Reinhard@smoke.ARPA (05/19/86)
X%"HEADER-PEOPLE%AI.AI.MIT.EDU@WISCVM.WISC.EDU",X%"XBR1YD14%DDATHD21.B ITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU" Message-ID: <8605191540.aa05638@VGR.BRL.ARPA> What's the timezone code for Central European Time? Some nodes use +0100 others use -0100. I think +0100 (or A military time) is correct. So for example EST would be equivalent to -0500 or R. Is that correct? Regards Reinhard Goeth (Techn. Univ. of Darmstadt; Fed. Rep. of Germany)
wales@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU (Rich Wales) (05/20/86)
Reinhard -- Replying to your message: What's the timezone code for Central European Time? Some nodes use +0100 others use -0100. I think +0100 (or A military time) is correct. So for example EST would be equivalent to -0500 or R. Is that correct? That is correct. Central European Time is indeed "+0100" or "A" (in summer, "+0200" or "B"). Eastern Standard Time (in North America) is "-0500" or "R". The sites that use "-0100" -- indeed, *any* European or Middle Eastern sites which use a negative time zone -- are either configured wrong or are taking a holiday in the Atlantic Ocean :-}. With regard to the single-letter time zone designators, by the way, ARPA RFC822 has things backwards. I have been told by several people (who ought to know) that "A" means GMT+1h (i.e., Central European Time), not GMT-1h as shown on page 26 of RFC822. I'm not sure why so many European sites seem to be using the wrong time zone. It might be because some people were confused by the pre- viously mentioned mixup in RFC822 and incorrectly concluded that "-0100" meant GMT+1h. More likely -- at least in the case of sites running Berkeley "sendmail" -- it might be because UNIX's internal time zone information is set up in terms of an offset *west* of GMT (which may make sense if you consider that all time zones in the USA, where UNIX was first developed, are west of GMT). In any case, though, any site in Europe or the Middle East which is using a negative time zone for its local time stamps is *wrong* and should fix its software. Lest anyone accuse me of bias :-}, let me also state that any North American site using a *positive* time zone for its local time stamps is wrong and should fix its software. -- Rich Wales // UCLA Computer Science Department // +1 213-825-5683 3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, California 90024 // USA wales@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU ...!(ucbvax,ihnp4)!ucla-cs!wales "Sir, there is a multilegged creature crawling on your shoulder."
XBR1YD14%DDATHD21.BITNET@wiscvm.ARPA (YD14@BR1.THDNET) (08/07/86)
What's the timezone code for Central European Time? Some nodes use +0100 other use -0100. I think +0100 (or A military time) is correct. So f.e. EST would equivalent to -0500 or R. Is that correct? Regards Reinhard Goeth (Techn. Univ. of Darmstadt; Fed. Rep. of Germany)
POSTEL@usc-isib.ARPA (08/11/86)
Reinhard Goeth: Numeric timezones indicators should be as specified by ISO 4031. You are correct that the U.S. Eastern Standard Zone is -0500, and Central European Time should be +0100. --jon. -------
devine@vianet.UUCP (Bob Devine) (08/12/86)
In article <2857@brl-smoke.ARPA> XBR1YD14%DDATHD21.BITNET@wiscvm.ARPA (YD14@BR1.THDNET) writes: >What's the timezone code for Central European Time? >Some nodes use +0100 other use -0100. >I think +0100 (or A military time) is correct. >So f.e. EST would equivalent to -0500 or R. >Is that correct? > >Regards Reinhard Goeth (Techn. Univ. of Darmstadt; Fed. Rep. of Germany) Locations EAST of the Standard Time Meridian (aka Greenwich or Zulu) are given as POSITIVE times; those WEST are NEGATIVE. So, EST is -5:00. What confuses this is the conflicting descriptions. The world-wide standard is document 4031 from ISO which defines the above rule. However, and this is very important to you, two countries did not give approval in 1978 -- Federal Republic of Germany and the United Kingdom. I don't have any information if they have since approved of this standard. The confusing part comes from the *naming* of the different time zones. Those zones east of the ST meridian are named the "Minus Zones" and have zone letters of A-M (there is no J). Western zones are the "Plus Zones" and are N-Y. 'Z' is the ST meridian. The "Minus Zones" and "Plus Zones" are, as far as I can tell, just a convention. They are not ISO agreements. Bob
Jacob_Palme_QZ%QZCOM.MAILNET@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA (08/18/86)
As you can see from the header of this message, we at QZCOM use "+0200" when Western Europe has daylight saving time, and "+0100" when Western Europe does not have daylight saving time. I hope this is correct, that you should give different values when daylight saving time is in effect and when it is not!