Do not automatically create directories. If the input file(s) specify an output file in a directory which does not already exist, the default behavior is to attempt to create the directory. If -D is specified, zic will instead error out immediately.
-d directory
Create time conversion information files in the named directory rather than in the standard directory named below.
-g group
After creating each output file, change its group ownership to the specified group (which can be either a name or a numeric group ID).
-L leapsecondfilename
Read leap second information from the file with the given name. If this option is not used, no leap second information appears in output files.
-l timezone
Use the given time zone as local time. The zic utility will act as if the input contained a link line of the form
(Note that this action has no effect on .Fx , since the local time zone is specified in /etc/localtime and not /usr/share/zoneinfo/localtime.)
-m mode
After creating each output file, change its access mode to mode. Both numeric and alphabetic modes are accepted (see chmod(1)).
-p timezone
Use the given "time zone" ’s rules when handling POSIX-format time zone environment variables. The zic utility will act as if the input contained a link line of the form
-u user
After creating each output file, change its owner to user (which can be either a name or a numeric user ID).
-v
Complain if a year that appears in a data file is outside the range of years representable by time(3) values.
-s
Limit time values stored in output files to values that are the same whether they are taken to be signed or unsigned. You can use this option to generate SVVS-compatible files.
-y command
Use the given command rather than yearistype when checking year types (see below).
Input lines are made up of fields. Fields are separated from one another by any number of white space characters. Leading and trailing white space on input lines is ignored. An unquoted sharp character (#) in the input introduces a comment which extends to the end of the line the sharp character appears on. White space characters and sharp characters may be enclosed in double quotes (") if they are to be used as part of a field. Any line that is blank (after comment stripping) is ignored. Non-blank lines are expected to be of one of three types: rule lines, zone lines, and link lines.
A rule line has the form:
"Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S
For example:
"Rule US 1967 1973 - Apr lastSun 2:00 1:00 D
The fields that make up a rule line are:
NAME
Give the (arbitrary) name of the set of rules this rule is part of.
FROM
Give the first year in which the rule applies. Any integer year can be supplied; the Gregorian calendar is assumed. The word minimum (or an abbreviation) means the minimum year representable as an integer. The word maximum (or an abbreviation) means the maximum year representable as an integer. Rules can describe times that are not representable as time values, with the unrepresentable times ignored; this allows rules to be portable among hosts with differing time value types.
TO
Give the final year in which the rule applies. In addition to minimum and maximum (as above), the word only (or an abbreviation) may be used to repeat the value of the FROM field.
TYPE
Give the type of year in which the rule applies. If TYPE is - then the rule applies in all years between FROM and TO inclusive. If TYPE is something else, then zic executes the command yearistype year type to check the type of a year: an exit status of zero is taken to mean that the year is of the given type; an exit status of one is taken to mean that the year is not of the given type.
IN
Name the month in which the rule takes effect. Month names may be abbreviated.
ON
Give the day on which the rule takes effect. Recognized forms include:
5
the fifth of the month
lastSun
the last Sunday in the month
lastMon
the last Monday in the month
Sun>=8
first Sunday on or after the eighth
Sun<=25
last Sunday on or before the 25th
Names of days of the week may be abbreviated or spelled out in full. Note that there must be no spaces within the ON field.
AT
Give the time of day at which the rule takes effect. Recognized forms include:
2
time in hours
2:00
time in hours and minutes
15:00
24-hour format time (for times after noon)
1:28:14
time in hours, minutes, and seconds
where hour 0 is midnight at the start of the day, and hour 24 is midnight at the end of the day. Any of these forms may be followed by the letter 'w' if the given time is local ""wall clock"" time, 's' if the given time is local "standard" time, or 'u' (or 'g' or 'z') if the given time is universal time; in the absence of an indicator, wall clock time is assumed.
SAVE
Give the amount of time to be added to local standard time when the rule is in effect. This field has the same format as the AT field (although, of course, the 'w' and 's' suffixes are not used).
LETTER/S
Give the ""variable part"" (for example, the "S" or "D" in "EST" or "EDT") of time zone abbreviations to be used when this rule is in effect. If this field is -, the variable part is null.
A zone line has the form:
"Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES/SAVE FORMAT [UNTIL]
For example:
"Zone Australia/Adelaide 9:30 Aus CST 1971 Oct 31 2:00
The fields that make up a zone line are:
NAME
The name of the time zone. This is the name used in creating the time conversion information file for the zone.
GMTOFF
The amount of time to add to UTC to get standard time in this zone. This field has the same format as the AT and SAVE fields of rule lines; begin the field with a minus sign if time must be subtracted from UTC.
RULES/SAVE
The name of the rule(s) that apply in the time zone or, alternately, an amount of time to add to local standard time. If this field is - then standard time always applies in the time zone.
FORMAT
The format for time zone abbreviations in this time zone. The pair of characters %s is used to show where the ""variable part"" of the time zone abbreviation goes. Alternately, a slash (/) separates standard and daylight abbreviations.
UNTIL
The time at which the UTC offset or the rule(s) change for a location. It is specified as a year, a month, a day, and a time of day. If this is specified, the time zone information is generated from the given UTC offset and rule change until the time specified. The month, day, and time of day have the same format as the IN, ON, and AT columns of a rule; trailing columns can be omitted, and default to the earliest possible value for the missing columns.
The next line must be a "continuation" line; this has the same form as a zone line except that the string "Zone" and the name are omitted, as the continuation line will place information starting at the time specified as the UNTIL field in the previous line in the file used by the previous line. Continuation lines may contain an UNTIL field, just as zone lines do, indicating that the next line is a further continuation.
A link line has the form
"Link LINK-FROM LINK-TO
For example:
"Link Europe/Istanbul Asia/Istanbul
The LINK-FROM field should appear as the NAME field in some zone line; the LINK-TO field is used as an alternate name for that zone.
Except for continuation lines, lines may appear in any order in the input.
Lines in the file that describes leap seconds have the following form:
"Leap YEAR MONTH DAY HH:MM:SS CORR R/S
For example:
"Leap 1974 Dec 31 23:59:60 + S
The YEAR, MONTH, DAY, and HH:MM:SS fields tell when the leap second happened. The CORR field should be "+" if a second was added or "-" if a second was skipped. The R/S field should be (an abbreviation of) "Stationary" if the leap second time given by the other fields should be interpreted as UTC or (an abbreviation of) "Rolling" if the leap second time given by the other fields should be interpreted as local wall clock time.
