Request for Enhancement: Time Zone Setting

On Fri, Jan 11, 2008 at 02:12:33PM -0500, Chris Paul wrote:
> This would specify an offset from the mail 
> servers timezone which users could set to have their
quarantine display 
> mail items with the local time.

I like your idea in general, but I think the offset should
be from UTC,
ignoring the time zone the server happens to be in. The user
knows what
time zone they're in and they really shouldn't have to care
where the
server is.
-- 
Robert C. Sheets
Picosecond Software
_______________________________________________
Maia-users mailing list
Maia-usersrenaissoft.com
http://www.renaissoft.com/mailman/listinfo/maia-users

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1


On Jan 11, 2008, at 1:34 PM, Robert C. Sheets wrote:

> On Fri, Jan 11, 2008 at 02:12:33PM -0500, Chris Paul
wrote:
>> This would specify an offset from the mail
>> servers timezone which users could set to have
their quarantine  
>> display
>> mail items with the local time.
>
> I like your idea in general, but I think the offset
should be from  
> UTC,
> ignoring the time zone the server happens to be in. The
user knows  
> what
> time zone they're in and they really shouldn't have to
care where the
> server is.

Isn't the local server timezone available in an environment
variable?   
It should be possible to use that and the timezone selected
to  
calculate the right time.

The real question I have is one of performance: when do we
make the  
adjustment?  If we make it before being stored in the
database, it  
might have ramifications for other processes.  If we make
the  
adjustment on every view, it could slow down the view. OTOH,
it is  
stored in a datetime in sql, so it should be a very simple
sql  
adjustment.

It looks like mysql has support:

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/
refman/5.0/en/date-and-time-functions.html#function_convert-
tz

And it appears, postgresql:

http://www.postg
resql.org/docs/8.0/static/functions-datetime.html#FUNCTIONS-
DATETIME-ZONECONVERT





David Morton
Maia Mailguard http://www.maiamailguard
.com
mortondadgrmm.net



-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (Darwin)

iD8DBQFHh8qkUy30ODPkzl0RAmMEAKDTnetTE2DqNMyCkPEFyZcgKOjleQCd
G4vA
+1bfi+kb7nstCHH9A1TJ+fk=
=jF6G
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
_______________________________________________
Maia-users mailing list
Maia-usersrenaissoft.com
http://www.renaissoft.com/mailman/listinfo/maia-users

On Fri, Jan 11, 2008 at 01:59:32PM -0600, David Morton
wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> 
> 
> On Jan 11, 2008, at 1:34 PM, Robert C. Sheets wrote:
> 
> > On Fri, Jan 11, 2008 at 02:12:33PM -0500, Chris
Paul wrote:
> >
> > I like your idea in general, but I think the
offset should be from  
> > UTC,
> > ignoring the time zone the server happens to be
in. The user knows  
> > what
> > time zone they're in and they really shouldn't
have to care where the
> > server is.
> 
> The real question I have is one of performance: when do
we make the  
> adjustment?  If we make it before being stored in the
database, it  
> might have ramifications for other processes.  If we
make the  
> adjustment on every view, it could slow down the view.
OTOH, it is  
> stored in a datetime in sql, so it should be a very
simple sql  
> adjustment.

I lean toward the "everything in UTC" camp.  If
every bit of data is
stored in the database in UTC, then there is a very standard
and
well-known ( well-defined ) adjustment that happens when
that data is
displayed in any manner.  This is "normal Unix"
behaviour.  It's only
that "other" OS ( or OS-equivalent ) that seems to
think that computers
should be set to Local Time.

Calculations ( differences, etc. ) are easy with a
predictable "base" of
operations.  There are standard routines available for
converting
whatever is in the mail message into UTC.


Brian


_______________________________________________
Maia-users mailing list
Maia-usersrenaissoft.com
http://www.renaissoft.com/mailman/listinfo/maia-users

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1


On Jan 11, 2008, at 5:12 PM, Brian McCullough wrote:
>
> Calculations ( differences, etc. ) are easy with a
predictable  
> "base" of
> operations.  There are standard routines available for
converting
> whatever is in the mail message into UTC.


If I'm reading the docs right on the postgresql docs, it
will make the  
adjustment no mater have the clock is set.

I think we should be able to handle both situations.


David Morton
Maia Mailguard http://www.maiamailguard
.com
mortondadgrmm.net



-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (Darwin)

iD8DBQFHiAHOUy30ODPkzl0RAieaAJ4gKFU9EATX547sGAT96mm2hR3dFwCf
ewrV
LofxIAuFWec6iLTZt5Ya5Ik=
=Usd5
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
_______________________________________________
Maia-users mailing list
Maia-usersrenaissoft.com
http://www.renaissoft.com/mailman/listinfo/maia-users