UTC, Enterprise Time, and Site Time Zones

The APM server and database support Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This means that date and time data is stored in the database and displayed in some locations as UTC.

When you launch APM with a new database, you are prompted to select the enterprise time zone. By default, this time zone applies to the top site and its child sites.

Alternatively, you can enable the Time Zones by Site feature. When you select a different time zone for a site, date and time data for the site is displayed in that time zone. If a site has not been assigned a time zone, APM ascends the site hierarchy to find a parent site’s time zone.

Wherever dates and times are displayed in smart and thick clients, the data is converted to the time zone assigned to the site (regardless of the time zone used on the computer).

Note: To enable site time zones, open the Enterprise window, select the Features view and the Enabled Features tab. Click Browse, select “Time Zones by Site,” and click OK. If APM is running as a smart or remote client, click Refresh Enabled Features on the server. Then restart the client to use the functionality in the product.

For related information, see Changing a Site’s Time Zone.

This topic explains:

•	Viewing UTC in APM

•	Viewing the Enterprise Time Zone

•	Viewing Site Time Zones in APM

•	Scheduled Actions and Site Time Zones

•	Data Loaders and Site Time Zones

•

EXPLink

•	Duration Values and Daylight Saving Time

For information about setting the enterprise time zone and setting up the install database, see Launching APM, Selecting a Time Zone, and Creating Users.

For information about adding new time zone information to the database, see Importing Time Zone Information.

For information about setting a site time zone, see Setting up a Site Hierarchy.

For information about converting an existing APM database to UTC, see “APM Upgrade Wizard” in APM Upgrade Guide.

Viewing UTC in APM

The Server Manager, Server Window, Web Monitor, and log files display dates and times with the suffix “Z” to indicate UTC. Here is an example from the Web Monitor:

In the APM Network Log Viewer utility, you can show logged time in the local time zone. For more information, see “Network Log Viewer Tools” in APM Installation Guide.

Viewing the Enterprise Time Zone

To see the geographical area that supplies the enterprise time zone, open the Enterprise window. Click the Enterprise menu and then Properties. The Enterprise Properties dialog displays the time zone that was selected when the database was initialized. For example:

Viewing Site Time Zones in APM

Wherever dates and times are displayed, the data is converted to the time zone of the current site, regardless of the computer’s date and time settings. If a site has not been assigned a time zone, APM ascends the site hierarchy to find a parent site’s time zone.

All main windows in APM and APM Remote display the site time in the status bar, followed by the time zone abbreviation. For example:

To view the time zone abbreviation for a value in a date or time box, pause the mouse pointer over the date or time. For example:

Time zone abbreviations are displayed in tables. For example:

Time zones are specific to each row in the table. For example, if the Tasks tab shown above is set to “From this site and below”, work order tasks created on other sites could have different time zones.

Tables that include date and time data members use the current site’s time zone for any filtering requirements. For example, in the Work Management view, Work Requests tab, the default configuration shows columns for requested completion date and the date and time closed. If you apply the “Last month” filter to one of the columns, it will be accurate to the current site’s time zone.

Display Settings

You can hide time zone abbreviations in lists. In the Enterprise window. Click the Administration menu and then UI Settings. The UI Settings dialog appears:

Click Hide time zone when displayed in lists and click OK. Refresh the APM view to see the change.

You can also set the formatting for individual columns in a table. In the Configuration Column dialog, select the Formatting Options tab:

The Enterprise setting options show the default formatting that was set in the enterprise UI settings. In the example shown above, time and time zone are hidden by default (Hidden: Yes).

When you export a table to Microsoft Excel, time zone information reflects the display options of the table configuration. When time zone is shown in the table, the spreadsheet shows the time zone in separate columns. For example:

Scheduled Actions and Site Time Zones

When a scheduled action applies to a specific site, the recurrence pattern uses the site’s time zone. For example, if Site B’s time zone is Eastern Standard Time (EST) and the pattern is “every day at 7:00 AM”, the action will run every day at 7 AM EST.

When an action applies to all sites, the top site’s time zone is used. So, if the top site is in Halifax (Atlantic Standard Time - AST), the action will run every day at 7 AM AST, which is 6:00 AM EST for Site B.

If your sites have different time zones, we recommend scheduling KPI calculations on an individual site basis.

Note: If the start or end of daylight saving time prevents a task from being launched at its scheduled time, the task will automatically run as soon as possible after the scheduled task is missed.

For more information about the Action Scheduler, see “Setting up Action Scheduling” in APM Installation Guide.

Data Loaders and Site Time Zones

All DateTime fields added to a staging table are interpreted as being in the originating sites’ time zones. Consequently, each row in an Excel spreadsheet could represent a different site and time zone. The time zone information is saved as-is in the staging table. Only when APM objects are updated with the imported data is the date and time data saved to the database as UTC.

EXPLink

The following methods in EXPLinkSession support UTC and the enterprise time zone:

•	GetCurrentDBTimeAsZoned – which takes ZoneID

•	GetCurrentDBTimeAsUTC – replaces GetCurrentDBTime

Note: The method GetCurrentTimeDBTime is no longer supported.

All EXPLink objects have access to a method called GetZoneID(), which returns the Timezone string for the object, for example, “America/Toronto”.

For information about using EXPLink features, contact APM Support.

Duration Values and Daylight Saving Time

This section explains the rules that APM follows when calculating durations. It provides examples and explains exceptions.

When daylight saving time (DST) begins and ends, APM follows these rules when calculating durations:

•	Seconds, minutes, and hours: DST is considered when calculating the time portion of the duration

•	Days, weeks, months, and years: DST is not considered when calculating the time portion of the duration

Example Scenario

In this scenario, DST starts on Sunday, March 12 at 2:00:00 a.m. One hour is added to the local time to make it Sunday, March 12 at 3:00:00 a.m.

Consider a work order task’s planned start and completion dates and times.

Example 1

•	Planned start: Saturday, March 11 at 4:30:00 a.m.

•	Duration: 24 hours

•	Planned completion: Sunday, March 12 at 5:30:00 a.m.

In this case, one hour is added to the duration for DST.

Example 2

•	Planned start: Saturday, March 11 at 4:30:00 a.m.

•	Duration: 1 day

•	Planned completion: Sunday, March 12 at 4:30:00 a.m.

Following the second rule, the calculation does not consider DST.

Exceptions

•	Calculated start and end times for scheduled shifts. APM adjusts start and end times for shifts to prevent gaps and overlaps because of the change to or from DST.

•	When a calculated start or end time falls in the interval after DST begins, the time is rounded up. For example:

•	Planned start: Saturday, March 11 at 2:25:00 a.m.

•	Duration: 1 day

•	Planned completion: Sunday, March 12 at 3:00:00 a.m.

Because of DST, 2:25:00 does not exist on Sunday, March 12. Consequently, the time is rounded up to the next available time: 3:00:00.