On 04/06/12 17:02, Boruch Baum wrote:
2] End users' stubborn insistence on using tz abbreviations =========================================================== ... and who can blame them, when that's all they hear in the media. This leaves me in a bind, because if I accept a tz abbreviation as a user input, I have two undesirable options: 1) I could scan ALL the ~420 tzif files for matches and, if I discover that the tz abbrev is not unique, either make an educated guess (based upon the user's locale definition which often will include a country code and a language) or prompt the user for clarification; or 2) I could pre-compile a list that suits my parochial needs, and update my list anytime the tzdata package is updated (and still have to occassionally guess or prompt the user). I would ask the user.
Yes, the users are stubborn and will expect "your silly app" to "perfectly know" what is, for instance, "PST timezone". I'd throw them a dialog requesting clarification if they mean - Pacific Standard Time, UTC−8:00 - Pakistan Standard Time, UTC+5:00 - Philippine Standard Time, UTC+8:00 Maybe with a "By PST I always mean this one" checkbox. If you try to guess, you will sometimes "guess wrong", and a smart program taking bad decisions is worse than a dumb program you need to guide. Also, in the example above you will discover that English is official language in the three countries... :-)