ZIC(8)                                                     ZIC(8)


NAME
       zic - time zone compiler



SYNOPSIS
       zic  [  -v  ]  [  -d  directory  ]  [  -l localtime ] [ -p
       posixrules ] [ -L leapsecondfilename ] [ -s ] [ -y command
       ] [ filename ... ]

DESCRIPTION
       Zic  reads text from the file(s) named on the command line
       and creates the time conversion information  files  speci-
       fied  in  this  input.   If  a filename is -, the standard
       input is read.

       These options are available:

       -d directory
              Create time conversion  information  files  in  the
              named  directory rather than in the standard direc-
              tory named below.

       -l timezone
              Use the given time zone as local  time.   Zic  will
              act  as  if  the input contained a link line of the
              form

                   Link timezone       localtime

       -p timezone
              Use the  given  time  zone's  rules  when  handling
              POSIX-format  time zone environment variables.  Zic
              will act as if the input contained a link  line  of
              the form

                   Link timezone       posixrules

       -L leapsecondfilename
              Read leap second information from the file with the
              given name.  If this option is not  used,  no  leap
              second information appears in output files.

       -v     Complain  if  a year that appears in a data file is
              outside the range of years representable by time(3)
              values.

       -s     Limit  time values stored in output files to values
              that are the  same  whether  they're  taken  to  be
              signed  or  unsigned.   You  can use this option to
              generate SVVS-compatible files.

       -y command
              Use the given command rather than  yearistype  when
              checking year types (see below).




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ZIC(8)                                                     ZIC(8)


       Input  lines  are made up of fields.  Fields are separated
       from one another by any number of white space  characters.
       Leading  and  trailing  white  space  on  input  lines  is
       ignored.  An unquoted sharp character  (#)  in  the  input
       introduces  a comment which extends to the end of the line
       the sharp character appears on.   White  space  characters
       and  sharp characters may be enclosed in double quotes (")
       if they're to be used as part of a field.  Any  line  that
       is  blank (after comment stripping) is ignored.  Non-blank
       lines are expected to be  of  one  of  three  types:  rule
       lines, zone lines, and link lines.

       A rule line has the form

            Rule  NAME  FROM  TO    TYPE  IN   ON       AT    SAVE  LETTER/S

       For example:

            Rule  US    1967  1973  -     Apr  lastSun  2:00  1:00  D

       The fields that make up a rule line are:

       NAME    Gives  the  (arbitrary)  name  of the set of rules
               this rule is part of.

       FROM    Gives the first year in which  the  rule  applies.
               Any  integer  year  can be supplied; the Gregorian
               calendar is assumed.   The  word  minimum  (or  an
               abbreviation) means the minimum year representable
               as an integer.  The word maximum (or an  abbrevia-
               tion)  means  the maximum year representable as an
               integer.  Rules can describe times  that  are  not
               representable  as  time  values, with the unrepre-
               sentable times ignored; this allows  rules  to  be
               portable  among  hosts  with  differing time value
               types.

       TO      Gives the final year in which  the  rule  applies.
               In addition to minimum and maximum (as above), the
               word only (or an  abbreviation)  may  be  used  to
               repeat the value of the FROM field.

       TYPE    Gives  the type of year in which the rule applies.
               If TYPE is - then the rule applies  in  all  years
               between  FROM  and TO inclusive.  If TYPE is some-
               thing else, then zic executes the command
                    yearistype year type
               to check the type of a year:  an  exit  status  of
               zero  is  taken  to  mean  that the year is of the
               given type; an exit status of one is taken to mean
               that the year is not of the given type.

       IN      Names  the  month  in which the rule takes effect.
               Month names may be abbreviated.



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ZIC(8)                                                     ZIC(8)


       ON      Gives the day on  which  the  rule  takes  effect.
               Recognized forms include:

                    5        the fifth of the month
                    lastSun  the last Sunday in the month
                    lastMon  the last Monday in the month
                    Sun>=8   first Sunday on or after the eighth
                    Sun<=25  last Sunday on or before the 25th

               Names  of  days  of the week may be abbreviated or
               spelled out in full.  Note that there must  be  no
               spaces within the ON field.

