Hi again,

I tried to use the data provided in the timezone files. I ran some consistency checks. I think I found some inconsistencies.

Zone America/Barbados – has rule BARB, but none of the BARB rules is currently valid.

Zone America/Costa_Rica – has rule CR, but none of the CR rules is currently valid.Zone America/El_Salvador – has rule BARB, but none of the rules is currently valid

Zone America/Guatemala – has rule Salv, but none of the rules is currently valid

Zone America/Tegucigalpa – has rule Hond, but none of the rules is currently valid

The zone Africa/Johannesburg uses an undefined rule SA

The zone Africa/El_Aaiun uses an undefined rule Morocco

The zone Africa/Casablanca uses an undefined rule Morocco

The zone Indian/Mauritius uses an undefined rule +04/+05

The zone Pacific/Tongatapu uses an undefined rule Tonga

The zone Pacific/Rarotonga uses an undefined rule Cook

The zone Australia/Brisbane uses an undefined rule AQ

The zone Australia/Perth uses an undefined rule AW

The zone Australia/Darwin uses an undefined rule Aus

The zone America/Montevideo uses an undefined rule Uruguay

The zone America/Guayaquil uses an undefined rule Ecuador

The zone America/Cuiaba uses an undefined rule Brazil

The zone America/Campo_Grande uses an undefined rule Brazil

The zone America/Sao_Paulo uses an undefined rule Brazil

The zone America/Argentina/Tucuman uses an undefined rule Arg

The zone America/Argentina/Cordoba uses an undefined rule Arg

The zone America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires uses an undefined rule Arg

I spot checked several of those – and there is no more daylight saving for those regions. Thus, the zone definition should contain a dash.

I noticed some more inconsistencies specific to the “asia” file. The data separator is flexible. Everywhere, the tab is used as a separator. Here, the tab and the space are used interchangeably. Also in all the other files, the “Zone” is followed by a space and then the name. In this asia file, I noticed frequent use of tabs in between. Do you use space and tab alike?

Thank you,

Juergen

From: Juergen Naeckel
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2020 3:02 PM
To: tz@iana.org
Subject: timezone DB distribution

Hey there,

First of all, I would like to thank you. I have to implement something in JavaScript that uses timezones. However, I am using an older JS version that does not have the flexibility like today’s JS. So I was looking for a repository holding all current timezones and rules for it, rather then me, checking time and again how which timezone is configured 😉 This really could help me. Reading through the files, it sometimes made me chuckle and I was actually surprised how fluent timezones are handled. Changes almost every year…

I would like to recommend some improvements. I know you have pretty stable release by now. I am aware that changes probably to the structure might affect a lot of people/projects. However…

First of all, a tar.gz is Linux specific. True, you could install additional Windows software. But, that might not go well with customers of mine. I think a ZIP would be acceptable for both worlds.

Since I was interested in the repository, I downloaded the “Data only distribution”. I found six files containing the TZ information. And I found 27 files, containing other stuff. Well, there might be three or four files in a grey zone (calendars, backlist…). But I definitely do not consider MAKEFILE and .awk file as part of a “data only distribution”. Maybe move them to a separate folder in the GZ file?

Finally, I got one more recommendation/question. I had read the readme file but it didn’t explain the data I saw in the files. It took me a while to understand the concept of the data structure. Some info of what to see in the file, and how to read it would help.

And I think the first line of the ZONE definition contains some inconsistency (maybe I still didn’t understand it correctly). Below is a screenshot. See the first line for the zones? It looks mismatched with the New York. The RULE and the [UNTIL] are probably in the wrong column. Format is probably missing.

Then I noticed that the open-end validity. For rules it is denoted as “max” and for zones it is just a <blank>. Could we get some consistency here?

And finally here comes my question: In the rules, I see in the column several times denoted with a tailing “u” or “s”. I think I read on one occasion that the times are denoted in “standard time”. I do not recall anymore where that was. But regardless,

I don’t understand what that “denoted in standard time” would mean
I definitely have no clue would the tailing “u”: would imply.

Can you shed some light on this?

Thank you! Not only for an answer but also for researching and compiling this list.

Juergen

Juergen Naeckel
PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT

T 617 766 2381 | C 617 775 3874
naeckel@adobe.com