A simple solution for designating time zones

A simple solution for designating time zones

[mooremj]

> From: Stefan.Landherr@sei.cmu.edu
> ...
> In addition, a calendar package with time zones should :
>     (1) be useful all over the world (no parochialism),
>     (2) cater for those places on half-hour time zones (eg South Australia),
>     ...
> To actually designate the time zones, I recommend the usual system of letters:
>       Z                                   for GMT   
>       A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M  for hours ahead of GMT
>       N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y  for hours behind GMT
>       two-letter combinations (eg IK)     for half-hour zones

This is a step in the right direction, but does not go far enough.  To be 
useful all over the world, even half-hour time zones are not sufficient;
some places differ from the common time zones by 15 or 35 minutes or other odd 
amounts (not to mention places in the Middle East which use local sun time,
which varies from day to day!)

The last draft I saw of the Fortran 8x standard contained a simple solution:
time zone information is stored as an integer number of minutes which must be
subtracted from local time to yield GMT.

				Martin Moore (mooremj@eglin-vax.arpa)
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