I have a request regarding zone names. It would be very helpful for me if there is a separate file with Country Name, Zone short name (like ET), Zone Long Name(Eastern Time), Zone Summer short Name(EDT), Zone Summer Long Name (Eastern DayLight Time), Zone standard short Name(EST), Zone standard Long Name(Eastern Standard Time) GMT Offset (Standard) Currently used indicator (this will indicate if the timezone is just for historical purposes) Even though Zone names are not standard, our tz list can agree upon some standard names and use the same abbreviations. I am sure there are others also who are interested in such a file. I will gladly volunteer some of my time to prepare the initial file, if the list agrees that this is an useful feature, and any future changes to tzdata will be reflected in this file also. Each timezone abbreviation used in the tzdata must be the same as Zone Short Name of the reference file. P.S. The above file format makes it easy for me to load the file straight onto my application database. Suggestions are welcome. I also understand that this may not be the part of the original intention (can someone also please explain what the aim of tz database is), but all the same it will be very useful for folks who need the data in database format and write their own functions to interpret it. Thanks, -Syed (v.398-4015) -----Original Message----- From: Srinivas Nagaraj [mailto:srinivas@broadsoft.com] Sent: Friday, February 09, 2001 11:03 AM To: Time Zone Mailing List (E-mail) Subject: TZ database content The TZ (zoneinfo) database comes installed with several operating systems like Linux, Solaris, etc. I have noticed the content of the TZ database varies between different versions of the same operating system and also between operating systems. This could have been because of when a snapshot of the TZ database was taken. Ofcourse, one significant difference is the actual name of the time zone. Depending on the content of the TZ database, the time zone name look different. Is it because the TZ database has evolved? I also noticed that the zone.tab file is not distributed on a number of installations. Was that operating system installation decision? Now my main question, is it an appropriate application specific common practice to use an application specific TZ database? That way the time zone names can be consistent, irrespective of where the application is installed? Thank you. Srini