Outlook 2003 time zone handling errors

[Guest]

I have a reproducable error in Outlook 2003.
it is...
I'm using my Treo650 Calendar. It allows me to specify the time zone for an
appointment. This causes appointments to MOVE in Outlook after
synchronisation.
e.g
The date I am doing this is 21-DEC-2005; i.e. after daylight saving time has
commenced in Sydney.
An appointment on my Treo is set for 16-OCT-2005 10:00am Sydney time (AEST)
It is correctly displayed as 16-OCT-2005 10:00am in Outlook 2003.
The Synchronisation setting in the Palm Conduit is "Synchronise"
After Synchronising it shifts to 9:00am Sydney time in Outlook but NOT on
the Treo.
Synchronise again, making no changes on either machine. the date discrepancy
remains.

This seems to be an Outlook error. The Treo Calendar correctly adjusts and
dispays Sydney DST time zones. Outlook 2003 seems to be assuming that DST
applies throughout my current local calendar. e.g. what will happen to my
Treo calendar when Sydney DST ends and US DST commences?

The upshot is where I have appointments set to US and other time zones,
there are errors after synchronisation.
The workaround is to disable time zone selection in the Treo calendar.
This is unacceptable for international workers, both in travelling and
communicating. The workaround of exporting one's calendar to CSV and
re-importing is likewise impractical and unacceptable.

The most valid solution is for Outlook to allow appointments to be entered
for a specific timezone, and to be optionally locked to a specific time
within a time zone, and to correctly recognise DST transitions worldwide.
This would eliminate SO many issues for international customers.

I sent this as a suggestion to Microsoft more than two years ago. Reading
through the knowledge base and community newsgroups, I see nothing has
changed in Outlook for this.

Rgards,
Jonathan

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

outlook uses the time zone offset to calculate times and should have the
correct time even after syncing if both devices have the same time zone
offset. Is the treo changing the TX offset (GMT + 10)?

 

[Guest]

Yes, the Treo is correctly showing the time and time zone:
- Location = "Sydney"
- Time zone = "AEDT" [Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time] when I
select Sydney as the location for an appointment in the Treo calendar [if I
go back to October the Treo correctly shows "AEST" as the time zone]
- Enable Network time is OFF
- I have a utility that synchronises the Treo time to the PC time, and use
Atomic Clock to synchronise the laptop time.

Jonathan

outlook uses the time zone offset to calculate times and should have the
correct time even after syncing if both devices have the same time zone
offset. Is the treo changing the TX offset (GMT + 10)?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

I have a reproducable error in Outlook 2003.
it is...
I'm using my Treo650 Calendar. It allows me to specify the time zone for
an
appointment. This causes appointments to MOVE in Outlook after
synchronisation.
e.g
The date I am doing this is 21-DEC-2005; i.e. after daylight saving time
has
commenced in Sydney.
An appointment on my Treo is set for 16-OCT-2005 10:00am Sydney time
(AEST)
It is correctly displayed as 16-OCT-2005 10:00am in Outlook 2003.
The Synchronisation setting in the Palm Conduit is "Synchronise"
After Synchronising it shifts to 9:00am Sydney time in Outlook but NOT on
the Treo.
Synchronise again, making no changes on either machine. the date
discrepancy
remains.

This seems to be an Outlook error. The Treo Calendar correctly adjusts and
dispays Sydney DST time zones. Outlook 2003 seems to be assuming that DST
applies throughout my current local calendar. e.g. what will happen to my
Treo calendar when Sydney DST ends and US DST commences?

The upshot is where I have appointments set to US and other time zones,
there are errors after synchronisation.
The workaround is to disable time zone selection in the Treo calendar.
This is unacceptable for international workers, both in travelling and
communicating. The workaround of exporting one's calendar to CSV and
re-importing is likewise impractical and unacceptable.

The most valid solution is for Outlook to allow appointments to be entered
for a specific timezone, and to be optionally locked to a specific time
within a time zone, and to correctly recognise DST transitions worldwide.
This would eliminate SO many issues for international customers.

I sent this as a suggestion to Microsoft more than two years ago. Reading
through the knowledge base and community newsgroups, I see nothing has
changed in Outlook for this.

Rgards,
Jonathan

 

[Guest]

Seeing no further response from Microsoft on this post is very disappointing.
I hope this is just a result of a Christmas break, and not a "too hard
basket" position.

Yes, the Treo is correctly showing the time and time zone:
- Location = "Sydney"
- Time zone = "AEDT" [Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time] when I
select Sydney as the location for an appointment in the Treo calendar [if I
go back to October the Treo correctly shows "AEST" as the time zone]
- Enable Network time is OFF
- I have a utility that synchronises the Treo time to the PC time, and use
Atomic Clock to synchronise the laptop time.

Jonathan

outlook uses the time zone offset to calculate times and should have the
correct time even after syncing if both devices have the same time zone
offset. Is the treo changing the TX offset (GMT + 10)?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

I have a reproducable error in Outlook 2003.
it is...
I'm using my Treo650 Calendar. It allows me to specify the time zone for
an
appointment. This causes appointments to MOVE in Outlook after
synchronisation.
e.g
The date I am doing this is 21-DEC-2005; i.e. after daylight saving time
has
commenced in Sydney.
An appointment on my Treo is set for 16-OCT-2005 10:00am Sydney time
(AEST)
It is correctly displayed as 16-OCT-2005 10:00am in Outlook 2003.
The Synchronisation setting in the Palm Conduit is "Synchronise"
After Synchronising it shifts to 9:00am Sydney time in Outlook but NOT on
the Treo.
Synchronise again, making no changes on either machine. the date
discrepancy
remains.

This seems to be an Outlook error. The Treo Calendar correctly adjusts and
dispays Sydney DST time zones. Outlook 2003 seems to be assuming that DST
applies throughout my current local calendar. e.g. what will happen to my
Treo calendar when Sydney DST ends and US DST commences?

The upshot is where I have appointments set to US and other time zones,
there are errors after synchronisation.
The workaround is to disable time zone selection in the Treo calendar.
This is unacceptable for international workers, both in travelling and
communicating. The workaround of exporting one's calendar to CSV and
re-importing is likewise impractical and unacceptable.

The most valid solution is for Outlook to allow appointments to be entered
for a specific timezone, and to be optionally locked to a specific time
within a time zone, and to correctly recognise DST transitions worldwide.
This would eliminate SO many issues for international customers.

I sent this as a suggestion to Microsoft more than two years ago. Reading
through the knowledge base and community newsgroups, I see nothing has
changed in Outlook for this.

Rgards,
Jonathan