xref: /netbsd-src/lib/libc/time/zic.8 (revision b757af438b42b93f8c6571f026d8b8ef3eaf5fc9)
1.\"	$NetBSD: zic.8,v 1.19 2011/09/04 10:10:26 christos Exp $
2.\" @(#)zic.8	7.22
3.Dd December 20, 2003
4.Dt ZIC 8
5.Os
6.Sh NAME
7.Nm zic
8.Nd time zone compiler
9.Sh SYNOPSIS
10.Nm
11.Op Fl \-version
12.Op Fl d Ar directory
13.Op Fl L Ar leapsecondfilename
14.Op Fl l Ar localtime
15.Op Fl p Ar posixrules
16.Op Fl s
17.Op Fl v
18.Op Fl y Ar command
19.Op Ar Filename ...
20.Sh DESCRIPTION
21.Nm
22reads text from the file(s) named on the command line
23and creates the time conversion information files specified in this input.
24If a
25.Ar filename
26is
27.Ar \&- ,
28the standard input is read.
29.Pp
30These options are available:
31.Bl -tag -width XXXXXXXXXX -compact
32.It Fl \-version
33Output version information and exit.
34.It Fl d Ar directory
35Create time conversion information files in the named directory rather than
36in the standard directory named below.
37.It Fl L Ar leapsecondfilename
38Read leap second information from the file with the given name.
39If this option is not used,
40no leap second information appears in output files.
41.It Fl l Ar timezone
42Use the given time zone as local time.
43.Nm
44will act as if the input contained a link line of the form
45.Dl Link	timezone	localtime
46.It Fl p Ar timezone
47Use the given time zone's rules when handling POSIX-format
48time zone environment variables.
49.Nm
50will act as if the input contained a link line of the form
51.Dl Link	timezone	posixrules
52.It Fl s
53Limit time values stored in output files to values that are the same
54whether they're taken to be signed or unsigned.
55You can use this option to generate SVVS-compatible files.
56.It Fl v
57Complain if a year that appears in a data file is outside the range
58of years representable by
59.Xr time 3
60values.
61Also complain if a time of 24:00
62.Pq which cannot be handled by pre-1998 versions of Nm
63appears in the input.
64.It Fl y Ar command
65Use the given
66.Ar command
67rather than
68.Em yearistype
69when checking year types (see below).
70.Pp
71Input lines are made up of fields.
72Fields are separated from one another by any number of white space characters.
73Leading and trailing white space on input lines is ignored.
74An unquoted sharp character (#) in the input introduces a comment which extends
75to the end of the line the sharp character appears on.
76White space characters and sharp characters may be enclosed in double
77quotes
78.Pq \&"
79.\" XXX "
80if they're to be used as part of a field.
81Any line that is blank (after comment stripping) is ignored.
82Non-blank lines are expected to be of one of three types:
83rule lines, zone lines, and link lines.
84.Pp
85Names (such as month names) must be in English and are case insensitive.
86Abbreviations, if used, must be unambiguous in context.
87.Pp
88A rule line has the form
89.Dl Rule	NAME	FROM	TO	TYPE	IN	ON	AT	SAVE	LETTER/S
90For example:
91.Dl Rule	US	1967	1973	\-	Apr	lastSun	2:00	1:00	D
92The fields that make up a rule line are:
93.Bl -tag -width "LETTER/S" -compact
94.It NAME
95Gives the (arbitrary) name of the set of rules this rule is part of.
96.It FROM
97Gives the first year in which the rule applies.
98Any integer year can be supplied; the Gregorian calendar is assumed.
99The word
100.Em minimum
101(or an abbreviation) means the minimum year representable as an integer.
102The word
103.Em maximum
104(or an abbreviation) means the maximum year representable as an integer.
105Rules can describe times that are not representable as time values,
106with the unrepresentable times ignored; this allows rules to be portable
107among hosts with differing time value types.
108.It TO
109Gives the final year in which the rule applies.
110In addition to
111.Em minimum
112and
113.Em maximum
114(as above),
115the word
116.Em only
117(or an abbreviation)
118may be used to repeat the value of the
119.Em FROM
120field.
121.It TYPE
122Gives the type of year in which the rule applies.
123If
124.Em TYPE
125is
126.Em \&-
127then the rule applies in all years between
128.Em FROM
129and
130.Em TO
131inclusive.
132If
133.Em TYPE
134is something else, then
135.Nm
136executes the command
137.Pp
138.Ic yearistype Ar year type
139.Pp
140to check the type of a year:
141an exit status of zero is taken to mean that the year is of the given type;
142an exit status of one is taken to mean that the year is not of the given type.
143.It IN
144Names the month in which the rule takes effect.
145Month names may be abbreviated.
146.It ON
147Gives the day on which the rule takes effect.
