On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 12:32 PM, Olson, Arthur David (NIH/NCI) [E] <olsona@dc37a.nci.nih.gov> wrote:
I'm forwarding this message from hsv, who is not on the time zone
mailing list. Those of you who are on the list, please direct replies
appropriately.

                               --ado

-----Original Message-----
From: hsv@tbbs.net [mailto:hsv@tbbs.net]
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 3:01
To: tz@lecserver.nci.nih.gov
Subject: file-format

The man-page describes a fairly loose fileformat, but the actual files
show less looseness: there is no quoted sharp (#), all one name s Rules
are in a bunch in time order, with no other Rule or Zone in between, all
weekday-names are three-letter-long abbreviations of capital letter and
twain small letters. Can I afford to count on that, or is it really
needful to parse a much looser-formatted file than really is there?


It depends on whether you are willing to risk your code breaking at an unspecified time in the future when the rules you see in action - as opposed to those documented - are suddenly but legitimately altered (remaining as documented).  If you can afford to take the risk, you can parse to the stricter rules you see in use.  If you cannot afford to take the risk, you should follow the documentation.

--
Jonathan Leffler <jonathan.leffler@gmail.com>  #include <disclaimer.h>
Guardian of DBD::Informix - v2008.0513 - http://dbi.perl.org
"Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves, for we shall never cease to be amused."