Re: proposals for log file format changes
Rik Harris (rik@rdt.monash.edu.au)
Tue, 8 Feb 1994 11:38:10 --100
Kevin wrote:
> Roy said:
> > I prefer local time, myself, as its extremely rare that someone would
> > need to compare stats across time zones and what I usually look for in
> > my stats is what local time is best for system changes.
> > To put it another way, if it's GMT then every analyzer will either have
> > to stick with GMT format (not user-friendly) or convert each log entry's
> > timestamp to localtime (a non-portable bit of code).
>
> Good point - it's rather problematic to make portable code that
> does that. As for me, I'll leave it up to the user to determine the
> GMT time difference, should they wish to report times in GMT. For
> backwards compatibility, the user also has to specify whether the
> log times are in GMT or local time now.
> So now the format would be
>
> host rfc931 authuser [DD/Mon/YYYY:hh:mm:ss TTT] ``request'' ddd bbbb
>
> ...where TTT is the local timezone?
There is no standard for three letter timezones. The safest way to
specify timezones is [GMT][+/-]nnnn. ie. an offset from GMT.
rik.
--
Rik Harris - rik.harris@vifp.monash.edu.au || Systems Programmer
+61 3 560-3265 (AH) +61 3 90-53227 (BH) || and Administrator
Fac. of Computing & Info.Tech., Monash Uni, Australia || Vic. Institute of
http://www.vifp.monash.edu.au/people/rik.html || Forensic Pathology