148Recognized forms include:
149.Bl -tag -width lastSun -compact -offset indent
150.It 5
151the fifth of the month
152.It lastSun
153the last Sunday in the month
154.It lastMon
155the last Monday in the month
156.It Sun\*[Ge]8
157first Sunday on or after the eighth
158.It Sun\*[Le]25
159last Sunday on or before the 25th
160.El
161Names of days of the week may be abbreviated or spelled out in full.
162Note that there must be no spaces within the
163.Em ON
164field.
165.It AT
166Gives the time of day at which the rule takes effect.
167Recognized forms include:
168.Bl -tag -width "1X28X14" -compact -offset indent
169.It 2
170time in hours
171.It 2:00
172time in hours and minutes
173.It 15:00
17424-hour format time (for times after noon)
175.It 1:28:14
176time in hours, minutes, and seconds
177.It \-
178equivalent to 0
179.El
180where hour 0 is midnight at the start of the day,
181and hour 24 is midnight at the end of the day.
182Any of these forms may be followed by the letter
183.Em w
184if the given time is local
185.Dq wall clock
186time,
187.Em s
188if the given time is local
189.Dq standard
190time, or
191.Em u
192(or
193.Em g
194or
195.Em z )
196if the given time is universal time;
197in the absence of an indicator,
198wall clock time is assumed.
199.It SAVE
200Gives the amount of time to be added to local standard time when the rule is in
201effect.
202This field has the same format as the
203.Em AT
204field
205(although, of course, the
206.Em w
207and
208.Em s
209suffixes are not used).
210.It LETTER/S
211Gives the
212.Dq variable part
213(for example, the
214.Dq S
215or
216.Dq D
217in
218.Dq EST
219or
220.Dq EDT )
221of time zone abbreviations to be used when this rule is in effect.
222If this field is
223.Em \&- ,
224the variable part is null.
225.El
226.Pp
227A zone line has the form
228.sp
229.Dl Zone	NAME			GMTOFF	RULES/SAVE	FORMAT	[UNTILYEAR [MONTH [DAY [TIME]]]]
230For example:
231.Dl Zone	Australia/Adelaide	9:30	Aus	CST	1971 Oct 31 2:00
232The fields that make up a zone line are:
233.Bl -tag -width "RULES/SAVE" -compact
234.It NAME
235The name of the time zone.
236This is the name used in creating the time conversion information file for the
237zone.
238.It GMTOFF
239The amount of time to add to UTC to get standard time in this zone.
240This field has the same format as the
241.Em AT
242and
243.Em SAVE
244fields of rule lines;
245begin the field with a minus sign if time must be subtracted from UTC.
246.It RULES/SAVE
247The name of the rule(s) that apply in the time zone or,
248alternatively, an amount of time to add to local standard time.
249If this field is
250.Em \&-
251then standard time always applies in the time zone.
252.It FORMAT
253The format for time zone abbreviations in this time zone.
254The pair of characters
255.Em %s
256is used to show where the
257.Dq variable part
258of the time zone abbreviation goes.
259Alternatively,
260a slash
261.Pq \&/
262separates standard and daylight abbreviations.
263.It UNTILYEAR [MONTH [DAY [TIME]]]
264The time at which the UTC offset or the rule(s) change for a location.
265It is specified as a year, a month, a day, and a time of day.
266If this is specified,
267the time zone information is generated from the given UTC offset
268and rule change until the time specified.
269The month, day, and time of day have the same format as the IN, ON, and AT
270fields of a rule; trailing fields can be omitted, and default to the
271earliest possible value for the missing fields.
272.El
273The next line must be a
274.Dq continuation
275line; this has the same form as a zone line except that the
276string
277.Dq Zone
278and the name are omitted, as the continuation line will
279place information starting at the time specified as the
280.Em until
281information in the previous line in the file used by the previous line.
282Continuation lines may contain
283.Em until
284information, just as zone lines do, indicating that the next line is a further
285continuation.
286.Pp
287A link line has the form
288.Dl Link	LINK-FROM	LINK-TO
289For example:
290.Dl Link	Europe/Istanbul	Asia/Istanbul
291The
292.Em LINK-FROM
293field should appear as the
294.Em NAME
295field in some zone line;
296the
297.Em LINK-TO
298field is used as an alternative name for that zone.
299.Pp
300Except for continuation lines,
301lines may appear in any order in the input.
302.Pp
303Lines in the file that describes leap seconds have the following form:
304.Dl Leap	YEAR	MONTH	DAY	HH:MM:SS	CORR	R/S
305For example:
306.Dl Leap	1974	Dec	31	23:59:60	+	S
307The
308.Em YEAR ,
309.Em MONTH ,
310.Em DAY ,
311and
312.Em HH:MM:SS
313fields tell when the leap second happened.
314The
315.Em CORR
316field
317should be
318.Dq \&+
319if a second was added
320or
321.Dq \&-
322if a second was skipped.
323.\" There's no need to document the following, since it's impossible for more
324.\" than one leap second to be inserted or deleted at a time.
