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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>B.4. Date/Time Configuration Files</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" /><link rev="made" href="pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org" /><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets Vsnapshot" /><link rel="prev" href="datetime-keywords.html" title="B.3. Date/Time Key Words" /><link rel="next" href="datetime-posix-timezone-specs.html" title="B.5. POSIX Time Zone Specifications" /></head><body id="docContent" class="container-fluid col-10"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="5" align="center">B.4. Date/Time Configuration Files</th></tr><tr><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="datetime-keywords.html" title="B.3. Date/Time Key Words">Prev</a> </td><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="u" href="datetime-appendix.html" title="Appendix B. Date/Time Support">Up</a></td><th width="60%" align="center">Appendix B. Date/Time Support</th><td width="10%" align="right"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 16.2 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="10%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="datetime-posix-timezone-specs.html" title="B.5. POSIX Time Zone Specifications">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr /></div><div class="sect1" id="DATETIME-CONFIG-FILES"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">B.4. Date/Time Configuration Files <a href="#DATETIME-CONFIG-FILES" class="id_link">#</a></h2></div></div></div><a id="id-1.11.3.7.2" class="indexterm"></a><p>
+ Since timezone abbreviations are not well standardized,
+ <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> provides a means to customize
+ the set of abbreviations accepted by the server. The
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-client.html#GUC-TIMEZONE-ABBREVIATIONS">timezone_abbreviations</a> run-time parameter
+ determines the active set of abbreviations. While this parameter
+ can be altered by any database user, the possible values for it
+ are under the control of the database administrator — they
+ are in fact names of configuration files stored in
+ <code class="filename">.../share/timezonesets/</code> of the installation directory.
+ By adding or altering files in that directory, the administrator
+ can set local policy for timezone abbreviations.
+ </p><p>
+ <code class="varname">timezone_abbreviations</code> can be set to any file name
+ found in <code class="filename">.../share/timezonesets/</code>, if the file's name
+ is entirely alphabetic. (The prohibition against non-alphabetic
+ characters in <code class="varname">timezone_abbreviations</code> prevents reading
+ files outside the intended directory, as well as reading editor
+ backup files and other extraneous files.)
+ </p><p>
+ A timezone abbreviation file can contain blank lines and comments
+ beginning with <code class="literal">#</code>. Non-comment lines must have one of
+ these formats:
+
+</p><pre class="synopsis">
+<em class="replaceable"><code>zone_abbreviation</code></em> <em class="replaceable"><code>offset</code></em>
+<em class="replaceable"><code>zone_abbreviation</code></em> <em class="replaceable"><code>offset</code></em> D
+<em class="replaceable"><code>zone_abbreviation</code></em> <em class="replaceable"><code>time_zone_name</code></em>
+@INCLUDE <em class="replaceable"><code>file_name</code></em>
+@OVERRIDE
+</pre><p>
+ </p><p>
+ A <em class="replaceable"><code>zone_abbreviation</code></em> is just the abbreviation
+ being defined. An <em class="replaceable"><code>offset</code></em> is an integer giving
+ the equivalent offset in seconds from UTC, positive being east from
+ Greenwich and negative being west. For example, -18000 would be five
+ hours west of Greenwich, or North American east coast standard time.
+ <code class="literal">D</code> indicates that the zone name represents local
+ daylight-savings time rather than standard time.
+ </p><p>
+ Alternatively, a <em class="replaceable"><code>time_zone_name</code></em> can be given, referencing
+ a zone name defined in the IANA timezone database. The zone's definition
+ is consulted to see whether the abbreviation is or has been in use in
+ that zone, and if so, the appropriate meaning is used — that is,
+ the meaning that was currently in use at the timestamp whose value is
+ being determined, or the meaning in use immediately before that if it
+ wasn't current at that time, or the oldest meaning if it was used only
+ after that time. This behavior is essential for dealing with
+ abbreviations whose meaning has historically varied. It is also allowed
+ to define an abbreviation in terms of a zone name in which that
+ abbreviation does not appear; then using the abbreviation is just
+ equivalent to writing out the zone name.
+ </p><div class="tip"><h3 class="title">Tip</h3><p>
+ Using a simple integer <em class="replaceable"><code>offset</code></em> is preferred
+ when defining an abbreviation whose offset from UTC has never changed,
+ as such abbreviations are much cheaper to process than those that
+ require consulting a time zone definition.
+ </p></div><p>
+ The <code class="literal">@INCLUDE</code> syntax allows inclusion of another file in the
+ <code class="filename">.../share/timezonesets/</code> directory. Inclusion can be nested,
+ to a limited depth.
+ </p><p>
+ The <code class="literal">@OVERRIDE</code> syntax indicates that subsequent entries in the
+ file can override previous entries (typically, entries obtained from
+ included files). Without this, conflicting definitions of the same
+ timezone abbreviation are considered an error.
+ </p><p>
+ In an unmodified installation, the file <code class="filename">Default</code> contains
+ all the non-conflicting time zone abbreviations for most of the world.
+ Additional files <code class="filename">Australia</code> and <code class="filename">India</code> are
+ provided for those regions: these files first include the
+ <code class="literal">Default</code> file and then add or modify abbreviations as needed.
+ </p><p>
+ For reference purposes, a standard installation also contains files
+ <code class="filename">Africa.txt</code>, <code class="filename">America.txt</code>, etc., containing
+ information about every time zone abbreviation known to be in use
+ according to the IANA timezone database. The zone name
+ definitions found in these files can be copied and pasted into a custom
+ configuration file as needed. Note that these files cannot be directly
+ referenced as <code class="varname">timezone_abbreviations</code> settings, because of
+ the dot embedded in their names.
+ </p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
+ If an error occurs while reading the time zone abbreviation set, no new
+ value is applied and the old set is kept. If the error occurs while
+ starting the database, startup fails.
+ </p></div><div class="caution"><h3 class="title">Caution</h3><p>
+ Time zone abbreviations defined in the configuration file override
+ non-timezone meanings built into <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span>.
+ For example, the <code class="filename">Australia</code> configuration file defines
+ <code class="literal">SAT</code> (for South Australian Standard Time). When this
+ file is active, <code class="literal">SAT</code> will not be recognized as an abbreviation
+ for Saturday.
+ </p></div><div class="caution"><h3 class="title">Caution</h3><p>
+ If you modify files in <code class="filename">.../share/timezonesets/</code>,
+ it is up to you to make backups — a normal database dump
+ will not include this directory.
+ </p></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr /><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="datetime-keywords.html" title="B.3. Date/Time Key Words">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="datetime-appendix.html" title="Appendix B. Date/Time Support">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="datetime-posix-timezone-specs.html" title="B.5. POSIX Time Zone Specifications">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">B.3. Date/Time Key Words </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 16.2 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> B.5. <acronym class="acronym">POSIX</acronym> Time Zone Specifications</td></tr></table></div></body></html> \ No newline at end of file