PRTimeParameters

A representation of time zone information.

Syntax

#include <prtime.h>

typedef struct PRTimeParameters {
    PRInt32 tp_gmt_offset;
    PRInt32 tp_dst_offset;
} PRTimeParameters;

Description

Each geographic location has a standard time zone, and if Daylight Saving Time (DST) is practiced, a daylight time zone. The PRTimeParameters structure represents the local time zone information in terms of the offset (in seconds) from GMT. The overall offset is broken into two components:

tp_gmt_offset: The offset of the local standard time from GMT.
tp_dst_offset: If daylight savings time (DST) is in effect, the DST adjustment from the local standard time. This is most commonly 1 hour, but may also be 30 minutes or some other amount. If DST is not in effect, the tp_dst_offset component is 0.

For example, the US Pacific Time Zone has both a standard time zone (Pacific Standard Time, or PST) and a daylight time zone (Pacific Daylight Time, or PDT).

In PST, the local time is 8 hours behind GMT, so tp_gmt_offset is -28800 seconds. tp_dst_offset is 0, indicating that daylight saving time is not in effect.
In PDT, the clock is turned forward by one hour, so the local time is 7 hours behind GMT. This is broken down as -8 + 1 hours, so tp_gmt_offset is -28800 seconds, and tp_dst_offset is 3600 seconds.

A second example is Japan, which is 9 hours ahead of GMT. Japan does not use daylight saving time, so the only time zone is Japan Standard Time (JST). In JST tp_gmt_offset is 32400 seconds, and tp_dst_offset is 0.