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In article <993@ks.UUCP>, jriegel@cstemp2.almaden.ibm.com writes:
> I need the 3-letter abbreviation (CET, etc.) [for time zones]
> If anyone has such a list, please mail it to me.
> 
> jriegel@ibm.com

  Unfortunately there is no list.  There are some accepted 3 letter
abbreviations that are used in the English speaking countries but
each country tends to call the timezones that pass through them
a different name (why...that's un-American! ;-).

  Even for English speaking countries some of the timezones abbreviations
are not 3 letters long (eg., Alaska-Hawaii timezone is AHST).

  I suggest that you use English names where appropriate and a
combination of UTC and offset for the others.

Bob Devine

>> I need the 3-letter abbreviation (CET, etc.) [for time zones]
>> If anyone has such a list, please mail it to me.
>> 
>> jriegel@ibm.com
> 
>   Unfortunately there is no list.  There are some accepted 3 letter
> abbreviations that are used in the English speaking countries but
> each country tends to call the timezones that pass through them
> a different name (why...that's un-American! ;-).
>
> Bob Devine

A resource which I have not taped but I know exists is the timezone page of
international air line flight schedules.  Several times I have glanced at it
as I passed by.  It contains all of the current offsets from UTC and may also
give abbreviations for each time zone along with the standard name.

Ron Tolley

In article <383@shodha.dec.com> devine@shodha.dec.com (Bob Devine) writes:
>In article <993@ks.UUCP>, jriegel@cstemp2.almaden.ibm.com writes:
>> I need the 3-letter abbreviation (CET, etc.) [for time zones]
>> If anyone has such a list, please mail it to me.
 
>  Unfortunately there is no list.  There are some accepted 3 letter
>abbreviations that are used in the English speaking countries but
>each country tends to call the timezones that pass through them
>a different name ...

>  I suggest that you use English names where appropriate and a
>combination of UTC and offset for the others.

I agree with this.  Better yet, just use UTC.

I recall one discussion about two years ago in which it was observed
that two different zones had the same three letter code:
one was "Bering Strait Time", the other "British Summer Time".

-- 
    L. J. Dickey, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo.
	ljdickey@water.UWaterloo.ca	ljdickey@water.BITNET
	ljdickey@water.UUCP		..!uunet!watmath!water!ljdickey
	ljdickey@water.waterloo.edu	

In article <1043@riddle.UUCP> domo@riddle.UUCP (that's me) wrote:
>>In article <993@ks.UUCP>, jriegel@cstemp2.almaden.ibm.com writes:
>> I need the 3-letter abbreviation (CET, etc.) [for time zones]
>
>Coincidentally, I have just ordered IS 8601:1988 ``Data elements and
>interchange formats -- Information interchange -- representation of dates
>and times''.  If it has anything to say about the names of timezones, I'll
>post the good news to this group.

Well, it arrived, and it punts on the issue.  The standard represents dates
and times entirely as numbers with a little punctuation thrown in as an
option.  Put Z after a time and it is taken to mean UTC (Greenwich Mean
Time to traditionalists); put a sign and a two or four digit offset, and
you have a time displaced from UTC by that number of hours (two digits) or
by hours and minutes (four digits).  Three-letter zone names are not
mentioned at all (which is consistent: the names of months and days of the
week do not get a look in either).
-- 
Dominic Dunlop
The Standard Answer Ltd., using Sphinx' facilities (for which much thanks)
domo@sphinx.co.uk

I wrote this program quite some time ago...
Since I've seen CET in place of MET, is this standard ?
Who can add to these zone names ?
--
	/*	Display the time zone names with the minute differences given as
		argument.  If "-" is given as argument, switch DST mode */
	/*	Add: automatic setting of DST depending on current date */
#include	<stdio.h>
#include	"config.h"
char *timezone(int zone, int dst);
main(argc,argv)
int argc;
char *argv[];	{
	register int i,j;
	int arg,dst=0;
 
#ifdef	MSDOS
	*argv="timezone";
#endif
	if(argc<2)	{
		fprintf(stderr,"usage: %s [-] minutes_east_of_greenwich...\n",*argv);
		return(1);
	}
 
	for(arg=1; arg<argc; arg++)
		if(*argv[arg]=='-' && !argv[arg][1])
			dst=!dst;
		else	{
			i=atoi(argv[arg]); j=(i<0)?-i:i;
			printf("%s: %4d minutes (%02dh%02dm) %s of greenwich %s"
				"is \"%s\"\n",*argv,j,j/60,j%60,i>0?"east":"west",
				dst?"during DST ":"",timezone(i,dst));
		}
}
 
