From: "Clive D.W. Feather" Oscar van Vlijmen said:
Consistent data ---------------- One job should be done soon, I would like to suggest. That's to improve the consistency of the tz data within its format. Do we have a formal syntax for the tz data files ?
Yep, kinda: the file "zic.8" in the tzcode folder. The text says amongst others: "Fields are separated from one another by any number of white space characters." Currently fields are in most cases separated by tabs, but not always and this causes headaches for writers of import scripts. But I also would like to introduce the concept of complex comment lines, for instance beginning with #%, #$ etcetera, in order to incorporate additional data in a consistent manner without interrupting the usability for Unix systems, the OS the tz system is made for. This concept could be a transitional phase towards an xml or whatever database. If you have consistently formatted and rather complete data now, the transition to something else later goes smoother. Oscar van Vlijmen 2001-03-02