Conference iosg::all-in-1

    
    This is NOT only a problem between ALL-IN-1 systems of different versions.
    It can be reproduced on a single ALL-IN-1 system.
    
    I have tested this on my ALL-IN-1 v3.1 system by sending mails to
    myself via message router (logged in as user ELIN in ALL-IN-1 on
    COPKID and sending to elin@a1@copkid).
    
    My Message Router is v3.3A-313.
    
    In delivery receipts and read receipts I got a time difference
    depending on the Time Offset in MGT MM SOC 
    while the timestamps in ordinary mails were OK.
    
    When Time Offset was +01:00 in ALL-IN-1 on my system, 
    Date Created, Last Modified and Date Sent were time stamped an hour later 
    than Date Received which was the correct time:
    
    Oprettet:            26-feb-1997 16:38            Kan �ndres:        NEJ
    Redigeret:           26-feb-1997 16:38            Kan slettes:       NEJ
    Afsendt den:         26-feb-1997 16:38            Kan videresendes:  JA
    Dato modtaget:       26-feb-1997 15:39            Autom. videresendt: NEJ
    
    
    I changed Time Offset to +00:00 and restarted ALL-IN-1. 
    (I read afterwards that stopping and starting the fetcher would make
    the changed Time Offset take effect.) 
    Then it looked like this:
    
    Oprettet:            26-feb-1997 15:49            Kan �ndres:        NEJ
    Redigeret:           26-feb-1997 15:49            Kan slettes:       JA
    Afsendt den:         26-feb-1997 15:49            Kan videresendes:  JA
    Dato modtaget:       26-feb-1997 15:49            Autom. videresendt: NEJ
    
    All the time stamps are now correct.
    
    
    
    On Tele Danmark we see the same problem with receipts sent via Message
    Router.
    
    All three ALL-IN-1 clusters are set up with 
      "Time zone: CET           Time offset: +01:00"
    
    They share one Message Router where MS is set up with
      "Difference between network time and local time : -01:00"
    
    All three clusters are set up like this in DECnet OSI:
      "SYS$TIMEZONE_DAYLIGHT_SAVING" = "0"
      "SYS$TIMEZONE_DIFFERENTIAL" = "3600"
      "SYS$TIMEZONE_NAME" = "MET"
      "SYS$TIMEZONE_RULE" = "MET-1MET_DST-2,M3.5.0/2,M10.5.0/2"
    
    
    Could it have side effects if we change time offset to 0 on all three
    systems? 
    
    What is the purpose of having time offset in ALL-IN-1 when both Message
    Router and DECnet seem to take care of those things?
    
    When I changed Time Offset on my test system, I wrote B�H instead of
    CET as in the Time Zone field. 
    Is that field only used for displaying the time on messages? 
    - Or must I follow certain conventions when filling in the Time Zone?
    
    Elin

    <<<< What is the purpose of having time offset in ALL-IN-1 when both
    <<<< Message Router and DECnet seem to take care of those things?
    
    The one in DECnet is a fairly recent (in the lifetime of ALL-IN-1 :-) )
    invention, so we had to make up our own.
    
    Message Router could be receving messages from several ALL-IN-1 systems
    in different time zones, hence you need to be able to set them
    differently.
    
    It's always been a nuisance that MR and ALL-IN-1 have the time offset
    with different signs - I don't know who is right!
    
    <<<< When I changed Time Offset on my test system, I wrote B�H instead
    <<<< of CET as in the Time Zone field. Is that field only used for
    <<<< displaying the time on messages?
    
    I think so.

    
    Does the Time Offset only get used when you send/receive mail between
    ALL-IN-1 systems on the same network (via Message Router) ??
    
    If that is the case, I guess that we won't see side effects on Tele
    Danmark, if we set Time Offset to 0, as all Tele Danmark's ALL-IN-1
    systems are in the same timezone. ????
    
    
    Or does ALL-IN-1's Time Offset also get used when mail is sent via
    different gateways, X.400, Internet, (and whatever Lotus Notes and
    Exchange needs in order to communicate with ALL-IN-1), etc.?
    
    Elin
    

This note, and other time-offset ones probably, desperately needs one of
Scott's in-depth "This Is How It Works" descriptions! 

ALL-IN-1 always works in Local Time. As a User Agent, it has to know the time 
that the users have on their clocks. But in the mail world, there are 24 (ish) 
different times as I write this, so mail tries to establish a way of making 
sense of this.

Message Router has the concept of Network Time - all Message Routers should be 
set to the same global value (the same offset from GMT). Many networks set 
their MRs to run at GMT. 

So ALL-IN-1 (and other UAs) need to know the difference between Local Time and 
Network Time. Then, when ALL-IN-1 sends a message to MR, if it knows that Local 
Time is 1 hour ahead of Network Time (imagine ALL-IN-1 in Denmark, but Network 
Time = GMT), then it will subtract 1 hour from the times on the message.

When this message gets to the US (say), the times are still at GMT. But 
ALL-IN-1 there knows that it's 5 hours behind GMT, so it subtracts 5 hours 
from the time on the message. The end result is that the recipient sees what 
time the message was sent, expressed in the recipient's local time.

The same rules apply if the message leaves MR via a gateway e.g. XMR or MRX to 
get into X.400. Both of these Gateways need to know what the MR time 
represents i.e. they need to know if MR is using GMT as its Network Time - if 
it's not, they need to know the offset from GMT (This is because X.400 
timestamps are GMT-based).

So time-offsets are required every time a message leaves or rejoins the "user 
world", and possibly again if it changes backbone environments which have 
different rules for what Network Time is.

grahame

So what I should have said was:
    
    Does the Time Offset only get used when you send/receive mail between
    ALL-IN-1 systems on the same network (via Message Router) ??
    
Yes, if you mean the ALL-IN-1 offset

    If that is the case, I guess that we won't see side effects on Tele
    Danmark, if we set Time Offset to 0, as all Tele Danmark's ALL-IN-1
    systems are in the same timezone. ????

You must make sure that each ALL-IN-1 system has the same offset.    
    
    Or does ALL-IN-1's Time Offset also get used when mail is sent via
    different gateways, X.400, Internet, (and whatever Lotus Notes and
    Exchange needs in order to communicate with ALL-IN-1), etc.?
    
No, it doesn't - see -.1

grahame