Minor wordsmithing in datetime docs to try to address gripes raised by

cnliou.

2 files changed, 31 insertions, 20 deletions

diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/datatype.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/datatype.sgml
index 11d4c5921aa..37fdc653ac1 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/datatype.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/datatype.sgml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <!--
-$Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/datatype.sgml,v 1.128.2.4 2003/11/30 20:53:43 joe Exp $
+$Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/datatype.sgml,v 1.128.2.5 2003/12/01 20:35:04 tgl Exp $
 -->
 
  <chapter id="datatype">
@@ -1301,7 +1301,7 @@ SELECT b, char_length(b) FROM test2;
         <entry>8 bytes</entry>
         <entry>both date and time</entry>
         <entry>4713 BC</entry>
-        <entry>AD 5874897</entry>
+        <entry>5874897 AD</entry>
         <entry>1 microsecond / 14 digits</entry>
        </row>
        <row>
@@ -1309,7 +1309,7 @@ SELECT b, char_length(b) FROM test2;
         <entry>8 bytes</entry>
         <entry>both date and time, with time zone</entry>
         <entry>4713 BC</entry>
-        <entry>AD 5874897</entry>
+        <entry>5874897 AD</entry>
         <entry>1 microsecond / 14 digits</entry>
        </row>
        <row>
@@ -1348,6 +1348,14 @@ SELECT b, char_length(b) FROM test2;
      </tgroup>
     </table>
 
+   <note>
+    <para>
+     Prior to <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> 7.3, writing just
+     <type>timestamp</type> was equivalent to <type>timestamp with
+     time zone</type>.  This was changed for SQL compliance.
+    </para>
+   </note>
+
    <para>
     <type>time</type>, <type>timestamp</type>, and
     <type>interval</type> accept an optional precision value
@@ -1363,23 +1371,16 @@ SELECT b, char_length(b) FROM test2;
     When <type>timestamp</> values are stored as double precision floating-point
     numbers (currently the default), the effective limit of precision
     may be less than 6. <type>timestamp</type> values are stored as seconds
-    since 2000-01-01, and microsecond precision is achieved for dates within
-    a few years of 2000-01-01, but the precision degrades for dates further
-    away.  When <type>timestamp</type> values are stored as eight-byte integers (a compile-time
+    before or after midnight 2000-01-01.  Microsecond precision is achieved for
+    dates within a few years of 2000-01-01, but the precision degrades for
+    dates further away.  When <type>timestamp</type> values are stored as
+    eight-byte integers (a compile-time
     option), microsecond precision is available over the full range of
-    values. However eight-byte integer timestamps have a reduced range of
-    dates from 4713 BC up to 294276 AD.
+    values. However eight-byte integer timestamps have a more limited range of
+    dates than shown above: from 4713 BC up to 294276 AD.
    </para>
    </note>
 
-   <note>
-    <para>
-     Prior to <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> 7.3, writing just
-     <type>timestamp</type> was equivalent to <type>timestamp with
-     time zone</type>.  This was changed for SQL compliance.
-    </para>
-   </note>
-
    <para>
     For the <type>time</type> types, the allowed range of
     <replaceable>p</replaceable> is from 0 to 6 when eight-byte integer
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/datetime.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/datetime.sgml
index 67b71636abd..3cc00a10184 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/datetime.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/datetime.sgml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <!--
-$Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/datetime.sgml,v 2.36.2.1 2003/11/06 22:21:55 tgl Exp $
+$Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/datetime.sgml,v 2.36.2.2 2003/12/01 20:35:04 tgl Exp $
 -->
 
  <appendix id="datetime-appendix">
@@ -370,9 +370,10 @@ $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/datetime.sgml,v 2.36.2.1 2003/11/06 22:21:5
 
    <para>
     <xref linkend="datetime-timezone-table"> shows the time zone
-    abbreviations recognized by <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>.
-    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> contains internal tabular
-    information for time zone decoding, since there is no standard
+    abbreviations recognized by <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
+    in date/time input values.
+    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> uses internal tables
+    for time zone input decoding, since there is no standard
     operating system interface to provide access to general,
     cross-time zone information. The underlying operating system
     <emphasis>is</emphasis> used to provide time zone information for
@@ -380,6 +381,15 @@ $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/datetime.sgml,v 2.36.2.1 2003/11/06 22:21:5
    </para>
 
    <para>
+    Keep in mind also that the time zone names
+    recognized by <command>SET TIMEZONE</> are operating-system
+    dependent and may have little to do with <xref
+    linkend="datetime-timezone-table">.  For example, some systems
+    recognize values like <literal>'Europe/Rome'</> in <command>SET
+    TIMEZONE</>.
+   </para>
+
+   <para>
     The table is organized by time zone offset from <acronym>UTC</>,
     rather than alphabetically.  This is intended to facilitate
     matching local usage with recognized abbreviations for cases where