	/*	The arguments are the number of minutes of time you are eastward from
	 *	Greenwich and whether DST is in effect.  It returns pointer to a string
	 *	giving the name of the local timezone.
	 *
	 *	Sorry, I don't know all the names.
	 */
 
static struct zone {
	int	offset;
	char	*stdzone;
	char	*dlzone;
} zonetab[] = {
	1*60, "MET", "MET DST",	/* Middle European */
	2*60, "EET", "EET DST",	/* Eastern European */
	-4*60, "AST", "ADT",	/* Atlantic */
	-5*60, "EST", "EDT",	/* Eastern */
	-6*60, "CST", "CDT",	/* Central */
	-7*60, "MST", "MDT",	/* Mountain */
	-8*60, "PST", "PDT",	/* Pacific */
#ifdef notdef
	/* there's no way to distinguish this from WET */
	0, "GMT", 0,			/* Greenwich */
#endif
	0*60, "WET", "WET DST",	/* Western European */
 
	/* Do they use DST in Australia ? */
	10*60, "EST", "EST",	/* Aust: Eastern */
	10*60-30, "CST", "CST",	/* Aust: Central */
	8*60, "WST", "WST",		/* Aust: Western */
	-1
};
 
char *timezone(zone, dst)
{
	register struct zone *zp;
	static char czone[10];
	char sign = '+';
	register char *p, *q;
	char *getenv(), *index();
 
	for (zp=zonetab; zp->offset!=-1; zp++)
		if (zp->offset==zone) {
			if (dst && zp->dlzone)
				return(zp->dlzone);
			if (!dst && zp->stdzone)
				return(zp->stdzone);
		}
 
		/* Not a standard zone, give it as { "+" | "-" } 4digit format */
	if (zone<0) {
		zone = -zone;
		sign = '-';
	}
	sprintf(czone, "%c%02d%02d", sign, zone/60, zone%60);
	return(czone);
}

-- 
* * * Otto J. Makela (otto@jyu.fi, MAKELA_OTTO_@FINJYU.BITNET) * * * * * * *
* Phone: +358 41 613 847, BBS: +358 41 211 562 (CCITT, Bell 2400/1200/300) *
* Mail: Kauppakatu 1 B 18, SF-40100 Jyvaskyla, Finland, EUROPE             *
* * * freopen("/dev/null","r",stdflame); * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In article <1177@tukki.jyu.fi> otto@tukki.jyu.fi (Otto J. Makela) writes:
>I wrote this program quite some time ago...
>Since I've seen CET in place of MET, is this standard ?
>Who can add to these zone names ?

There is *NO* standard set of timezone names, and you are asking for trouble
if you assume there is.  For example, there are at least two different
expansions for "BST".  (That one has actually caused trouble.)
-- 
V7 /bin/mail source: 554 lines.|     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
1989 X.400 specs: 2200+ pages. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu

Here is a list of timezone symbols, originally derived from a table of
Rich Wales' I believe.  If you have any additions to this list, please let
me know.

	"A",		StdZone,	60,	/* UTC+1h */
	"ACSST",	DstZone,	630,	/* Cent. Australia */
	"ACST",		StdZone,	570,	/* Cent. Australia */
	"ADT",		DstZone,	-180,	/* Atlantic (Canada) */
	"AESST",	DstZone,	660,	/* E. Australia */
	"AEST",		StdZone,	600,	/* E. Australia */
	"AST",		StdZone,	-240,	/* Atlantic (Canada) */
	"AWSST",	DstZone,	540,	/* W. Australia */
	"AWST",		StdZone,	480,	/* W. Australia */
	"B",		StdZone,	120,	/* UTC+2h */
	"BST",		DstZone,	60,	/* Great Britain */
	"C",		StdZone,	180,	/* UTC+3h */
	"CDT",		DstZone,	-300,
	"CST",		StdZone,	-360,
	"D",		StdZone,	240,	/* UTC+4h */
	"DST",		nilDate,	0,
	"E",		StdZone,	300,	/* UTC+5h */
	"EDT",		DstZone,	-240,
	"EET",		StdZone,	120,	/* Eastern Europe */
	"EETDST",	DstZone,	180,	/* Eastern Europe */
	"EST",		StdZone,	-300,
	"F",		StdZone,	360,	/* UTC+6h */
	"G",		StdZone,	420,	/* UTC+7h */
	"GMT",		StdZone,	0,
	"H",		StdZone,	480,	/* UTC+8h */
	"HDT",		DstZone,	-540,	/* Hawaii/Alaska */
	"HST",		StdZone,	-600,	/* Hawaii/Alaska */
	"I",		StdZone,	540,	/* UTC+9h */
	"IST",		StdZone,	120,	/* Israel */
	"K",		StdZone,	600,	/* UTC+10h */
	"L",		StdZone,	660,	/* UTC+11h */
	"M",		StdZone,	720,	/* UTC+12h */
	"MDT",		DstZone,	-360,
	"MET",		StdZone,	60,	/* Central Europe */
	"METDST",	DstZone,	120,	/* Central Europe */
	"MST",		StdZone,	-420,
	"N",		StdZone,	-60,	/* UTC-1h */
	"NDT",		DstZone,	-150,	/* Nfld. (Canada) */
	"NST",		StdZone,	-210,	/* Nfld. (Canada) */
	"O",		StdZone,	-120,	/* UTC-2h */
	"P",		StdZone,	-180,	/* UTC-3h */
	"PDT",		DstZone,	-420,
	"PST",		StdZone,	-480,
	"Q",		StdZone,	-240,	/* UTC-4h */
	"R",		StdZone,	-300,	/* UTC-5h */
	"S",		StdZone,	-360,	/* UTC-6h */
	"T",		StdZone,	-420,	/* UTC-7h */
	"U",		StdZone,	-480,	/* UTC-8h */
	"UT",		StdZone,	0,
	"UTC",		StdZone,	0,
	"V",		StdZone,	-540,	/* UTC-9h */
	"W",		StdZone,	-600,	/* UTC-10h */
	"WET",		StdZone,	0,	/* Western Europe */
	"WETDST",	DstZone,	60,	/* Western Europe */
	"X",		StdZone,	-660,	/* UTC-11h */
	"Y",		StdZone,	-720,	/* UTC-12h */
	"YDT",		DstZone,	-480,	/* Yukon */
	"YST",		StdZone,	-540,	/* Yukon */
	"Z",		StdZone,	0,	/* UTC */