       AT      Gives  the  time  of  day  at which the rule takes
               effect.  Recognized forms include:

                    2        time in hours
                    2:00     time in hours and minutes
                    15:00    24-hour format time (for times after noon)
                    1:28:14  time in hours, minutes, and seconds

               Any of these forms may be followed by the letter w
               if the given time is local "wall clock" time, s if
               the given time is local "standard" time, or u  (or
               g  or  z)  if the given time is universal time; in
               the absence of an indicator, wall  clock  time  is
               assumed.

       SAVE    Gives  the  amount  of  time  to be added to local
               standard time when the rule is  in  effect.   This
               field   has  the  same  format  as  the  AT  field
               (although, of course, the w and s suffixes are not
               used).

       LETTER/S
               Gives the "variable part" (for example, the "S" or
               "D" in "EST" or "EDT") of time zone  abbreviations
               to  be  used when this rule is in effect.  If this
               field is -, the variable part is null.

       A zone line has the form

            Zone  NAME                GMTOFF  RULES/SAVE  FORMAT  [UNTIL]

       For example:

            Zone  Australia/Adelaide  9:30    Aus         CST     1971 Oct 31 2:00

       The fields that make up a zone line are:

       NAME  The name of the time zone.  This is the name used in
             creating  the  time  conversion information file for
             the zone.




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ZIC(8)                                                     ZIC(8)


       GMTOFF
             The amount of time to add to  UTC  to  get  standard
             time  in  this zone.  This field has the same format
             as the AT and SAVE fields of rule lines;  begin  the
             field  with  a minus sign if time must be subtracted
             from UTC.

       RULES/SAVE
             The name of the rule(s) that apply in the time  zone
             or,  alternately,  an amount of time to add to local
             standard time.  If this field  is  -  then  standard
             time always applies in the time zone.

       FORMAT
             The  format for time zone abbreviations in this time
             zone.  The pair of characters %s  is  used  to  show
             where the "variable part" of the time zone abbrevia-
             tion goes.  Alternately, a slash (/) separates stan-
             dard and daylight abbreviations.

       UNTIL The  time  at  which  the  UTC offset or the rule(s)
             change for a location.  It is specified as a year, a
             month,  a day, and a time of day.  If this is speci-
             fied, the time zone information  is  generated  from
             the  given UTC offset and rule change until the time
             specified.  The month, day, and time of day have the
             same format as the IN, ON, and AT columns of a rule;
             trailing columns can be omitted, and default to  the
             earliest possible value for the missing columns.

             The  next  line  must be a "continuation" line; this
             has the same form as a zone  line  except  that  the
             string  "Zone" and the name are omitted, as the con-
             tinuation line will place  information  starting  at
             the  time specified as the UNTIL field in the previ-
             ous line in the file  used  by  the  previous  line.
             Continuation  lines may contain an UNTIL field, just
             as zone lines do, indicating that the next line is a
             further continuation.

       A link line has the form

            Link  LINK-FROM        LINK-TO

       For example:

            Link  Europe/Istanbul  Asia/Istanbul

       The  LINK-FROM  field  should  appear as the NAME field in
       some zone line; the LINK-TO field is used as an  alternate
       name for that zone.

       Except  for  continuation  lines,  lines may appear in any
       order in the input.



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ZIC(8)                                                     ZIC(8)


       Lines in the file that describes  leap  seconds  have  the
       following form:

            Leap  YEAR  MONTH  DAY  HH:MM:SS  CORR  R/S

       For example:

            Leap  1974  Dec    31   23:59:60  +     S

       The  YEAR,  MONTH,  DAY, and HH:MM:SS fields tell when the
       leap second happened.  The CORR field should be "+"  if  a
       second  was added or "-" if a second was skipped.  The R/S
       field should be (an abbreviation of) "Stationary"  if  the
       leap  second  time  given  by  the  other fields should be
       interpreted as UTC or (an abbreviation  of)  "Rolling"  if
       the  leap  second time given by the other fields should be
       interpreted as local wall clock time.

NOTE
       For areas with more than two types of local time, you  may
       need  to  use  local  standard time in the AT field of the
       earliest transition time's rule to ensure that the  earli-
       est  transition time recorded in the compiled file is cor-
       rect.

FILE
       /usr/share/zoneinfo     standard directory used  for  cre-
       ated files

SEE ALSO
       ctime(3), tzfile(5), zdump(8)


























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