fOn Sun, Sep 2, 2018 at 02:21:58PM -0400, Tom Lane wrote: > Bruce Momjian <br...@momjian.us> writes: > > ! The <literal>AT TIME ZONE</literal> construct allows the addition, > > ! conversion, and removal of time zones for time stamp values. <xref > > linkend="functions-datetime-zoneconvert-table"/> shows its > > variants. > > Maybe it'd be more to the point to say that it allows conversion between > "timestamp with time zone" and "timestamp without time zone". > > > ! The first example takes a time stamp without time zone and interprets > > ! it in the MST time zone (UTC-7), returning a time stamp with time > > ! zone value which is displayed in local time (PST, UTC-8). The second > > ! example takes a time stamp with time zone value (EST, UTC-5) and > > ! converts it to the date and time in MST (UTC-7) without time zone. > > ! Basically, the first example takes the date and time and puts it in > > ! the specified time zone. The second example takes a time stamp with > > ! time zone and shifts it to the specified time zone. (No time zone > > ! designation is returned.) > > I still find this to be more confusing than helpful. In particular, > I do not think that it's possible to explain this behavior clearly > without mentioning that timestamp with time zone values are always > stored in UTC and what AT TIME ZONE really does is convert between UTC > and the specified zone (in a direction dependent on which type is > supplied as argument).
Agreed. The more I dig into this the more I learn. I have developed the attached patch which I hope this time is an improvement. Is there any value to showing these two queries which show how calling AT TIME ZONE twice cancels itself out: SELECT '2018-09-02 07:09:19'::timestamp AT TIME ZONE 'America/Chicago' AT TIME ZONE 'America/Chicago'; timezone --------------------- 2018-09-02 07:09:19 SELECT '2018-09-02 07:09:19-04'::timestamptz AT TIME ZONE 'America/Chicago' AT TIME ZONE 'America/Chicago'; timezone ------------------------ 2018-09-02 07:09:19-04 or this one which shows how to convert a date/time from one time zone to another: SELECT '2018-09-02 07:09:19'::timestamp AT TIME ZONE 'Asia/Tokyo' AT TIME ZONE 'America/Chicago'; timezone --------------------- 2018-09-01 17:09:19 -- Bruce Momjian <br...@momjian.us> http://momjian.us EnterpriseDB http://enterprisedb.com + As you are, so once was I. As I am, so you will be. + + Ancient Roman grave inscription +
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml new file mode 100644 index bb794e0..5e3d54f *** a/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml --- b/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml *************** SELECT date_trunc('year', TIMESTAMP '200 *** 8082,8091 **** </indexterm> <para> ! The <literal>AT TIME ZONE</literal> construct allows conversions ! of time stamps to different time zones. <xref ! linkend="functions-datetime-zoneconvert-table"/> shows its ! variants. </para> <table id="functions-datetime-zoneconvert-table"> --- 8082,8092 ---- </indexterm> <para> ! The <literal>AT TIME ZONE</literal> converts time ! stamp <emphasis>without time zone</emphasis> to/from ! time stamp <emphasis>with time zone</emphasis>, and ! <emphasis>time</emphasis> values to different time zones. <xref ! linkend="functions-datetime-zoneconvert-table"/> shows its variants. </para> <table id="functions-datetime-zoneconvert-table"> *************** SELECT TIMESTAMP '2001-02-16 20:38:40' A *** 8145,8153 **** SELECT TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE '2001-02-16 20:38:40-05' AT TIME ZONE 'MST'; <lineannotation>Result: </lineannotation><computeroutput>2001-02-16 18:38:40</computeroutput> </screen> ! The first example takes a time stamp without time zone and interprets it as MST time ! (UTC-7), which is then converted to PST (UTC-8) for display. The second example takes ! a time stamp specified in EST (UTC-5) and converts it to local time in MST (UTC-7). </para> <para> --- 8146,8158 ---- SELECT TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE '2001-02-16 20:38:40-05' AT TIME ZONE 'MST'; <lineannotation>Result: </lineannotation><computeroutput>2001-02-16 18:38:40</computeroutput> </screen> ! The first example adds a time zone to a value that lacks it. ! The second example shifts the time stamp with time zone value ! to the specified time zone, and returns the value without a ! time zone. This allows storage and display of values different ! from the current <varname>TimeZone</varname> value. Converting ! <emphasis>time</emphasis> values to other time zones uses the currently ! active time zone rules since no date is present. </para> <para>