Network Working Group                                        M. Douglass
Internet-Draft                                                       RPI
Intended status: Standards Track                                C. Daboo
Expires: July 21, 2015                                             Apple
                                                        January 17, 2015


                  Time Zone Data Distribution Service
                      draft-ietf-tzdist-service-05

Abstract

   This document defines a time zone data distribution service that
   allows reliable, secure and fast delivery of time zone data and leap
   second rules to client systems such as calendaring and scheduling
   applications or operating systems.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on July 21, 2015.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2015 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
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   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.



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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     1.1.  Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   2.  Architectural Overview  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  General Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     3.1.  Time Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     3.2.  Time Zone Data  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     3.3.  Time Zone Meta-Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     3.4.  Time Zone Data Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     3.5.  Observance  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     3.6.  Time Zone Identifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     3.7.  Time Zone Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     3.8.  Time Zone Localized Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     3.9.  Truncating Time Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     3.10. Time Zone Versions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   4.  Time Zone Data Distribution Service Protocol  . . . . . . . .  10
     4.1.  Server Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
       4.1.1.  Time Zone Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       4.1.2.  Time Zone Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       4.1.3.  Time Zone Localization  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       4.1.4.  Conditional Time Zone Requests  . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       4.1.5.  Expanded Time Zone Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
       4.1.6.  Server Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
       4.1.7.  Error Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
       4.1.8.  Extensions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     4.2.  Client Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
       4.2.1.  Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
         4.2.1.1.  Time Zone Data Distribution Service SRV Service
                   Labels  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
         4.2.1.2.  Time Zone Data Distribution Service TXT records .  15
         4.2.1.3.  Time Zone Data Distribution Service Well-Known
                   URI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
           4.2.1.3.1.  Example: well-known URI redirects to actual
                       context path  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
       4.2.2.  Synchronization of Time Zones . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
         4.2.2.1.  Initial Synchronization of All Time Zones . . . .  16
         4.2.2.2.  Subsequent Synchronization of All Time Zones  . .  16
         4.2.2.3.  Synchronization with Pre-Existing Time Zone Data   17
   5.  Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
     5.1.  "capabilities" Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
       5.1.1.  Example: Get Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
     5.2.  "list" Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
       5.2.1.  Example: List time zone identifiers . . . . . . . . .  21
     5.3.  "get" Action  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
       5.3.1.  Example: Get time zone data . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
       5.3.2.  Example: Conditional Get time zone data . . . . . . .  23
       5.3.3.  Example: Get time zone data using a time zone alias .  24



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       5.3.4.  Example: Get truncated time zone data . . . . . . . .  25
       5.3.5.  Example: Get a non-existent time zone data  . . . . .  26
     5.4.  "expand" Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
       5.4.1.  Example: Expanded JSON Data Format  . . . . . . . . .  28
     5.5.  "find" Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29
       5.5.1.  Example: Find action  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  30
     5.6.  "leapseconds" Action  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
       5.6.1.  Example: Get leapsecond information . . . . . . . . .  32
   6.  JSON Definitions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  33
     6.1.  capabilities action response  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34
     6.2.  list/find action response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36
     6.3.  expand action response  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38
     6.4.  leapseconds action response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  40
   7.  New iCalendar Properties  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  40
     7.1.  Time Zone Upper Bound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  40
     7.2.  Time Zone Identifier Alias Property . . . . . . . . . . .  41
   8.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  42
   9.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  43
     9.1.  Service Actions Registration  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  43
       9.1.1.  Service Actions Registration Procedure  . . . . . . .  43
       9.1.2.  Registration Template for Actions . . . . . . . . . .  44
     9.2.  Initial Time Zone Data Distribution Service Registry  . .  44
       9.2.1.  Actions Registry  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  44
     9.3.  timezone Well-Known URI Registration  . . . . . . . . . .  45
     9.4.  Service Name Registrations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  45
       9.4.1.  timezone Service Name Registration  . . . . . . . . .  45
       9.4.2.  timezones Service Name Registration . . . . . . . . .  45
     9.5.  tzdist URN sub-namespace  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  46
     9.6.  iCalendar Property Registrations  . . . . . . . . . . . .  46
   10. Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  46
   11. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  47
     11.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  47
     11.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  48
   Appendix A.  Change History (to be removed prior to publication
                as an RFC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  49
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  52

1.  Introduction

   Time zone data typically combines a coordinated universal time (UTC)
   offset with daylight saving time (DST) rules.  Time zones are
   typically tied to specific geographic and geopolitical regions.
   Whilst the UTC offset for particular regions changes infrequently,
   DST rules can change frequently and sometimes with very little notice
   (maybe hours before a change comes into effect).

   Calendaring and scheduling systems, such as those that use iCalendar
   [RFC5545], as well as operating systems, critically rely on time zone



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   data to determine the correct local time.  As such they need to be
   kept up to date with changes to time zone data.  To date there has
   been no fast and easy way to do that.  Time zone data is often
   supplied in the form of a set of data files that have to be
   "compiled" into a suitable database format for use by the client
   application or operating system.  In the case of operating systems,
   often those changes only get propagated to client machines when there
   is an operating system update, which can be infrequent, resulting in
   inaccurate time zone data being present for significant amounts of
   time.