In article <89Aug22.153031edt.10647@neat.cs.toronto.edu> rayan@cs.toronto.edu (Rayan Zachariassen) writes:
>	"BST",		DstZone,	60,	/* Great Britain */

Also Bering Standard Time, on the other side of the world.  Some software
will assume one and some the other.
-- 
V7 /bin/mail source: 554 lines.|     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
1989 X.400 specs: 2200+ pages. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu

  Here is the official list of standard timezones.  There are
two ways of naming the timezone -- zone numbers and zone letters.
Negative zone numbers are east of 0 degrees latitude (the Prime
Meridian); positive numbers are west (note: this is opposite the
Unix convention).

   Degrees     EAST    EAST        WEST    WEST
   East/West   zone    zone        zone    zone   (N. American
   of 0 long.  number  letter      number  letter  zone names)
       0         0       Z           0       Z
      15        -1       A           1       N
      30        -2       B           2       O
      45        -3       C           3       P
      60        -4       D           4       Q (Atlantic ST)
      75        -5       E           5       R (Eastern ST)
      90        -6       F           6       S (Central ST)
     105        -7       G           7       T (Mountain ST)
     120        -8       H           8       U (Pacific ST)
     135        -9       I           9       V (Yukon ST)
     150       -10       K          10       W (Alaska-Hawaii ST)
     165       -11       L          11       X (Bering ST)
     180       -12       M          12       Y

  Note that there is no `j' zone.  In addition to the above 24 zones,
there are some country-specific `timezones'.  The Newfoundland
province is at +3 1/2; Venezuela is at +5 1/2; India uses -5 1/2;
and Iran uses -3 1/2.  For the really different consider that
Saudi Arabia follows its own rule for setting clocks by using the
time at sundown as midnight; Afghanistan may still (unless the
Soviet invasion forced a change) use a time that is -4 hourse 26 minutes
from UTC.  There are probably other exceptions too.

  All names given to the timezones are very country- and language-
specific.  On the coincidental matching of zone names (such as for
the USA and Canada), the zones are still different due to the
handling of daylight saving time rules.

Bob Devine

The time zone lists that people have been posting seem to ignore the
fact that there are at least 26 hours going at any one time.  Consider:

     New Zealand Daylight Savings Time     Z+13
     Tonga Standard Time                   Z+13

(Or, in devine@shodha.dec.com (Bob Devine)'s `official' terms, -13.)

The latter case is especially interesting.  The Kingdom of Tonga
covers three island chains that sprawl on either side of the 180th
meridian; although the bulk of the territory, and nearly all of the
population, is east of 180, the Date Line was bent to the east so that
Tonga would have the same day as its chief trading partners in the
then mainly British South Pacific.  Tonga is officially Methodist,
because the king is, but there is a sizeable Mormon minority.  Now
Mormons celebrate their Sabbath on Saturday, which was unacceptable to
the very devout king; so the Mormon church in Tonga simply declared
the bend in the Date Line null and void, so that their Saturday
corresponded with everyone else's Sunday.  Ah, the tropics...

Luckily, Tonga, being tropical, has no use for daylight savings time,
so there is (to my knowledge) no Z+14.

### T. Mark James           #### opinions, errors etc are my own ###
### mark@bdblues.altair.fr  #### "Sure, living in the future is like
### +33 (1) 39 63 53 93     ####  having bees live in your head.
################################  But, there they are..."