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25 Jun 2018, 03:03 PM | #1 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2017
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Calendar: how to handle event starting in one time zone and ending in another
Hi there
I have searched the forum to see if this issue has been dealt with elsewhere, but with no luck. Apologies if I'm repeating a topic. It is a frequent situation that I want to enter calendar events that begin in one time zone and end in another. How am I supposed to reflect this in Fastmail? As far as I can see each event appears to be tied to one time-zone. Am I supposed to do all the time-zone arithmetic myself to work out what the entry should read at start and finish? And which single time zone would I use? Any hints and tips from experienced travellers who have overcome this issue? Thanks and regards Walter |
26 Jun 2018, 12:14 AM | #2 |
Cornerstone of the Community
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Perth
Posts: 664
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You can select the timezone used in a calendar event, yet display your calendar in another timezone.
So one way to deal with crossing timezones would be... Eg. Flying Perth to Melbourne:
So I enter a dummy event in the calendar starting at 13:30 and select Melbourne/Sydney timezone to be used for this event.. When I save this event, while my calendar is set to Perth timezone, the event appears as starting at 11:30 Perth time. So now I know I could set the flight event as starting at 8am and ending at 11:30 am in the Perth timezone. |
26 Jun 2018, 01:33 AM | #3 |
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Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 15
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Hi gardenweed
Thanks for the very prompt response. Sounds like I was correct when I said, "Am I supposed to do all the time-zone arithmetic myself to work out what the entry should read at start and finish?" I'm more than happy to accept your explanation of how to do it. But what a complex workflow this is. Aren't computers supposed to be good at, you know, computing, and doing this for us? What on Earth were the good people at FastMail thinking of? So if I'm Chicago, and planning on flying next week from London to Moscow, I start by entering a dummy Moscow event, in Moscow time. That will give me an equivalent Chicago time for the journey's end. Next thing I need to do is enter another dummy event, but this time with a London time and save it. That gives me a second Chicago time for the journey start. Then I finally create the real event using the start and finish times in Chicago time. And in two or three days time, I decide want to confirm I've entered the correct details. So I get my ticket or booking form, but of course it has local London and Moscow times, and I have to compare these against my calendar entry which is all in Chicago time? And lord help me if I have to start making allowance for journey durations which now appear to start one day and finish the next. I can definitely envisage a better way of doing this. Fastmail's calendar should be capable of assigning separate timezones to the start and end of any event. Start editing a single event, enter the start date and time, select London. Enter the end date and time, select Moscow. Finish. Let the algorithms behind the GUI handle all the number crunching for me. However, thanks again for the suggestion. At least I have a way of doing it, even if it's clumsy and inelegant - not your fault. Regards Walter |
26 Jun 2018, 08:19 AM | #4 | ||
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Location: Perth
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Quote:
Quote:
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1 Jul 2018, 06:48 PM | #5 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Melbourne, Oz
Posts: 130
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I thought 'Floating Time' handled this?
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1 Jul 2018, 09:47 PM | #6 |
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2 Jul 2018, 03:40 PM | #7 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Melbourne, Oz
Posts: 130
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When you save a calendar event in 'Floating Time' instead of a time zone, the start and end times are not affected by time zone changes.
(Should clarify, I've used this in the Fastmail web interface - don't know how it might work in different calendar clients, and I suppose it's reasonably likely that it would vary). So, as you change your time zone in the Calendar web interface, an event that starts at, say, 1pm in 'Floating Time' still appears at 1pm regardless of which time zone you change to. I use this for flights that cross time zones. Eg if I fly MEL to BKK from 1pm (MEL) to 9:45pm (BKK) and I save the event in Floating Time, when I arrive in BKK and change the time zone to BKK, the flight event still appears to go from 1pm to 9:45pm. |
3 Jul 2018, 09:32 AM | #8 | |
Intergalactic Postmaster
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Irving, Texas
Posts: 8,926
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From Fastmail help:
Quote:
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3 Jul 2018, 10:53 AM | #9 |
Cornerstone of the Community
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Perth
Posts: 664
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Hi Bill.
I did read that little help snippet from FM in their help pages. Still don't understand the application of it or how it helps when entering say flight events that cross time zones. I guess I'm just a bit thick. |
4 Jul 2018, 04:46 AM | #10 |
Intergalactic Postmaster
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Irving, Texas
Posts: 8,926
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When you enter a calendar event using the Floating Time timezone, the times you enter will always be shown when you later view the calendar event.
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4 Jul 2018, 09:11 AM | #11 |
Cornerstone of the Community
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Perth
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Thanks Bill.
It's interesting. But strikes me as kind of weird and potentially confusing. I guess I'll have to have a play with it to see the benefit. My way of thinking is I'd rather see the correct times shown for the event for the timezone that I'm viewing. |
5 Jul 2018, 07:33 PM | #12 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Melbourne, Oz
Posts: 130
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Have a play around, gardenweed, and let us know what you think.
Floating time is probably more familiar than you realise. Airline tickets (at least with the airlines I use in Australia and internationally) print the flight departure and landing times in the departure and landing airports' local time zones - ie 'floating time'. |
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