DateTime::TimeZone(3pm)        User Contributed Perl Documentation        DateTime::TimeZone(3pm)



NAME
       DateTime::TimeZone - Time zone object base class and factory

VERSION
       version 1.75

SYNOPSIS
         use DateTime;
         use DateTime::TimeZone;

         my $tz = DateTime::TimeZone->new( name => 'America/Chicago' );

         my $dt = DateTime->now();
         my $offset = $tz->offset_for_datetime($dt);

DESCRIPTION
       This class is the base class for all time zone objects.  A time zone is represented
       internally as a set of observances, each of which describes the offset from GMT for a
       given time period.

       Note that without the "DateTime.pm" module, this module does not do much.  It's primary
       interface is through a "DateTime" object, and most users will not need to directly use
       "DateTime::TimeZone" methods.

USAGE
       This class has the following methods:

   DateTime::TimeZone->new( name => $tz_name )
       Given a valid time zone name, this method returns a new time zone blessed into the
       appropriate subclass.  Subclasses are named for the given time zone, so that the time zone
       "America/Chicago" is the DateTime::TimeZone::America::Chicago class.

       If the name given is a "link" name in the Olson database, the object created may have a
       different name.  For example, there is a link from the old "EST5EDT" name to
       "America/New_York".

       When loading a time zone from the Olson database, the constructor checks the version of
       the loaded class to make sure it matches the version of the current DateTime::TimeZone
       installation. If they do not match it will issue a warning. This is useful because time
       zone names may fall out of use, but you may have an old module file installed for that
       time zone.

       There are also several special values that can be given as names.

       If the "name" parameter is "floating", then a "DateTime::TimeZone::Floating" object is
       returned.  A floating time zone does have any offset, and is always the same time.  This
       is useful for calendaring applications, which may need to specify that a given event
       happens at the same local time, regardless of where it occurs.  See RFC 2445 for more
       details.

       If the "name" parameter is "UTC", then a "DateTime::TimeZone::UTC" object is returned.

       If the "name" is an offset string, it is converted to a number, and a
       "DateTime::TimeZone::OffsetOnly" object is returned.

       The "local" time zone

       If the "name" parameter is "local", then the module attempts to determine the local time
       zone for the system.

       The method for finding the local zone varies by operating system. See the appropriate
       module for details of how we check for the local time zone.

       ·   DateTime::TimeZone::Local::Unix

       ·   DateTime::TimeZone::Local::Win32

       ·   DateTime::TimeZone::Local::VMS

       If a local time zone is not found, then an exception will be thrown.

   $tz->offset_for_datetime( $dt )
       Given a "DateTime" object, this method returns the offset in seconds for the given
       datetime.  This takes into account historical time zone information, as well as Daylight
       Saving Time.  The offset is determined by looking at the object's UTC Rata Die days and
       seconds.

   $tz->offset_for_local_datetime( $dt )
       Given a "DateTime" object, this method returns the offset in seconds for the given
       datetime.  Unlike the previous method, this method uses the local time's Rata Die days and
       seconds.  This should only be done when the corresponding UTC time is not yet known,
       because local times can be ambiguous due to Daylight Saving Time rules.

   $tz->is_dst_for_datetime( $dt )
       Given a "DateTime" object, this method returns true if the DateTime is currently in
       Daylight Saving Time.

   $tz->name
       Returns the name of the time zone.

   $tz->short_name_for_datetime( $dt )
       Given a "DateTime" object, this method returns the "short name" for the current observance
       and rule this datetime is in.  These are names like "EST", "GMT", etc.

       It is strongly recommended that you do not rely on these names for anything other than
       display.  These names are not official, and many of them are simply the invention of the
       Olson database maintainers.  Moreover, these names are not unique.  For example, there is
       an "EST" at both -0500 and +1000/+1100.

   $tz->is_floating
       Returns a boolean indicating whether or not this object represents a floating time zone,
       as defined by RFC 2445.

   $tz->is_utc
       Indicates whether or not this object represents the UTC (GMT) time zone.

   $tz->has_dst_changes
       Indicates whether or not this zone has ever had a change to and from DST, either in the
       past or future.

   $tz->is_olson
       Returns true if the time zone is a named time zone from the Olson database.

   $tz->category
       Returns the part of the time zone name before the first slash.  For example, the
       "America/Chicago" time zone would return "America".

