BUG #9374: some timzone abbver is missing from pg_timezone_abbrevs that are in pg_timezone_names

mark.a.sloan@gmail.com writes:

postgres=# SELECT * FROM pg_timezone_names where abbrev = 'WIB' ;
name | abbrev | utc_offset | is_dst
----------------------+--------+------------+--------
posix/Asia/Pontianak | WIB | 07:00:00 | f
posix/Asia/Jakarta | WIB | 07:00:00 | f
Asia/Pontianak | WIB | 07:00:00 | f
Asia/Jakarta | WIB | 07:00:00 | f
(4 rows)

postgres=# SELECT * FROM pg_timezone_abbrevs where abbrev = 'WIB' ;
abbrev | utc_offset | is_dst
--------+------------+--------
(0 rows)

This is not a bug. pg_timezone_abbrevs only lists abbreviations that are
listed in the file selected by the timezone_abbreviations parameter.
The default file doesn't contain WIB. You can if you like add it,
or maybe better make up a custom abbreviations file tuned to your
particular needs.

While we haven't got a hard and fast policy about which timezone
abbreviations to list in the default set, there are good reasons not to
list uncommonly used ones: the more abbreviations are in the file, the
greater chance of accepting typos as valid input. And we're definitely
going to be cautious about including abbreviations that mean different
things in different parts of the world, which is an issue for several of
the "missing" ones you listed.

regards, tom lane

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On Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 6:57 PM, Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote:

mark.a.sloan@gmail.com writes:

postgres=# SELECT * FROM pg_timezone_names where abbrev = 'WIB' ;
name | abbrev | utc_offset | is_dst
----------------------+--------+------------+--------
posix/Asia/Pontianak | WIB | 07:00:00 | f
posix/Asia/Jakarta | WIB | 07:00:00 | f
Asia/Pontianak | WIB | 07:00:00 | f
Asia/Jakarta | WIB | 07:00:00 | f
(4 rows)

postgres=# SELECT * FROM pg_timezone_abbrevs where abbrev = 'WIB' ;
abbrev | utc_offset | is_dst
--------+------------+--------
(0 rows)

This is not a bug. pg_timezone_abbrevs only lists abbreviations that are
listed in the file selected by the timezone_abbreviations parameter.
The default file doesn't contain WIB. You can if you like add it,
or maybe better make up a custom abbreviations file tuned to your
particular needs

While we haven't got a hard and fast policy about which timezone

abbreviations to list in the default set, there are good reasons not to
list uncommonly used ones: the more abbreviations are in the file, the
greater chance of accepting typos as valid input. And we're definitely
going to be cautious about including abbreviations that mean different
things in different parts of the world, which is an issue for several of
the "missing" ones you listed.

regards, tom lane

Thank you for the clarification. I think it's going to better for the
groups I work with to just use the long name rather than the abbreviations.

-Mark