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Hi Steve, all,<br>
<br>
This totally highlights the problem. No offense intended to the
developers (myself included), but we've not structured the product
very well for "normal" folks who are somewhat technical, but have no
inside knowledge of the product, prior versions, Linux, ESP-IDF,
etc. <br>
<br>
How was I to know what to put in the Timezone field? Bear with me
as I walk through my troubled mental process... And please take
this as me trying to be helpful.<br>
<br>
// Begin Rant<br>
<br>
So, I've seen configuration screens a bazillion times asking for
timezone. If there's not a pull-down, usually I would put in -7 for
the US Pacific Daylight Time that I'm in right now, or -8 if on
Standard Time, and make a mental note to change it next fall. Not a
big deal; there are a dozen "clocks" here at the house that need
semi-yearly care. What's one more? Sometimes the config would be
-8 with a checkbox for enabling DST. More recent product config
screens sometimes use cities, with Los Angeles being our "local"
example. That's been the set, so glancing at (but not truly
understanding the implications of) the fine print on the
configuration screen, I simply put in my -7 and moved on. It's been
that way for weeks, and I never noticed anything wrong until I saw
the "GMT" reference on the Time at Boot status that I recently
added. Should have been "PDT". Something's wrong. Playing the
ever-so-observant beta tester, I dig in...<br>
<br>
So, back to the config screen I went. First, where was it? I was
doing a firmware update, but it's not there, and there's no General
config tab. Nothing labeled "Time". Finally found it under
Vehicle. Really? I see my -7 still sitting there, so it wasn't
lost. Finally I re-read the comment about a web link to "Example
Timezone Strings", and think, huh, I guess there must be some other
way to say "-7". I click on the link, and scan down the table. It
says USA & Canada, Pacific Time, and PST8PDT. Odd, but ok.
Copy & paste. Hit Save. Go back to the status page, and see
PDT on the aforementioned boot status line. Also see the upgrade
was done yesterday afternoon, and realize that was 2am GMT, so I
guess it checks out. Annoying, but DONE.<br>
<br>
Now you tell me I'm <i>not done</i>, and that I really needed to
click on the second link to the man page on glibc? And <i>understand</i>
it? Then research what the rules for DST computation are in my
country, state, and so forth, to craft some sort of command lingo
for the TZ engine?<br>
<br>
Reality check here. My HP 100LX palmtop, manufactured in <b><i>1992,</i></b>
does a better job at handling this. We've taken a simple task of
entering a small, well known signed integer, and turned it into an
exercise in POSIX programming and international politics. This for
a parameter that has little, if any, consequence on the daily
operation of the product as I currently use it.<br>
<br>
// End Rant<br>
<br>
With a grateful acknowledgment to Michael for his awesome work on
the Webserver UI, I think we should take a pass through the
configuration steps with an eye towards making this as turn-key as
possible. I understand that he's made some significant changes to
the UI since my module arrived (back on .003 code), so the
improvements in initial config have not been reflected in what I am
running now (since the config has already been set). As I noted in
my previous email, I will blow my module back to factory defaults
and start over, looking for places where we might improve things. <br>
<br>
I know that the V3 OVMS module is a VAST improvement over the prior
versions, even without having experienced them myself. But to reach
a broader audience, we need to continually look to improve the setup
/ configuration experience, especially as we add new and even more
powerful features. <br>
<br>
Greg<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Stephen Casner wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:alpine.OSX.2.21.1805221204560.80508@auge.attlocal.net">
<pre wrap="">On Tue, 22 May 2018, Greg D. wrote:
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Oh, almost... My timezone was also wrong. It was set to -7 like I do
everywhere else, instead of PST8PDT. Where did that come from? My only
clue to this was that the new boot status display of time at last boot
said GMT instead of PDT.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap="">
Because the ESP-IDF system does not have all the compiled-in timezone
code, we need to specify how to manage daylight saving time using the
long value for the TZ parameter. So not even PST8PDT is sufficient,
you need "PST8PDT,M3.2.0/2,M11.1.0".
-- Steve
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</pre>
</blockquote>
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