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<DIV><SPAN class=490481915-21062002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Kerry
Kimbrough is not on the time zone mailing list; direct replies
appropriately.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=490481915-21062002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
class=490481915-21062002>
<FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>--ado</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=490481915-21062002></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Kerry Kimbrough
[mailto:kkimbrough@clearcommerce.com]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, June 21, 2002
10:57 AM<BR><B>To:</B> 'tz@elsie.nci.nih.gov'<BR><B>Subject:</B> Time zone
equality?<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=020534214-21062002>Help! Can someone
explain the algorithm for TimeZone::operator==? That is, how do you know if two
time zones are the same or different?</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=020534214-21062002></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=020534214-21062002>I'm motivated by a
UI design issue that's become hot around here. We allow users to select a time
zone from a list. In our case, the list come from the ICU package, which I
understand uses the same list as the Olsen package. Trouble is, this list is
huge and bewildering, with a great deal of apparent redundancy. For example,
there are 37 different time zones listed at GMT-04:00. This makes for a
usability issue, as it becomes hard to search and confidently select the correct
choice. And many are convinced that the long is just wrong because they can see
a much shorter one used in Windows.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=020534214-21062002></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=020534214-21062002>We want to
generate a shorter list, but we're also reluctant to just throw out legitimate
choices. If two time zones are equivalent, </SPAN><SPAN
class=020534214-21062002>then it's </SPAN><SPAN class=020534214-21062002>OK
to drop one from the list. But how can you tell? How does Windows do
it?</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
class=020534214-21062002></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
class=020534214-21062002></SPAN>----</FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards,</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Kerry</FONT> </P>
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