Subj : JS Object save_msg()
To   : deon
From : Digital Man
Date : Thu Dec 19 2024 11:43:46

  Re: JS Object save_msg()
  By: deon to Digital Man on Thu Dec 19 2024 08:45 pm

 > Following on from my previous message, I think I understand what is going on
 > - doesnt make sense to me why, but I get it.
 >
 > I raised this thread, because a message I just saved with save_msg(), when
 > immediately read would display a message of "11hrs from now".
 >
 > I looked further into the code, and understand what age_of_posted_item()
 > with smb_tzutc() is doing.
 >
 > When Sync starts, xpTimeZone_local() shows the offset from UTC, and sends a
 > warning message on the console on startup, in my case its 660.

Right, and that startup warning was to hopefully avoid configuration issues like you observed ("11hrs from now").

 > When saving a message with save_msg(), when_written_time, is populated with
 > time() if no value is provided, which is the UTC time when the function is
 > called.
 >
 > When displaying the message, the age is calculated between the value of
 > when_written_time (which is utc), and time() [utc] minus xpTimeZone_local()
 > plus an offset (which might be negative) derived from scfg -> System ->
 > Local Time Zone.

The "Local Time Zone" is only used for locally posted messages. For messages imported from a network, the when_written_zone is often not the same as your local time zone.

 > Since I had UTC there, it would be zero, so the age of the
 > messages is immediately 660s old (utc minus 660 plus 0).
 >
 > Thus when when scfg -> System ->Local Time Zone equals xpTimeZone_Local(),
 > they cancel each other out and age_of_posted_item() is truely however many
 > seconds ago the message was stored. (utc minus 660 plus 660).
 >
 > If this is what is intended, then OK, I get it. Why somebody would find this
 > useful I guess I dont understand.

Synchronet's been evolving since 1990, so not every feature or design decision is obvious. I don't know that it would be useful for a sysop to have a mismatch between the UTC offset of their configured local time zone (in SCFG) and their system time zone. Clearly, such a system could present surprising results in some situations; you pointed one out, but there are probably more. That startup warning message should probably be elevated to an error message.
-- 
                                            digital man (rob)

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