At 18:27 5/20/99 +0000, Michel Gauthier wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>This year, we'll be faced to serve users from a third timezone. This time
>it'll be more complex. They'll have to share their data with headquarter's
>data (Oracle and Image). Moreover, the application they will use is partly
>terminal based, partly C/S based. The TimeZone TZ variable might help for
>the terminal based appl. It is however not useful for the C/S based
>application. Did any of you face (and solve!) the timezone setting over a
>C/S connection to a HP3000?
>
>I don't have just a technical problem. Even if I find a way to solve the
>timezone setting problem, should I really use it? From the timezoned user
>point of view, it is normal to work with their local time, not the the time
>where the HP3000 is located. However, people from different timezone share
>the same data: so how do I keep chronological track of events if their
>timestamp are based on local time? Suppose I have time effectiveness of a
>price: I want it effective for everyone at the same moment, not at each
>other local time!

I have no idea how your database is set up, but it seems to me that all
transactions should be timestamped and stored in your DB using a common
timezone (GMT, maybe, or the timezone where the computer is physically
located).  That way, all transactions will relate to each other correctly.

All transactions should be displayed to the users in the users' local
timezone.  Each time a transaction is displayed, the timestamp is
translated from the common timezone to the users' timezone, and translated
from the users' timezone to the common timezone when the transaction is
updated in the DB.

Tom Brandt                            Northtech Systems, Inc.
+1 734-769-5040                     3588 Plymouth Road, Suite 292
+1 734-769-5498 (FAX)            Ann Arbor, MI 48105