   DateTime::TimeZone->is_valid_name($name)
       Given a string, this method returns a boolean value indicating whether or not the string
       is a valid time zone name.  If you are using "DateTime::TimeZone::Alias", any aliases
       you've created will be valid.

   DateTime::TimeZone->all_names
       This returns a pre-sorted list of all the time zone names.  This list does not include
       link names.  In scalar context, it returns an array reference, while in list context it
       returns an array.

   DateTime::TimeZone->categories
       This returns a list of all time zone categories.  In scalar context, it returns an array
       reference, while in list context it returns an array.

   DateTime::TimeZone->links
       This returns a hash of all time zone links, where the keys are the old, deprecated names,
       and the values are the new names.  In scalar context, it returns a hash reference, while
       in list context it returns a hash.

   DateTime::TimeZone->names_in_category( $category )
       Given a valid category, this method returns a list of the names in that category, without
       the category portion.  So the list for the "America" category would include the strings
       "Chicago", "Kentucky/Monticello", and "New_York". In scalar context, it returns an array
       reference, while in list context it returns an array.

   DateTime::TimeZone->countries()
       Returns a sorted list of all the valid country codes (in lower-case) which can be passed
       to "names_in_country()". In scalar context, it returns an array reference, while in list
       context it returns an array.

       If you need to convert country codes to names or vice versa you can use "Locale::Country"
       to do so.

   DateTime::TimeZone->names_in_country( $country_code )
       Given a two-letter ISO3166 country code, this method returns a list of time zones used in
       that country. The country code may be of any case. In scalar context, it returns an array
       reference, while in list context it returns an array.

       This list is returned in an order vaguely based on geography and population. In general,
       the least used zones come last, but there are not guarantees of a specific order from one
       release to the next. This order is probably the best option for presenting zones names to
       end users.

   DateTime::TimeZone->offset_as_seconds( $offset )
       Given an offset as a string, this returns the number of seconds represented by the offset
       as a positive or negative number.  Returns "undef" if $offset is not in the range
       "-99:59:59" to "+99:59:59".

       The offset is expected to match either "/^([\+\-])?(\d\d?):(\d\d)(?::(\d\d))?$/" or
       "/^([\+\-])?(\d\d)(\d\d)(\d\d)?$/".  If it doesn't match either of these, "undef" will be
       returned.

       This means that if you want to specify hours as a single digit, then each element of the
       offset must be separated by a colon (:).

   DateTime::TimeZone->offset_as_string( $offset )
       Given an offset as a number, this returns the offset as a string.  Returns "undef" if
       $offset is not in the range "-359999" to 359999.

   Storable Hooks
       This module provides freeze and thaw hooks for "Storable" so that the huge data structures
       for Olson time zones are not actually stored in the serialized structure.

       If you subclass "DateTime::TimeZone", you will inherit its hooks, which may not work for
       your module, so please test the interaction of your module with Storable.

SUPPORT
       Support for this module is provided via the datetime AT perl.org email list. See
       http://datetime.perl.org/wiki/datetime/page/Mailing_List for details.

       Please submit bugs to the CPAN RT system at
       http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=datetime%3A%3Atimezone or via email at
       bug-datetime-timezone AT rt.org.

DONATIONS
       If you'd like to thank me for the work I've done on this module, please consider making a
       "donation" to me via PayPal. I spend a lot of free time creating free software, and would
       appreciate any support you'd care to offer.

       Please note that I am not suggesting that you must do this in order for me to continue
       working on this particular software. I will continue to do so, inasmuch as I have in the
       past, for as long as it interests me.

       Similarly, a donation made in this way will probably not make me work on this software
       much more, unless I get so many donations that I can consider working on free software
       full time, which seems unlikely at best.

       To donate, log into PayPal and send money to autarch AT urth.org or use the button on this
       page: <http://www.urth.org/~autarch/fs-donation.html>

CREDITS
       This module was inspired by Jesse Vincent's work on Date::ICal::Timezone, and written with
       much help from the datetime AT perl.org list.

SEE ALSO
       datetime AT perl.org mailing list

       http://datetime.perl.org/

       The tools directory of the DateTime::TimeZone distribution includes two scripts that may
       be of interest to some people.  They are parse_olson and tests_from_zdump.  Please run
       them with the --help flag to see what they can be used for.

AUTHOR
       Dave Rolsky <autarch AT urth.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
       This software is copyright (c) 2014 by Dave Rolsky.

       This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as
       the Perl 5 programming language system itself.



perl v5.20.2                                2014-09-30                    DateTime::TimeZone(3pm)