Re: Impact of U.S. Daylight Savings Time changes in 2007 on Perl distribution/code

[diotalevi]

Also be aware that data-handling code in perl may also need to be updated. DateTime comes to mind but there's surely others.

[Jim]

The CHANGES file for DateTime-TimeZone-0.37 indicates that both versions 0.36 (2005-04-21) and 0.37 (2005-08-22) were based on version 2005i of the Olson tz database. This implies that 2005i or thereabouts was the first version of the tz database to incorporate the planned 2007 North American Daylight Saving Time changes. It also means that DateTime has been DST2007-ready since early 2005.

The current version of DateTime::TimeZone is 0.57 (2006-11-27), which is based on version 2006p of the tz database (the current version). In general, it's probably a Good Idea to frequently update DT::TZ and, thereby, the underlying Perl implementation of the Olson tz database. There's also a utility named parse_olson in the tools/ directory of the DT::TZ distribution for generating the Perl modules from the tz database files without having to upgrade DT::TZ itself.

Jim

[Jim]

As if to demonstrate how cool and up-to-date the Perl DateTime project is, it's principal architect and maintainer, Dave Rolsky, announced on the perl.datetime newsgroup the release today of DateTime-TimeZone-0.58, which is based on version 2007a of the Olson tz database, which was also just released today.

Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2007 13:36:51 -0600 (CST)
To: datetime <[e-mail]>
Subject: ANNOUNCE: DateTime::TimeZone 0.58
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
From: [e-mail] (Dave Rolsky)

0.58     2007-01-08

- This release is based on version 2007a of the Olson database.



-dave

When I posted this yesterday, I know I first checked the FTP archive to confirm the current version and the files were for 2006p. Today, the files are for version 2007a. This implies that Dave has automated the detection of new versions of the Olson tz database and the consequent rebuilding and redistribution of DateTime::TimeZone. Slick!

Jim

[autarch]

Well, the detection isn't automated, but pulling down the new Olson db and building a new version of DT::TZ is.

For detection, I'm subscribed to the Olson db discussion list, where new versions are announced. When a new version is announced, I run a script to update DT::TZ, run the tests, and upload to CPAN. It's pretty straightforward.

[Anonymous Monk]

As a sysadmin who is examining a large number of Unix systems (around 1500) and other systems across a medium size enterprise, to determine what Unix patches need to be applied for the OS and Java, what steps would need to be taken for perl to be updated appropriately with the latest Date/Time and Olson TZ database? Are there tools in the perl world for this to be done on a wide scale (many hosts) with efficiency (as little manual repetition as possible)? Please reply to this forum. Directions to more appropriate forums or resources are welcome. thanks. -Jim