325.\" The C Standard is in error in suggesting the possibility.
326.\" See Terry J Quinn, The BIPM and the accurate measure of time,
327.\" Proc IEEE 79, 7 (July 1991), 894-905.
328.\"	or
329.\"	.Dq ++
330.\"	if two seconds were added
331.\"	or
332.\"	.Dq --
333.\"	if two seconds were skipped.
334The
335.Em R/S
336field
337should be (an abbreviation of)
338.Dq Stationary
339if the leap second time given by the other fields should be interpreted as UTC
340or
341(an abbreviation of)
342.Dq Rolling
343if the leap second time given by the other fields should be interpreted as
344local wall clock time.
345.El
346.Sh EXTENDED EXAMPLE
347Here is an extended example of
348.Ic zic
349input, intended to illustrate many of its features.
350.Bl -column -compact "# Rule" "Swiss" "FROM" "1995" "TYPE" "Oct" "lastSun" "1:00u" "SAVE" "LETTER/S"
351.It # Rule	NAME	FROM	TO	TYPE	IN	ON	AT	SAVE	LETTER/S
352.It Rule	Swiss	1940	only	-	Nov	2	0:00	1:00	S
353.It Rule	Swiss	1940	only	-	Dec	31	0:00	0	-
354.It Rule	Swiss	1941	1942	-	May	Sun>=1	2:00	1:00	S
355.It Rule	Swiss	1941	1942	-	Oct	Sun>=1	0:00	0
356.Pp
357.It Rule	EU	1977	1980	-	Apr	Sun>=1	1:00u	1:00	S
358.It Rule	EU	1977	only	-	Sep	lastSun	1:00u	0	-
359.It Rule	EU	1978	only	-	Oct	 1	1:00u	0	-
360.It Rule	EU	1979	1995	-	Sep	lastSun	1:00u	0	-
361.It Rule	EU	1981	max	-	Mar	lastSun	1:00u	1:00	S
362.It Rule	EU	1996	max	-	Oct	lastSun	1:00u	0	-
363.El
364.Pp
365.Bl -column -compact "# Zone" "Europe/Zurich" "0:29:44" "RULES" "FORMAT" "UNTIL"
366.It # Zone	NAME	GMTOFF	RULES	FORMAT	UNTIL
367.It Zone	Europe/Zurich	0:34:08	-	LMT	1848 Sep 12
368.It 		0:29:44	-	BMT	1894 Jun
369.It 		1:00	Swiss	CE%sT	1981
370.It 		1:00	EU	CE%sT
371.It Link	Europe/Zurich	Switzerland
372.El
373.Pp
374In this example, the zone is named Europe/Zurich but it has an alias
375as Switzerland.
376Zurich was 34 minutes and 8 seconds west of GMT until
3771848-09-12 at 00:00, when the offset changed to 29 minutes and 44
378seconds.
379After 1894-06-01 at 00:00 Swiss daylight saving rules (defined
380with lines beginning with "Rule Swiss") apply, and the GMT offset
381became one hour.
382From 1981 to the present, EU daylight saving rules have
383applied, and the UTC offset has remained at one hour.
384.Pp
385In 1940, daylight saving time applied from November 2 at 00:00 to
386December 31 at 00:00.
387In 1941 and 1942, daylight saving time applied
388from the first Sunday in May at 02:00 to the first Sunday in October
389at 00:00.
390The pre-1981 EU daylight-saving rules have no effect
391here, but are included for completeness.
392Since 1981, daylight
393saving has begun on the last Sunday in March at 01:00 UTC.
394Until 1995 it ended the last Sunday in September at 01:00 UTC,
395but this changed to the last Sunday in October starting in 1996.
396.Pp
397For purposes of
398display, "LMT" and "BMT" were initially used, respectively.
399Since
400Swiss rules and later EU rules were applied, the display name for the
401timezone has been CET for standard time and CEST for daylight saving
402time.
403.Sh NOTES
404For areas with more than two types of local time,
405you may need to use local standard time in the
406.Em AT
407field of the earliest transition time's rule to ensure that
408the earliest transition time recorded in the compiled file is correct.
409.Pp
410If,
411for a particular zone,
412a clock advance caused by the start of daylight saving
413coincides with and is equal to
414a clock retreat caused by a change in UTC offset,
415.Ic zic
416produces a single transition to daylight saving at the new UTC offset
417(without any change in wall clock time).
418To get separate transitions
419use multiple zone continuation lines
420specifying transition instants using universal time.
421.Sh FILES
422.Pa /usr/share/zoneinfo
423- standard directory used for created files
424.Sh SEE ALSO
425.Xr ctime 3 ,
426.Xr tzfile 5 ,
427.Xr zdump 8
428.\" @(#)zic.8	8.6
429.\" This file is in the public domain, so clarified as of
430.\" 2009-05-17 by Arthur David Olson.
431