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Doc Bug #38735 Madagascar is listed in the region Asia
Submitted: 2006-09-06 22:31 UTC Modified: 2006-09-08 12:40 UTC
Votes:1
Avg. Score:3.0 ± 0.0
Reproduced:1 of 1 (100.0%)
Same Version:1 (100.0%)
Same OS:1 (100.0%)
From: cyril at bouthors dot org Assigned:
Status: Closed Package: Documentation problem
PHP Version: latest OS: any
Private report: No CVE-ID: None
View Developer Edit
 [2006-09-06 22:31 UTC] cyril at bouthors dot org 
Description:
------------
"Indian" is a short for "Indian Ocean", it has almost nothing to do with India.

Could you please put Madagascar NOT in the region Asia?

Thanks.

Expected result:
----------------
The Indian ocean should a region of the world by itself.

For example, tzconfig shows:

Please enter the number of the geographic area in which you live:

        1) Africa                       7) Australia
        2) America                      8) Europe
        3) US time zones                9) Indian Ocean
        4) Canada time zones            10) Pacific Ocean
        5) Asia                         11) Use System V style time zones
        6) Atlantic Ocean               12) None of the above


Actual result:
--------------
Madagascar is listed in the region Asia

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 [2006-09-06 22:33 UTC] cyril at bouthors dot org 
I meant "The Indian ocean should BE a region of the world by itself" but you probably understood
 [2006-09-06 22:34 UTC] cyril at bouthors dot org 
http://ch2.php.net/manual/en/timezones.asia.php
 [2006-09-07 06:47 UTC] mjsabby at gmail dot com 
Indian ocean has everything to with India. It is named after the country.
 [2006-09-07 07:01 UTC] derick@php.net 
This is how the timezone database is built, so that's how we document it.
 [2006-09-08 09:26 UTC] cyril at bouthors dot org 
Please have a look at this map of Asia:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/asia_pol00.jpg

and tell me where Madagascar is because I can't find it on the map.

Madagascar must not appear in the section "Asia" of the timezone database.

I agree with you on the fact it's not a documentation issue but a bug in the timezone database.

I reassign this bug to the feature request category.
 [2006-09-08 09:41 UTC] derick@php.net 
It's not a PHP issue then, as we use an external library. See for the contact details: http://www.twinsun.com/tz/tz-link.htm
 [2006-09-08 10:43 UTC] cyril at bouthors dot org 
Ok. I will contact http://www.twinsun.com/tz/tz-link.htm

Thank you.
 [2006-09-08 10:52 UTC] cyril at bouthors dot org 
I followed the link "Complete timezone information for all countries" on the tz website and I've seen that Madagascar is clearly listed in Africa, not Asia :

http://home.tiscali.nl/~t876506/TZworld.html#afr

This is a bug in PHP.

Please fix http://ch2.php.net/manual/en/timezones.asia.php

Thanks.
 [2006-09-08 11:31 UTC] derick@php.net 
There isn't even a zone called Indian/Madagascar... so what are you talking about? (And keep this bug bogus)
 [2006-09-08 11:51 UTC] cyril at bouthors dot org 
Indian/Antananarivo is the capital city of Madagascar.
 [2006-09-08 11:54 UTC] derick@php.net 
In the database it is defined in the "africa" file as:

# Madagascar
# Zone  NAME        GMTOFF  RULES   FORMAT  [UNTIL]
Zone Indian/Antananarivo 3:10:04 -  LMT 1911 Jul
            3:00    -   EAT 1954 Feb 27 23:00s
            3:00    1:00    EAST    1954 May 29 23:00s
            3:00    -   EAT

No clue why they put it in the Indian group but it's not something we (as PHP team) can change.
 [2006-09-08 12:05 UTC] cyril at bouthors dot org 
Madagascar is an island in the Indian Ocean, hence the TZ region shortname "Indian". This is confusing but acceptable.

The thing that is less acceptable about this country is the fact that the TZ databases clearly says "Africa" but PHP says "Asia":

http://ch2.php.net/manual/en/timezones.asia.php
                                       ^^^^

says "List of timezones in the group Asia" ... "Indian/Antananarivo".

Am I clear?
 [2006-09-08 12:33 UTC] derick@php.net 
Ok, *now* I get it :) It will be fixed in the next run of the documentation build. Thanks for staying persistent.
 [2006-09-08 12:40 UTC] cyril at bouthors dot org 
Thank you for your impressive reactivity.
 
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