[VBnet Locale] GetTimeZoneInformation: Determine when Daylight Saving Time Occurs


	Visual Basic Locale/Regionalization Routines GetTimeZoneInformation: Determine when Daylight Saving Time Occurs

Posted:	Tuesday March 27, 2001
Updated:	Monday December 26, 2011

Applies to:	VB4-32, VB5, VB6
Developed with:	VB5, Windows 2000
OS restrictions:	None
Author:	VBnet - Randy Birch, Chip Pearson, Bob Butler

Related:	SetLocaleInfo: Change System Long and Short Date Formats WM_TIMECHANGE: Detect System Changes to the Date/Time RegQueryValueEx: Identify Time Zones by Time Zone Bias EnumDateFormats: Regional Locale Date Settings EnumTimeFormats: Regional Locale Time Settings GetLocaleInfo: Regional Locale Date Settings

Prerequisites

None.

Windows time-related functions return one of the five supported time formats (System, File, Local, MS-DOS and Windows), and include functions to convert between time formats for comparison or display, or to convert formats based on the time zone setting. GetTimeZoneInformation is the API used to retrieve the time-zone parameters for the system, and this API also controls the translation between Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and local machine time.

The return value from a call to GetTimeZoneInformation indicates whether the local system is running under Standard Time or Daylight Saving Time. Where the call can not determine the time zone type (for example if daylight saving time is not used in the current time zone, or because a call to SetTimeZoneInformation was made without specifying the transition dates), the call returns 0.

This demo wraps GetTimeZoneInformation into two callable functions. One function can return the string representing the time zone type currently in force (daylight, standard or unknown), while the second call simply returns True if the system time is Daylight Saving Time (False if either Standard Time or unknown).

This code is based on newsgroup postings by Bob Butler and Excel MVP Chip Pearson.

BAS Module Code

None.

Form Code

Add a label (Label1) for the current date, a command button (Command1) and two text boxes (Text1 - Text2) to a form. Other labels are optional. Add the following code:

Option Explicit

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' Copyright ©1996-2011 VBnet/Randy Birch, All Rights Reserved.
' Some pages may also contain other copyrights by the author.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' Distribution: You can freely use this code in your own
'               applications, but you may not reproduce 
'               or publish this code on any web site,
'               online service, or distribute as source 
'               on any media without express permission.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Private Const TIME_ZONE_ID_UNKNOWN As Long = 1
Private Const TIME_ZONE_ID_STANDARD As Long = 1
Private Const TIME_ZONE_ID_DAYLIGHT As Long = 2
Private Const TIME_ZONE_ID_INVALID As Long = &HFFFFFFFF

Private Type SYSTEMTIME
   wYear         As Integer
   wMonth        As Integer
   wDayOfWeek    As Integer
   wDay          As Integer
   wHour         As Integer
   wMinute       As Integer
   wSecond       As Integer
   wMilliseconds As Integer
End Type

Private Type TIME_ZONE_INFORMATION
   Bias As Long
   StandardName(0 To 63) As Byte  'Unicode
   StandardDate As SYSTEMTIME
   StandardBias As Long
   DaylightName(0 To 63) As Byte  'Unicode
   DaylightDate As SYSTEMTIME
   DaylightBias As Long
End Type

Private Declare Function GetTimeZoneInformation Lib "kernel32" _
    (lpTimeZoneInformation As TIME_ZONE_INFORMATION) As Long



Private Sub Command1_Click()

   Label1.Caption = Format$(Now, "long date")
   Text1.Text = GetCurrentTimeZone()
   Text2.Text = Format$(IsDaylightSavingTime(), "Yes/No")

End Sub


Private Function IsDaylightSavingTime() As Boolean

   Dim tzi As TIME_ZONE_INFORMATION

   IsDaylightSavingTime = GetTimeZoneInformation(tzi) = TIME_ZONE_ID_DAYLIGHT

End Function


Private Function GetCurrentTimeZone() As String

   Dim tzi As TIME_ZONE_INFORMATION
   Dim tmp As String

   Select Case GetTimeZoneInformation(tzi)
      Case 0:  tmp = "Cannot determine current time zone"
      Case 1:  tmp = tzi.StandardName
      Case 2:  tmp = tzi.DaylightName
   End Select
   
   GetCurrentTimeZone = TrimNull(tmp)
   
End Function


Private Function TrimNull(item As String)

    Dim pos As Integer
   
   'double check that there is a chr$(0) in the string  
    pos = InStr(item, Chr$(0))      
    If pos Then
       TrimNull = Left$(item, pos - 1)
    Else
       TrimNull = item
    End If
  
End Function

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