Thread: Re: [PATCHES] Time zone definitions to config files

David Fetter <david@fetter.org> writes:
> On Mon, Jul 24, 2006 at 11:59:34PM -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
>> The documentation is still in need of help ... in particular, Table
>> B-4 (timezone names) is now out of sync with reality.

> I'll take a whack at that patch this evening PDT or tomorrow evening
> at the latest.  We're too late in the cycle to go over this, but maybe
> we can figure out a way to have this data read from the same data
> source as the pg_timezones VIEW does at compile time.  Keeping two
> such table in synch seems error-prone.

Well, the problem is exactly that there is no "same data source"
anymore: the local DBA can customize the timezone list all he wants.

We could document what the out-of-the-box settings are, but is it
really useful to duplicate that info in the SGML docs?  We don't
for example provide a copy of psql \df+ output in the SGML docs,
and I'm wondering if this isn't kind of the same animal.

            regards, tom lane

On Tue, Jul 25, 2006 at 10:37:20PM -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> David Fetter <david@fetter.org> writes:
> > I'll take a whack at that patch this evening PDT or tomorrow evening
> > at the latest.  We're too late in the cycle to go over this, but maybe
> > we can figure out a way to have this data read from the same data
> > source as the pg_timezones VIEW does at compile time.  Keeping two
> > such table in synch seems error-prone.

> Well, the problem is exactly that there is no "same data source"
> anymore: the local DBA can customize the timezone list all he wants.

> We could document what the out-of-the-box settings are, but is it
> really useful to duplicate that info in the SGML docs?  We don't
> for example provide a copy of psql \df+ output in the SGML docs,
> and I'm wondering if this isn't kind of the same animal.

I'd vote for not including it. The current table is way out of sync already.
I first chose the timezones for the "Default"-set based on this table in the
docs but then I noticed that the table does not really reflect the timezones
in the source code. With the view it's now almost trivial to keep both
synced but it still is a source of errors. Furthermore since nobody has
complained about the incorrect table so far, I don't think many people care.
And those who do can easily consult the view or the file of the Default set
directly.


Joachim