Boost C++ Libraries: Ticket #10087: Need to update date_time_zonespec.csv for Moscow

Mon, 04 May 2015 19:40:18 GMT

I actually have Moscow as this: Europe/Moscow MSK MSK +03:00:00 +00:00:00 +00:00:00

I don't know if I'm the only one who was getting frustrated by how out of date the date_time_zonespec.csv file was getting, and it seemed like the original authors didn't really intend to be in the perpetual business of maintaining this. From boost/date_time/tz_db_base.hpp:

/*! The csv file containing the zone_specs used by the

tz_db_base is intended to be customized by the
library user. When customizing this file (or creating your own) the
file must follow a specific format.

So, fair enough. But I still need an up to date database. Turns out the Python pytz library is well maintained, and updates pretty much in lockstep with IANA time region changes. I've written a Python routine that emits the csv file using whatever version of pytz that's installed. If anyone is using this, I'd be happy to contribute the code. Or maybe I'm the only lunatic using this.

attachment set

Mon, 04 May 2015 19:54:50 GMT

attachment → date_time_zonespec.csv

Mon, 04 May 2015 19:58:29 GMT

Attached the file I generated using the 2015b version of the Olsen database in the Python pytz package.

anonymous — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 14:51:54 GMT

Replying to John Patterson <jpatterson@…>:

Attached the file I generated using the 2015b version of the Olsen database in the Python pytz package.

Is it possible to share the scripts that you used to generate this date_time_zonespec.csv file? The Time Zone Database is still evolving so it would be helpful to have possibility to regenerate it in future.

anonymous — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 13:09:02 GMT

Here's a little PHP script that does the job. I crosschecked the results and they appear to be okay. There's one known bug mentioned in the code: https://gist.github.com/anonymous/e1776b620768f5a22da4f3bc2749562f

And here's a freshly generated file from the IANA 2016c TZ database: https://gist.github.com/anonymous/7f520506cc4ed0175dd23b427ce461c6

James E. King, III — Sat, 06 Jan 2018 16:08:48 GMT

Thanks for those links. I have to ask however, whether this file is sufficient. If a region changes their time zone rules, don't we still need to apply the old rules before that cutover and new rules after that cutover? This file format seems insufficient to handle that task.

I will submit a pull request to update boost with the latest generated file.

owner changed

James E. King, III — Sat, 06 Jan 2018 16:10:07 GMT

owner changed from az_sw_dude to James E. King, III

status changed

James E. King, III — Sat, 06 Jan 2018 16:10:12 GMT

status new → assigned

James E. King, III — Sat, 06 Jan 2018 16:23:47 GMT

I added an issue to track my concern above. https://github.com/boostorg/date_time/issues/67

I am going to modify the 2016c database generated file linked above to use the longer names for the fields that had them before, so things don't break.

James E. King, III — Sat, 06 Jan 2018 16:42:09 GMT

PR to resolve this issue: https://github.com/boostorg/date_time/pull/68

keywords, milestone changed

James E. King, III — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 13:44:55 GMT

keywords timezone tz tzdatabase added
milestone To Be Determined → Boost 1.67.0

status changed; resolution set

James E. King, III — Sun, 28 Jan 2018 16:24:28 GMT

status assigned → closed
resolution → fixed

Fix merged to master; resolved.