I am the spec lead for JSR-310, the project to enhance time handling in the Java JDK. I'd like to give some feedback/information to this project. Naming JSR-310 supports the possiblity of multiple sources of time zone information. The data here is considered to be the default. I've referred to this group as "TZDB" (rather than "Olson" as in some sources). Let me know if you're unhappy with the "TZDB" name. File format The format of the time zone data files (zic.8.txt) could do with some clarifications/simplifications. (ie. can the document be updated?) Rule - FROM - "The word minimum (or an abbreviation)" should be changed to "The word minimum or min". Similarly with maximum. At the moment, the spec is silent about what happens for the letter "m" which is a valid abbreviation of "minimum" and "maximum". The spec also allows oddities like "mini". Rule - TO - "the word only (or an abbreviation)" - please drop the abbreviation part. Only the full word is used in the data, never the abbreviation. Rule - IN - "Names the month in which the rule takes effect. Month names may be abbreviated.". This should specify that the month names are English. Currently, only the three letter abbreviation is used. The spec also allows oddities like "Januar" and ambiguities like "J". Can the spec be limited to just the 3 letter form? Rule ON - similar comment for day of week. Again the suppiled files only use the 3 letter abbreviated form. Can the spec be limited to just the 3 letter form? I didn't notice any specific comment about case - is the input case sensitive? thanks, Stephen