I know this isn't specific to PHP, but what's the point of using timezones listed like this :http://us2.php.net/manual/en/timezones.america.php? For example "America/Indianapolis" and "America/New_York". What is the problem with EST, EDT, CST, CDT, &c?
A:
http://us2.php.net/date_default_timezone_set
Quote from page: Note: Since PHP 5.1.0 (when the date/time functions were rewritten), every call to a date/time function will generate a E_NOTICE if the timezone isn't valid, and/or a E_STRICT message if using the system settings or the TZ environment variable.
Andrei Serdeliuc
2009-04-02 11:37:40
+1
A:
Time zones or daylight savings time start/end dates of cities might change (it did occur in the past) but the cities are likely to remain at the same location.
DrJokepu
2009-04-02 11:38:53
+3
A:
This is just a different timezone format provided by the Zoneinfo database:
The time zones in the database are given uniform names, such as “America/New_York”, in an attempt to make them easier to understand by humans and to remove ambiguity.
Andrew Hare
2009-04-02 11:39:39
+3
A:
'America/New_York' doesn't depend on the date. While EST is only valid in winter, while in summer you have to change it to EDT. Other problem with 3 letter codes is, that there are conflicts. EST means Eastern Standard Time, but it might be in America or Australia.
vartec
2009-04-02 12:27:27
I believe in the US it's <b>Eastern</b> Standard Time (EST), and in Australia it's Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). It is likely, however, that there are other abbreviation collisions.
Patrick McDonald
2009-04-02 12:50:32
«Central Summer Time (CST) or Central Daylight Time (CDT), possibly with "Australia" prefixed (ACST or ACDT). The time in the southeastern states become UTC+11, using "Eastern" in the time zone name rather than "Central", with the abbreviations being EST, EDT, AEST, or AEDT.»
vartec
2009-04-02 12:57:48
«In domestic contexts the leading "Australian" is often dropped»
vartec
2009-04-02 12:58:43
+ because the conflicts concern is correct. There are quite a few, if you read the entire list.
benc
2009-07-25 06:42:37
Also, unless your design has an explicitly local or regional scope, you should be avoiding using the abbreviated time zone acronyms (iCalendar calls this a "TZNAME"), and you should use the more explicit "Area/Location" format (iCalendar calls this "TZID").Be careful here, often your context is global and you won't realize it until later.
benc
2009-08-29 15:22:09
A:
All regions within a timezone don't follow the same rules. For example, Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time.
geetee
2009-04-02 15:35:18