[tz] Beginner's help request

[Daniel Ford]

Bradley,

"Then you can use any zoneinfo-aware 'localtime()' implementation to convert the absolute time to the local civil time."

I've not yet found an Arduino library with such a function.  They all seem to operate from text data.  But I'll keep looking.

"Get a PVR and watch both!"
I have a PVR that can record up to four programs simultaneously, but sometimes even that is not enough!  Seriously though, the TV example was, as I said, trivial.  There are many scenarios where one would want to know the exact time and not be near a PC or smartphone.

"An even simpler design then would be to install software on the PC that would deliver the local time to your clock over the LAN."
That's quite possible for me alone, but not for a commercial clock.  The purchaser might have any of a number of different 'computer' products in their home, including Android tablets and machines from crApple.  I am certainly not about to write software for the dozens of variants that might be found in individual homes!  That would also require that their 'computer' be on 24/7, assuming the user wants to know the accurate time at any time of the day or night.

Regards,
Daniel

 

________________________________

From: c410bw02 at gmail.com [mailto:c410bw02 at gmail.com] On Behalf Of Bradley White
Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2017 6:02 PM
To: Daniel Ford
Cc: Time zone mailing list
Subject: Re: [tz] Beginner's help request


On Thu, Nov 2, 2017 at 2:17 AM, Daniel Ford <dfnojunk at gmail.com> wrote:


	I'm not sure that I'm looking for a 'new mechanism', but rather a simple way of doing the same thing (on the NodeMCU platform) those billions of devices do, without any 'incremental' ongoing costs.  By that I mean no additional costs over the data plan the user currently has for their wi-fi Internet connection.

It seems, then, that your device could simply pull (compiled) zoneinfo files (from some source you've setup or arranged to use).  Then you can use any zoneinfo-aware "localtime()" implementation to convert the absolute time to the local civil time.

	I'm sitting in my living room watching TV.  A show that I want to watch more than the one I'm currently watching starts on another channel at 9pm.

Get a PVR and watch both!

	This is a very trivial example, but illustrates the type of problem I'm trying to solve.  There would be lots of people (particularly elderly people) without a smartphone, but with an Internet connected PC, though not in their living room/bedroom/kitchen/wherever they want to know the time.

An even simpler design then would be to install software on the PC that would deliver the local time to your clock over the LAN.  Get out of the TZ business altogether.