Administration Page Functions Administering Maps

Configuring Time Zones 14-3

14.3 What is the Precedence Order for Time Zones

The actual time zone in which various types of content are displayed follows a precedence order that Table 14–2 describes. In the table, the items with lower numbers override those with higher numbers. For example, Item 1 takes precedence over Item 2.

14.3.1 User-Preferred Time Zone

The user-preferred time zone is determined by the following: 1. The specification that a user makes in the My Account dialog. 2. The setting of the TIMEZONE session variable. 3. The setting of the DefaultUserPreferred element in the instanceconfig.xml file. 14.4 Where are Time Zone Specifications Stored? Whenever a time zone specification is displayed in a list or as the value of a session variable or element in the instanceconfig.xml file, that specification originates from the TimeZones.xml file. This file is stored in the ORACLE_ INSTANCE\bifoundation\OracleBIApplication\coreapplication\timezone directory. The TimeZones.xml file contains nearly all time zones from around the world. You should not have to add zones to this file, but you are free to edit this file if you care to. You can delete those zones that users in your organization does not use.

14.4.1 Specifying Time Zone Values

Various editors show the ampersand that appears in time zone values in one of two ways: either the ampersand character itself or its escape sequence. Use care when entering a time zone value, as follows: Table 14–2 Precedence Order for Time Zones Time Zone For Determined By Data 1. The setting of the DATA_TZ session variable. 2. The setting of the DefaultDataOffset element in the instanceconfig.xml file. 3. The time zone of the original data as set by the Oracle BI Administrator because the time zone is unknown for Presentation Services. Data display 1. The setting that a content designer makes. 2. The setting of the DATA_DISPLAY_TZ session variable. 3. The setting of the DefaultDataDisplay element in the instanceconfig.xml file. 4. User-Preferred Time Zone General time stamps not including column data and log files 1. User-Preferred Time Zone 2. The time zone for Oracle BI Presentation Services. Log file information 1. The setting of the Logging element in the instanceconfig.xml file. 2. The time zone for Presentation Services. 14-4 System Administrators Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition ■ When you use the ampersand in the value of a session variable, include the ampersand character in the value, such as Pacific Time US Canada; Tijuana. ■ When you use the ampersand in the value of an element in the Oracle BI Presentation Services configuration file instanceconfig.xml, include the escape sequence for the ampersand in the value, such as Pacific Time US amp; Canada; Tijuana

14.5 Description of Time Zone Settings

Table 14–3 describes the session variables and the elements in the instanceconfig.xml file with which you set time zones. When you include elements in the instanceconfig.xml file, you specify the time zone that all users see. When you use session variables, you can specify a different time zone for each user. If you use session variables and you specify values for the appropriate elements in the instanceconfig.xml file, then the values of the session variables override the settings in the instanceconfig.xml file. Table 14–3 Time Zone Settings Element Session Variable Description Value DefaultDataOffset DATA_TZ The time zone offset of the original data. To allow the time zone to be converted so that users see the appropriate zone, you must set the value of this element or variable. If you do not set this option, then no time zone conversion occurs because the value is unknown. For example, suppose you want to convert to Eastern Standard Time EST, which is Greenwich Mean Time GMT - 5. You must specify this value to enable the conversion to EST. An offset that indicates the number of hours away from GMT time. For example: GMT-05:00 or -300, which means minus 5 hours. DefaultDataDisplay DATA_ DISPLAY_TZ Specifies the time zone to use for displaying data. If you do not set this option, then the value is the User-Preferred Time Zone . One of the time zones that are specified in the TimeZones.xml file. See Section 14.4.1, Specifying Time Zone Values.