FW: Suggestions about separation and ISO code

[Markus Scherer]

> From: Jonas Melian [mailto:jonas.esp at googlemail.com]
> Some suggestions:

Just to state the obvious, any change in the data format means
changing the parsers - and there are many parsers other than the one
in tzcode.

Also, the data format is not designed for maximum readability.
End-users are not supposed to deal with any of this data directly.

> 1) To using ISO 3166 3-character country code becasuse is more readable.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1
>
> For any person it's easier to identify a country by the code of
> 3-letters that by the one of 2-letters.

For most computer people, the 2-letter codes are by far the most
commonly used ones. End-users should see a map, or a menu with place
names in their language.

> 2) Columns separated by another character different of a tab, as ':'.
> So it's more readable for humans and too for the machines. And so it's
> easier to maintain that table.

As far as I know, it's actually whitespace (one or more space or tab)
separating columns, visually assuming a fixed-width font. I find
columns quite readable, and whitespace separation is easy for a
parser, too.

Best regards,
markus
-- 
Opinions expressed here may not reflect my company's positions unless
otherwise noted.