This vote is a result of previous discussion[1][2]. This vote is also a prerequisite for the PR in [5].
--- Some date & time libraries have three temporal concepts. For the sake of this document we will call them LocalDateTime, ZonedDateTime, and Instant. An Instant is a timestamp that has no meaningful reference time zone (e.g. events that did not occur on Earth or columns of timestamps spanning more than one time zone). For more extensive definitions and a discussion of their semantics and uses see [3]. Currently Arrow describes how to encode two of these three concepts into a Timestamp column and there is no guideline on how to store an Instant. This proposal states that Arrow should recommend that instants be encoded into timestamp columns by setting the timezone string to "UTC". --- For sample arguments (currently grouped as "for changing schema.fbs" and "against changing schema.fbs") see [4]. For a detailed definition of the terms LocalDateTime, ZonedDateTime, and Instant and a discussion of their semantics see [3]. For a straw poll on possible ways to handle instants see [2]. This vote will be open for at least 72 hours. [ ] +1 Update schema.fbs to state the above convention [ ] +0 [ ] -1 Do not make any change [1] https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8216e5de3efd2935e3907ad9bd20ce07e430952f84de69b36337e5eb%40%3Cdev.arrow.apache.org%3E [2] https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r1bdffc76537ae9c12c37396880087fee9c0eec9000bf6ed4c9850c44%40%3Cdev.arrow.apache.org%3E [3] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QDwX4ypfNvESc2ywcT1ygaf2Y1R8SmkpifMV7gpJdBI/edit?usp=sharing [4] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xEKRhs-GUSMwjMhgmQdnCNMXwZrA10226AcXRoP8g9E/edit?usp=sharing [5] https://github.com/apache/arrow/pull/10629
