Re: Support for DATETIMEOFFSET

> On Apr 10, 2020, at 8:19 AM, Jeremy Morton <admin(at)game-point(dot)net> wrote:
>
> Oh well. Guess I keep using SQL Server then. datetimeoffset makes it impossible for developers to make the mistake of forgetting to use UTC instead of local datetime, and for that reason alone it makes it invaluable in my opinion. It should be used universally instead of datetime.

1. Not sure I understand. I’ve never used datetimeoffset so please bear with me. How does storing a time zone with the date time “make it impossible for developers to make the mistake….”

2. I usually work with timestamps that have input and output across multiple time zones, why would one store a time zone in the database? If I need a local time, then postgres does that automatically.

3. At the end of the day a point in time in UTC is about as clear as it is possible to make it.

Not trying to be difficult, just trying to understand.

Neil

>
> --
> Best regards,
> Jeremy Morton (Jez)
>
> Andreas Karlsson wrote:
>> On 4/10/20 10:34 AM, Jeremy Morton wrote:
>>> I've noticed that Postgres doesn't have support for DATETIMEOFFSET (or any functional equivalent data type) yet. Is this on the roadmap to implement? I find it a very useful data type that I use all over the place in TSQL databases.
>> Hi,
>> I do not think anyone is working on such a type. And personally I think such a type is better suite for an extension rather than for core PostgreSQL. For most applications the timestamptz and date types are enough to solve everything time related (with some use of the timestamp type when doing calculations), but there are niche applications where other temporal types can be very useful, but I personally do not think those are common enough for inclusion in core PostgreSQL.
>> I suggest writing an extension with this type and see if there is any interest in it.
>> Andreas
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