[tz] Hard copy of TZdata2023?

Guy Harris gharris at sonic.net
Fri Oct 20 20:01:15 UTC 2023 

On Oct 14, 2023, at 5:28 PM, natyaveda via tz <tz at iana.org> wrote:

> Hey, are you aware of any printable or hard copy (paper) publications of your Time-Zone database in a complete or semi-complete form?  
> 
> Perhaps this has been produced by someone in the astrology community?
> 
> I'm basically looking to see if its possible to get the rights to include parts of such a publication in a publication of my own.  I doubt one exists that includes all the info for every city in the world in a single publication, but I'm looking to see if it does and how large it might be.
> 
> What I have in mind is something that lists information pretty much exactly as its presented in the tables for the "Detailed time zone and clock changes" available on timeanddate.com (minus everything outside the tables):
> 
> https://www.timeanddate.com/time/zone/canada/vancouver

That page currently shows a table of "Time Changes in Vancouver Over the Years" below it, showing past transitions to and from DST in 2022, past and upcoming transitions in 2023, and upcoming transitions from 2024 to 2026.

That information is *NOT* in that form anywhere in the tzdb.  A printed version of the most recent release of the tzdb, 2023c, for the tzdb region that includes Vancouver would look like

# Rule	NAME	FROM	TO	-	IN	ON	AT	SAVE	LETTER/S
Rule	Canada	1918	only	-	Apr	14	2:00	1:00	D
Rule	Canada	1918	only	-	Oct	27	2:00	0	S
Rule	Canada	1942	only	-	Feb	 9	2:00	1:00	W # War
Rule	Canada	1945	only	-	Aug	14	23:00u	1:00	P # Peace
Rule	Canada	1945	only	-	Sep	30	2:00	0	S
Rule	Canada	1974	1986	-	Apr	lastSun	2:00	1:00	D
Rule	Canada	1974	2006	-	Oct	lastSun	2:00	0	S
Rule	Canada	1987	2006	-	Apr	Sun>=1	2:00	1:00	D
Rule	Canada	2007	max	-	Mar	Sun>=8	2:00	1:00	D
Rule	Canada	2007	max	-	Nov	Sun>=1	2:00	0	S

# Rule	NAME	FROM	TO	-	IN	ON	AT	SAVE	LETTER/S
Rule	Vanc	1918	only	-	Apr	14	2:00	1:00	D
Rule	Vanc	1918	only	-	Oct	27	2:00	0	S
Rule	Vanc	1942	only	-	Feb	 9	2:00	1:00	W # War
Rule	Vanc	1945	only	-	Aug	14	23:00u	1:00	P # Peace
Rule	Vanc	1945	only	-	Sep	30	2:00	0	S
Rule	Vanc	1946	1986	-	Apr	lastSun	2:00	1:00	D
Rule	Vanc	1946	only	-	Sep	29	2:00	0	S
Rule	Vanc	1947	1961	-	Sep	lastSun	2:00	0	S
Rule	Vanc	1962	2006	-	Oct	lastSun	2:00	0	S

# Zone	NAME		STDOFF	RULES	FORMAT	[UNTIL]
Zone America/Vancouver	-8:12:28 -	LMT	1884
			-8:00	Vanc	P%sT	1987
			-8:00	Canada	P%sT

Those are not lists of transitions; they're rules that software can use to *generate* transition times.

The *binary* files generated from the source files *do* contain transition times, but they're binary files, so they would need to be interpreted by a program in order to be shown in human-readable form.

If what you *really* mean is "are you aware of any printable or hard copy (paper) publications of the DST start and end times for all regions in the tzdb", I don't know of any.

Generating such a publication would involve a program that reads the tzdb information, in binary, and displays all the transitions.

Newer versions of the zdump command will, with the -V command, show this; for example:

$ zdump -c 2026 -V America/Vancouver
America/Vancouver  Tue Jan  1 08:12:27 1884 UT = Mon Dec 31 23:59:59 1883 LMT isdst=0 gmtoff=-29548
America/Vancouver  Tue Jan  1 08:12:28 1884 UT = Tue Jan  1 00:12:28 1884 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Sun Apr 14 09:59:59 1918 UT = Sun Apr 14 01:59:59 1918 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Sun Apr 14 10:00:00 1918 UT = Sun Apr 14 03:00:00 1918 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Oct 27 08:59:59 1918 UT = Sun Oct 27 01:59:59 1918 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Oct 27 09:00:00 1918 UT = Sun Oct 27 01:00:00 1918 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Mon Feb  9 09:59:59 1942 UT = Mon Feb  9 01:59:59 1942 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Mon Feb  9 10:00:00 1942 UT = Mon Feb  9 03:00:00 1942 PWT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Tue Aug 14 22:59:59 1945 UT = Tue Aug 14 15:59:59 1945 PWT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Tue Aug 14 23:00:00 1945 UT = Tue Aug 14 16:00:00 1945 PPT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Sep 30 08:59:59 1945 UT = Sun Sep 30 01:59:59 1945 PPT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Sep 30 09:00:00 1945 UT = Sun Sep 30 01:00:00 1945 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Sun Apr 28 09:59:59 1946 UT = Sun Apr 28 01:59:59 1946 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Sun Apr 28 10:00:00 1946 UT = Sun Apr 28 03:00:00 1946 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Sep 29 08:59:59 1946 UT = Sun Sep 29 01:59:59 1946 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Sep 29 09:00:00 1946 UT = Sun Sep 29 01:00:00 1946 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800

	...

America/Vancouver  Sun Mar 14 09:59:59 2021 UT = Sun Mar 14 01:59:59 2021 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Sun Mar 14 10:00:00 2021 UT = Sun Mar 14 03:00:00 2021 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Nov  7 08:59:59 2021 UT = Sun Nov  7 01:59:59 2021 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Nov  7 09:00:00 2021 UT = Sun Nov  7 01:00:00 2021 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Sun Mar 13 09:59:59 2022 UT = Sun Mar 13 01:59:59 2022 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Sun Mar 13 10:00:00 2022 UT = Sun Mar 13 03:00:00 2022 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Nov  6 08:59:59 2022 UT = Sun Nov  6 01:59:59 2022 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Nov  6 09:00:00 2022 UT = Sun Nov  6 01:00:00 2022 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Sun Mar 12 09:59:59 2023 UT = Sun Mar 12 01:59:59 2023 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Sun Mar 12 10:00:00 2023 UT = Sun Mar 12 03:00:00 2023 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Nov  5 08:59:59 2023 UT = Sun Nov  5 01:59:59 2023 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Nov  5 09:00:00 2023 UT = Sun Nov  5 01:00:00 2023 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Sun Mar 10 09:59:59 2024 UT = Sun Mar 10 01:59:59 2024 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Sun Mar 10 10:00:00 2024 UT = Sun Mar 10 03:00:00 2024 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Nov  3 08:59:59 2024 UT = Sun Nov  3 01:59:59 2024 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Nov  3 09:00:00 2024 UT = Sun Nov  3 01:00:00 2024 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Sun Mar  9 09:59:59 2025 UT = Sun Mar  9 01:59:59 2025 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
America/Vancouver  Sun Mar  9 10:00:00 2025 UT = Sun Mar  9 03:00:00 2025 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Nov  2 08:59:59 2025 UT = Sun Nov  2 01:59:59 2025 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
America/Vancouver  Sun Nov  2 09:00:00 2025 UT = Sun Nov  2 01:00:00 2025 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800

That could probably be processed to put it in an easier-to-read form.

More information about the tz mailing list