April 22, while the second rule gives Sunday April 15. I decided to investigate the matter. I found a page in Internet that is apparently the official Falkland Island governments web page, http://www.falklands.gov.fk/ In the page http://www.falklands.gov.fk/feedback.htm I entered my question about the planned DST for Falkland Islands this year. The account manager(a)figo.u-net.com responded me with the following: ===================== Begin Quote ========================== From: General Manager[SMTP:manager@figo.u-net.com] Sent: Lunes 22 de Enero de 2001 7:10 To: 'jnorgard(a)Prodigy.Net.mx' Subject: Time Zone INformation Thank you for contacting Falkland Islands Government. To help you with your enquiry, we can confirm the clocks revert back to Local Mean Time at 2 am on Sunday 15 April 2001and advance one hour to summer time at 2 am on Sunday 2 September. It is anticipated that the clocks will revert back at 2 am on Sunday 21 April 2002 and advance to summer time at 2 am on Sunday 1 September. I hope this helps you. Do contact us again if we can be of further assistance. Regards Falkland Islands Government Office, London ===================== End Quote ========================== This valuable peace of information gives us at least three details that doesn't correspond with the tz database: (1) Start and end time are 2 am in the morning (I assume local time) (2) My theory about "Sun>=15" instead of "Sun>=16" is apparently correct (3) The rule "Sun>=8" should actually be "Sun>=1" instead. I have sent a question about how far back this rule has been used (which will apparently be used in the years 2001 and 2002) but haven't received any answer yet. I will return to you with that information if I get an answer. Concerning Moldova: A person contacted me to inquire about if the extra time zone GMT+3 in Moldova for Tiraspol really was correct, since I was the only one he had seen using that. Any other sources he had seen was only using Chisinau GMT+2. The current information about Moldova in the tz database (2000h): # Moldova # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone Europe/Chisinau 1:55:20 - LMT 1880 1:55 - CMT 1918 Feb 15 # Chisinau MT 1:44:24 - BMT 1931 Jul 24 # Bucharest MT 2:00 Romania EE%sT 1940 Aug 15 2:00 1:00 EEST 1941 Jul 17 1:00 C-Eur CE%sT 1944 Aug 24 3:00 Russia MSK/MSD 1990 3:00 - MSK 1990 May 6 2:00 - EET 1991 2:00 Russia EE%sT 1992 2:00 E-Eur EE%sT 1997 # See Romania commentary for the guessed 1997 transition to EU rules. 2:00 EU EE%sT Zone Europe/Tiraspol 1:58:32 - LMT 1880 1:55 - CMT 1918 Feb 15 # Chisinau MT 1:44:24 - BMT 1931 Jul 24 # Bucharest MT 2:00 Romania EE%sT 1940 Aug 15 2:00 1:00 EEST 1941 Jul 17 1:00 C-Eur CE%sT 1944 Aug 24 3:00 Russia MSK/MSD 1991 Mar 31 2:00 2:00 Russia EE%sT 1992 Jan 19 2:00 3:00 Russia MSK/MSD I decided to check it out with some searches in Internet, but didn't find anything remotely authoritative, but did find some english-speaking persons with e-mail that were apparently living in Tiraspol. I sent mails to 4 persons and got 2 replies: ===================== Begin Quote ========================== From: Moldavizolit[SMTP:moldavizolit@tirastel.md] Reply To: Moldavizolit Sent: Miércoles 24 de Enero de 2001 1:03 To: Jesper Nørgaard Subject: Re: Time in Tiraspol > Hello Jesper Nørgaard ! > >Tiraspol is on the same time as Chisinau (Kishinev, GMT+2) > Regards, > > Lubov ===================== End Quote ========================== ... and this one ===================== Begin Quote ========================== From: ??? ???????????[SMTP:mk@tirastel.md] Sent: Miércoles 24 de Enero de 2001 4:28 To: Jesper Nørgaard Subject: Re: Time in Tiraspol Hello, Yes, time in Tiraspol is on the same time as Chisinau (Kishinev, GMT+2) best ragards Dmitry Goncharenco ----- Original Message ----- From: Jesper Nørgaard To: 'mk(a)mk.tiraspol.net' Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 5:13 AM Subject: Time in Tiraspol ===================== End

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California considering daylight-saving time extension
by Eric Ulevik Feb. 10, 2001

Feb. 10, 2001

http://www.dailynews.com/news/articles/0201/10/new02.asp

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FW: etcetera patch
by Olson, Arthur David (NCI) Feb. 9, 2001

