[JDEV] Timezone (summary)

[Waleed Abdulla]

And, this is a summary for the previous discussions of the timezone:

1. Majority suggest it's added but be optional
2. Useful to know the local sender's time when he/she sent the message
3. In some systems, the client knows it's own timezone (but not all systems)
4. TZ reveals some information about the location of the
   sender (this is not a problem if it's optional)
5. The client should (almost) always know it's own local time. But, not
always
   knows it's Timezone.


Now, who should decide what is the sender's timezone (three opinions):
1. The client gets it from the OS (possible in some systems)
2. The sender puts it in his profile manually
3. The client calculates it as the difference between it's local time
   and that of the server (adds extra complexity, and not applicable if
   the client is a web site)

   Of course, the options can be combined. for example, the client gets
   it from the OS as a default value, and allows the user to change it.
   But, notice that the client can be on a PC, a palm PC, or a web site;
   therefore, its not always possible to query the OS for the TZ.

   Options 1 and 2 are the client's decision. But option 3 requires
   some defined protocol to allow the client to query the server for
   it's time.


Then, how will the receiver know the sender's timezone:
1. The timezone is sent with each message (as an attachment
   to the timestamp, as an attribute, or as a tag)
   a. Uses extra bandwidth
   b. Easy for the client to implement

2. The receiver reads the sender's profile to get his timezon
   a. The client should be able to access the sender's profile


Waleed