Date   : Mon, 29 Nov 2004 01:20:56 +0000
From   : jgh@... (Jonathan Graham Harston)
Subject: Header times

These headers are getting confusing. According to the headers
people are managing to reply before the original questions.
 
I posted in the Printers thread, with the header saying:
>> Date: 28 Nov 2004 12:31:57 +0000
 
The RWAPSoftware@... replied:
>> Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 08:22:45 EST
 
apparently 4 hours before my post. The problem here is the 'EST'
instead of a UTC offset. Headers are allowed to use a textual
version of the UTC offset, but if an offset is specified the
numeric form *MUST* be given. There is no way the recipient
can know what the poster means by 'EST', so has to assume it
means '+0000', thereby appearing to post four hours before the
previous message.
 
Dr. Gilbert then posted:
>> Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 13:49:15 +0000
>> Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 13:49:15 +0000
 
and then Mike Mallett:
>> Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 13:50:24 -0000
 
Andrew Weston then posted:
>> Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 15:34:45 +0000 (GMT)
 
Hurray! A correctly formed UCT offset. The optional offset
is show as a mandatory numeric value, and is followed by
an optional textual version.
 
And then, RWAPSoftware hopped into a time machine and
went back three hours to reply:
>> Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 12:12:35 EST
 
and again:
>> Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 12:16:52 EST
> In a message dated 28/11/2004 16:08:54 GMT Standard Time,
> beeb@... writes:
 
Even admits to replying to a message from the future!
 
Bob Devries then posted from Australia:
>> Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2004 08:32:29 +1000
 
...with a correctly formed UTC offset. That equates to 22:32:29 UTC
on 28-Nov-2004, ie, correctly chronologically ordered after the
previous post at 15:34:45 UTC.
 
So the problem boils down to people not having their "Date:" headers
correctly formed. It must be exactly one and one only of the following:
 
* No UTC timezone offset, with the time specified in UTC[1]
 
* Local time with UTC offset in numeric form, eg +0000
 
* Local time with UTC offset in numeric form followed by textual
version of timezone offset, eg +0000 (GMT)
 
With some systems you set the timezone in a config file of some
sort. With these make sure you use something like
TIMEZONE="+0000 GMT" and /not/ TIMEZONE="GMT"
 
With some systems you set the timezone with a configuration
dialogue. With these make sure you specify a numeric offset,
not just a timezone name.
[1] Universal Coordinated Time[2]. For day-to-day purposes the
same as Greenwich Mean Time.
[2] Yes, I know that comes to UCT not UTC, but UCT means something
else.
 
-- 
JGH