Feb. 9, 2001

Semen A. Ustimenko is not on the time zone mailing list; direct replies appropriately. --ado -----Original Message----- From: Semen A. Ustimenko [mailto:semenu@online.sinor.ru] Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2001 3:30 PM To: tz(a)elsie.nci.nih.gov Subject: etcetera patch Hi! I've discovered that definition for GMT+N anf GMT-N are just wrong. I.e. setting zone to GMT+6 you really get -6 hours offset from GMT. And this is quite correct as is defined in etcetera file! So, suppose follwoing patch worth commiting. Index: src/share/zoneinfo/etcetera =================================================================== RCS file: /usr/home/ncvs/src/share/zoneinfo/etcetera,v retrieving revision 1.1.2.4 diff -c -r1.1.2.4 etcetera *** src/share/zoneinfo/etcetera 1999/01/21 21:35:07 1.1.2.4 --- src/share/zoneinfo/etcetera 2000/12/04 15:14:56 *************** *** 37,65 **** # zic -l GMT-12 # so we moved the names into the Etc subdirectory. ! Zone Etc/GMT-14 14 - GMT-14 # 14 hours ahead of GMT ! Zone Etc/GMT-13 13 - GMT-13 ! Zone Etc/GMT-12 12 - GMT-12 ! Zone Etc/GMT-11 11 - GMT-11 ! Zone Etc/GMT-10 10 - GMT-10 ! Zone Etc/GMT-9 9 - GMT-9 ! Zone Etc/GMT-8 8 - GMT-8 ! Zone Etc/GMT-7 7 - GMT-7 ! Zone Etc/GMT-6 6 - GMT-6 ! Zone Etc/GMT-5 5 - GMT-5 ! Zone Etc/GMT-4 4 - GMT-4 ! Zone Etc/GMT-3 3 - GMT-3 ! Zone Etc/GMT-2 2 - GMT-2 ! Zone Etc/GMT-1 1 - GMT-1 ! Zone Etc/GMT+1 -1 - GMT+1 ! Zone Etc/GMT+2 -2 - GMT+2 ! Zone Etc/GMT+3 -3 - GMT+3 ! Zone Etc/GMT+4 -4 - GMT+4 ! Zone Etc/GMT+5 -5 - GMT+5 ! Zone Etc/GMT+6 -6 - GMT+6 ! Zone Etc/GMT+7 -7 - GMT+7 ! Zone Etc/GMT+8 -8 - GMT+8 ! Zone Etc/GMT+9 -9 - GMT+9 ! Zone Etc/GMT+10 -10 - GMT+10 ! Zone Etc/GMT+11 -11 - GMT+11 ! Zone Etc/GMT+12 -12 - GMT+12 --- 37,65 ---- # zic -l GMT-12 # so we moved the names into the Etc subdirectory. ! Zone Etc/GMT-14 -14 - GMT-14 # 14 hours ahead of GMT ! Zone Etc/GMT-13 -13 - GMT-13 ! Zone Etc/GMT-12 -12 - GMT-12 ! Zone Etc/GMT-11 -11 - GMT-11 ! Zone Etc/GMT-10 -10 - GMT-10 ! Zone Etc/GMT-9 -9 - GMT-9 ! Zone Etc/GMT-8 -8 - GMT-8 ! Zone Etc/GMT-7 -7 - GMT-7 ! Zone Etc/GMT-6 -6 - GMT-6 ! Zone Etc/GMT-5 -5 - GMT-5 ! Zone Etc/GMT-4 -4 - GMT-4 ! Zone Etc/GMT-3 -3 - GMT-3 ! Zone Etc/GMT-2 -2 - GMT-2 ! Zone Etc/GMT-1 -1 - GMT-1 ! Zone Etc/GMT+1 1 - GMT+1 ! Zone Etc/GMT+2 2 - GMT+2 ! Zone Etc/GMT+3 3 - GMT+3 ! Zone Etc/GMT+4 4 - GMT+4 ! Zone Etc/GMT+5 5 - GMT+5 ! Zone Etc/GMT+6 6 - GMT+6 ! Zone Etc/GMT+7 7 - GMT+7 ! Zone Etc/GMT+8 8 - GMT+8 ! Zone Etc/GMT+9 9 - GMT+9 ! Zone Etc/GMT+10 10 - GMT+10 ! Zone Etc/GMT+11 11 - GMT+11 ! Zone Etc/GMT+12 12 - GMT+12

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