Why is the Asia / Dubai time zone abbreviation different between timezonedb and tzdata?
I am using php timezonedb 2017.2.
Why is it returning +04 instead of GST for Asia / Dubai timezone?
Although by default the built-in php tzdata returns GST.
$dt = new DateTime('now', new DateTimezone('Asia/Dubai'));
$dt->format('T'); // returns either GST or +04
php -v = PHP 5.5.38 (cli) (built: 25 Oct 2016 18:30:32)
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Basically, since timezone data changes over time. It looks like it has been timezonedb
updated, but tzdata
no.
This change was made in the 2017a release of the IANA time zone data .
From the email - the emphasis is mine:
Changes to abbreviations for recent and future time zones
Switch to clockwise numeric abbreviations for South America, as part of an ongoing project to remove contrived abbreviations. This avoids the need to invent an acronym for New Chilean New Zone. Likewise, switch from invented to numerical timezone abbreviations for Afghanistan, American Samoa, Azores, Bangladesh, Bhutan, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei, Cape Verde, Chatham Ya, Christmas I, Coconut (Keeling), Cook, Dubai, Timor Leste, Eucla, Fiji, French Polynesia, Greenland, Indochina, Iran, Iraq, Kiribati, Lord Howe, Macquarie, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia, Niue, Nor I, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pitcairn, Qatar, Reunion, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Wake, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, and Xinjiang; for 20-minute summer time in Ghana prior to 1943; for half an hour of summer time in Belize before 1944 and in the Dominican Republic until 1975; and for the Canary Islands 1946, for Guinea-Bissau until 1975, for Iceland until 1969, for Indian Summer Time until 1942, for Indonesia until 1964, for Kenya until 1960, for Liberia until 1973,for Madeira until 1967, for Namibia until 1943, for the Netherlands in 1937-9, for Pakistan until 1971, for Western Sahara until 1977 and for Zaporozhye in 1880-1924.
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