[tz] [PROPOSED] Improve tzfile.5 formatting and clarity

Ian Abbott abbotti at mev.co.uk
Mon Aug 7 09:23:04 UTC 2017


On 07/08/17 10:22, Ian Abbott wrote:
> On 05/08/17 04:13, Paul Eggert wrote:
>> * tzfile.5: Break out field descriptions into bulleted lists, to
>> make them easier to follow.  This does not change the technical
>> content of the spec, just its presentation.
>> ---
>>   tzfile.5 | 77 
>> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------------------
>>   1 file changed, 48 insertions(+), 29 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/tzfile.5 b/tzfile.5
>> index 52c5301..b7dc828 100644
>> --- a/tzfile.5
>> +++ b/tzfile.5
>> @@ -10,17 +10,29 @@ tzfile \- time zone information
>>   \\$3\*(lq\\$1\*(rq\\$2
>>   ..
>>   The time zone information files used by
>> -.IR tzset (3)
>> -begin with the magic characters "TZif" to identify them as
>> -time zone information files,
>> -followed by a character identifying the version of the file's format
>> -(as of 2013, either an ASCII NUL, or '2', or '3')
>> -followed by fifteen bytes containing zeroes reserved for future use,
>> -followed by six four-byte integer values
>> +.BR tzset (3)
>> +are typically found under a directory with a name like
>> +.IR /usr/share/zoneinfo .
>> +These files begin with a 44-byte header containing the following fields:
>> +.IP * 2
>> +The magic four-byte ASCII sequence
>> +.q "TZif"
>> +identifies the file as a time zone information file.
>> +.IP *
>> +A byte identifying the version of the file's format
>> +(as of 2017, either an ASCII NUL, or
>> +.q "2",
>> +or
>> +.q "3" ).
>> +.IP *
>> +Fifteen bytes containing zeros reserved for future use.
>> +.IP *
>> +Six four-byte integer values
>>   written in a standard byte order
>>   (the high-order byte of the value is written first).
>>   These values are,
>>   in order:
>> +.RS
>>   .TP
>>   .I tzh_ttisgmtcnt
>>   The number of UT/local indicators stored in the file.
>> @@ -40,28 +52,30 @@ The number of local time types for which data 
>> entries are stored
>>   in the file (must not be zero).
>>   .TP
>>   .I tzh_charcnt
>> -The number of characters of time zone abbreviation strings
>> +The number of bytes of time zone abbreviation strings
>>   stored in the file.
>> +.RE
>>   .PP
>> -The above header is followed by
>> +The above header is followed by the following fields, whose lengths
>> +vary depend on the contents of the header:
> 
> depend --> depending

... or just drop the 'vary'!

-- 
-=( Ian Abbott @ MEV Ltd.    E-mail: <abbotti at mev.co.uk> )=-
-=(                          Web: http://www.mev.co.uk/  )=-


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