Re: Value of a date in Numbers
Re: Value of a date in Numbers
- Subject: Re: Value of a date in Numbers
- From: "Mark J. Reed" <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2009 11:44:04 -0500
In traditional Unix filesystems all datetimes are stored in UTC, as
the system clock is kept in UTC and only converted upon request. I
don't know about the extra HFS+ timestamps...
On 2/3/09, Luther Fuller <email@hidden> wrote:
> On Feb 2, 2009, at 8:41 PM, Michelle Steiner wrote:
>
>> value of a cell, when the cell is formated as a time (or date-time)
>> returns Greenwich Mean Time instead of the local date displayed in
>> the spreadsheet.
>>
>> I didn't discover this "feature"; I learned of it from someone
>> else. But is it a bug or is it as designed?
>>
>> It does mean that when using that time in other applications, such
>> as creating an event in iCal, you have to subtract "time to GMT"
>> from it to get the correct time in the event.
>
> I think this is a feature. (In fact, I would think recording time
> locally would be a bug.) Here's why.
>
> The things (files, folders, &c.) on your computer have a date (or two)
> associated with them. If you have a portable, these dates may have
> been associated with your files in many different time zones. If you
> have moved files from other computers onto your computer, the
> associated date originates in many different zones.
>
> Dates are mainly used in two ways: to be displayed and to be
> calculated. A displayed date should be displayed in the local time
> zone. Calculated dates (including date comparison), on the other hand,
> need to be independent of any time zone.
>
> In order to avoid always having to convert to some common time zone,
> recorded dates should always be in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time,
> related to GMT). If you need to compare dates, you just compare them
> without having to convert dates.
>
> If you want to display (in a local zone) a date, you will have to do a
> conversion.
>
> Dates presented in a Finder Get Info window are displayed in the local
> time zone. I don't know if they are recorded in UTC, however. Does
> someone know ... ?
>
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