Setting Up Multiple Time Zones

Accommodating variations in local time is a special global business challenge. The Multiple Time Zones Setup menu (36.16.22) lets you create and maintain time zone data.

• Use Multiple Time Zones Maintenance (36.16.22.1) to define and maintain multiple time zones, including the changes required by daylight savings time.

• Use Multiple Time Zones Inquiry (36.16.22.2) and Multiple Time Zones Report (36.16.22.3) to display and report time zone information.

• Use Multiple Time Zones Load Utility (36.16.22.13) to load sample time zone data.

• Use Domain Create (36.1.1.1.1) or Domain Modify (36.1.1.1.2) to specify the time zone that applies to a particular domain.

You should restrict access to these programs, with the possible exception of the report and inquiry. Do not change time zone information without carefully evaluating the impact.

Use Multiple Time Zones Maintenance (36.16.22.1) to define and modify time zones.

Note: The Multiple Time Zones Load Utility lets you load your own time zone data.

• In the simplest format, you can base a time zone on an offset from GMT.

• The system can also track daylight savings time adjustments from a baseline you set.

If you choose the second approach, you must specify when the change in time occurs. You can also use effective dates with time zone information, if the start and end points for daylight savings time only apply for a range of years.

After you define the time zones, you can generate reports with Multiple Time Zones Report (36.16.22.3). Multiple Time Zones Maintenance (36.16.22.1) illustrates Multiple Time Zones Maintenance.

Enter up to 40 characters describing this time zone. The description appears in the time zone lookup.

This field indicates whether the system should adjust the time zone you are defining for a given period—usually daylight savings time or its equivalent.

Selected: Define the period to be adjusted in the subsequent detail frame.

Clear: Time Period defaults to STD (standard). You cannot change it.

This field is editable if Auto Period Adjust is selected. Valid choices are STD for standard time, Day for daylight-saving time, and Sum for summer time. You can define details for two periods: a standard period, and a special adjusted period for daylight savings or its equivalent. This field determines which of the detail fields are required.

Note: Set up values for time period as language details to reflect the terms you use.

Enter the beginning year of the range associated with this time zone definition. In some countries, the implementation of time zones varies from year to year. Using start and end dates, you can set up multiple records effective at different periods of time.

Enter the ending year of the range associated with this time zone definition. If you do not know when the current definition ceases to be effective, use an end year such as 9999.

Enter the actual offset in hours and minutes from Greenwich mean time (GMT) for this time zone. Enter this number with either a plus sign (+) or minus sign (–) indicating the direction of the offset.

GMT is the base for establishing the relationships among time zones and is never affected by daylight-saving time adjustments.

Specify the month in which daylight savings starts or ends. The month is expressed as a numerical value between 1 and 12. For January, enter 1; for February, enter 2, and so on.

This field is mandatory.

When Auto Period Adjust is selected, enter a number from 0 to 7 indicating the day of the week when the time change occurs. In the U.S., time changes always occur on Sunday (1).

• Enter 0 if the change occurs on the date in the Start Date field, regardless of the day of the week on which it falls.

• Enter a number in the range 1-7 corresponding to Sunday through Saturday if the change occurs on a certain day of the week.

Specify the week in the month in which daylight savings starts or ends. The week is expressed numerically and must be a value between 1 and 5, where 5 indicates the last week in the month. You can only use this field if you also specify a value in the Weekday field.

Note: The Week field only takes effect if the Weekday field contains a non-zero value.

You can use this field and the Month and Weekday fields to define cases where daylight savings time begins on a particular weekday in a month, rather than on a set date every year. For example, in the US, daylight savings time begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November.

Specify the particular day in a month on which daylight savings starts or ends. The day is expressed numerically and must be a value between 1 and 31. You can only specify a value in this field if the Weekday field is set to 0.

You can use this field and the Month field to define situations where daylight savings time begins on a particular date in the year. For example, in Honduras, daylight savings time began on 7 May, 2010.

When Auto Period Adjust is selected, enter the exact time of day, using a 24‑hour clock, when the time change occurs. Enter this time in standard time.

In the United States, enter 02:00 when switching from standard time to daylight-saving time, but 01:00 when switching from daylight savings time back to standard.