[tz] Single source of truth for timezone data

Guy Harris gharris at sonic.net
Sat Dec 3 06:57:44 UTC 2022


On Dec 2, 2022, at 7:36 PM, Guy Harris via tz <tz at iana.org> wrote:

> so it'a somewhat like the result of combining the FORMAT field in a Zone line with the LETTER/S field of a Rule line, except that it's locale-specific, unlike the FORMAT+LETTER/S time zone abbreviation we provide.

No, the metazone would be something we might, for example, add to the end of a Zone line - it doesn't indicate standard vs. daylight saving time, it has both names if DST is, or ever was, observed by any tzdb region while in that metazone.

(Yes, tzdb regions can move from one metazone to another.)

So we could, in principle:

	have new versions of the source files with an additional METAZONE field at the end of Zone lines;

	have zic handle that field;

	have a tool to strip off the METAZONE field, to produce files to be handled by tools that read source files and that *don't* understand the METAZONE field;

*if* the CLDR

	1) is willing to work with that;

	2) is willing to do the initial work of creating those new versions of the source files;

	3) is willing either to put up with whatever names we choose for metazones any time we create a new Zone that needs a new metazone or is willing to give us a new metazone name in a timely fashion (as in "fast enough that the new metazone name is provided before we need to make a new tzdb release) whenever we need to create a new Zone.
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