MJL%DGAIPP1S.BITNET@MITVMA.MIT.EDU (Martin Lottermoser) (01/21/88)
In the date field of a message, RFC822 defines a <zone>. This can take the form of +hhmm or -hhmm indicating "the amount of offset from UT" (UTC is meant, I suppose). Unfortunately, I do not have access to the ANSI standard X3.51-1975 quoted in RFC822, therefore I cannot determine the meaning directly. However, RFC822 specifies offsets for the American time zones and the military ones. But again, unfortunately, these specifications disagree: (a) Consider the American time zones. RFC822 says, e.g.: EST = -5. Now, UTC can be obtained from EST by adding 5 hours. Therefore the interpretation should be: If an offset is given in a <date-time>, it specifies the amount one has to add to the given time to obtain UTC. (b) Now for the military time zones. RFC822 says, e.g.: "A:-1". But A is Central European Time, hence: To obtain UTC from a <date-time> with offset, one has to subtract the offset from the given time. What is the correct interpretation? Martin