Subject: RE: bug#9794: 24.0.90; `format-time-string' no good for %Z

From: "Drew Adams" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 07:27:44 -0700

> Thanks.  So, since everybody agrees,

?

> I committed as revision 106162
> the changes to nt/config.nt that make current-time-zone and the
> strftime's %Z format return a non-empty string on MS-Windows.

Just what is the non-empty string that is returned on Windows?  Is it the
informative name that Windows provides (e.g., "(Pacific Daylight Time)"), or
just the %z numerical offset, or something else again?

What about this?

> I suggest format specifiers that let you alternatively do all 
> of the following for the case of time zone names (i.e. "pretty"
> names, not just %z numbers).
> 
> 1. Use only POSIX-compliant time-zone pretty names, which can 
>    mean "" (empty - no available POSIX name).
> 
> 2. Use any available nonempty time-zone pretty names, with 
>    priority to nonempty POSIX-compliant pretty names.
> 
> 3. Same as #2, but with priority to system-supplied names,
>    even when a corresponding nonempty POSIX name is available.
> 
> 4. Use only nonempty POSIX-compliant pretty names, when 
>    available, and fall back to what %z does in cases where the
>    POSIX name is empty.
> 
> #2 and #3 would also fall back to %z when no nonempty name is 
> available.