   Along with time zone data, it is also important to track the use of
   leap seconds to allow a mapping between International Atomic Time
   (TAI) and UTC.  Leap seconds can be added (or possibly removed) at
   various times of year in an irregular pattern typically determined by
   precise astronomical observations.  The insertion of leap seconds
   into UTC is currently the responsibility of the International Earth
   Rotation Service.

   This specification defines a time zone data distribution service
   protocol that allows for fast, reliable and accurate delivery of time
   zone data and leap second information to client systems.  This
   protocol is based on HTTP [RFC7230] using a simple JSON [RFC7159]
   based API.

   This specification does not define the source of the time zone data
   or leap second information.  It is assumed that a reliable and
   accurate source is available.  One such source is the IANA hosted
   time zone database [RFC6557].

   Discussion of this document should take place on the tzdist working
   group mailing list <tzdist@ietf.org>.

1.1.  Conventions

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

   Unless otherwise indicated, [RFC3339] UTC date-time values use a "Z"
   suffix, and not fixed numeric offsets.

2.  Architectural Overview

   The overall process for the delivery of time zone data can be
   visualized via the diagram shown below.





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               ====================  ====================
   (a)         |   Contributors   |  |   Contributors   |
               ====================  ====================
                         |                    |
               ====================  ====================
   (b)         |   Publisher A    |  |   Publisher B    |
               ====================  ====================
                                    |
                         ====================
   (c)                   |     Provider     |
                         ====================
                        /            |       \
                       /             |        \
            ====================     |     ====================
   (d)      |     Provider     |     |     |     Provider     |
            ====================     |     ====================
              |           |          |              |
              |           |          |              |
        ==========  ==========  ==========      ==========
   (e)  | Client |  | Client |  | Client |      | Client |
        ==========  ==========  ==========      ==========

        Figure 1: Time Zone Data Distribution Service Architecture

   The overall service is made up of several layers:

   (a) Contributors:  Individuals, governments or organizations which
      provide information about time zones to the publishing process.
      There can be many contributors.

   (b) Publishers:  Publishers aggregate information from contributors,
      determine the reliability of the information and, based on that,
      generate time zone data.  There can be many publishers, each
      getting information from many different contributors.  In some
      cases a publisher may choose to "re-publish" data from another
      publisher.

   (c) Root Providers:  Servers which obtain and then provide the time
      zone data from publishers and make that available to other servers
      or clients.  There can be many root providers.  Root providers can
      choose to supply time zone data from one or more publishers.

   (d) Secondary Providers:  Servers which handle the bulk of the
      requests and reduce the load on root servers.  These will
      typically be simple caches of the root server, located closer to
      clients.  For example a large Internet Service Provider (ISP) may
      choose to setup their own secondary provider to allow clients
      within their network to make requests of that server rather than



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      making requests of servers outside their network.  Secondary
      servers will cache and periodically refresh data from the root
      servers.

   (e) Clients:  Applications, operating systems etc., that make use of
      time zone data and retrieve that from either root or secondary
      providers.

   Some of those layers may be coalesced by implementors.  For example,
   a vendor may choose to implement the entire service as a single
   monolithic virtual server with the address embedded in distributed
   systems.  Others may choose to provide a service consisting of
   multiple layers of providers, many secondary servers and a small
   number of root servers.

   This specification is concerned only with the protocol used to
   exchange data between providers and from provider to client.  This
   specification does not define how contributors pass their information
   to publishers, nor how those publishers vet that information to
   obtain trustworthy data, nor the format of the data produced by the
   publishers.

3.  General Considerations

   This section defines several terms and explains some key concepts
   used in this specification.

3.1.  Time Zone

   A description of the past and predicted future timekeeping practices
   of a collection of clocks that are intended to agree.

   Note that the term "time zone" does not have the common meaning of a
   region of the world at a specific UTC offset, possibly modified by
   daylight saving time.  For example, the "Central European Time" zone
   can correspond to several time zones "Europe/Berlin", "Europe/Paris",
   etc., because subregions have kept time differently in the past.

3.2.  Time Zone Data

   Data that defines a single time zone, including an identifier, UTC
   offset values, DST rules, and other information such as time zone
   abbreviations.








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3.3.  Time Zone Meta-Data

   Data that describes additional properties of a time zone that is not
   itself including in the time zone data.  This can include such things
   as the publisher name, version identifier, aliases, and localized
   names (see below).

3.4.  Time Zone Data Server

   A server implementing the Time Zone Data Distribution Service
   Protocol defined by this specification.

3.5.  Observance

   Data that defines a portion of a time zone where the UTC offset is a
   constant.  A time zone with varying rules for the UTC offset will
   have many adjacent observances, with the total set covering the range
   of validity of the time zone data.

3.6.  Time Zone Identifiers

   Time zone identifiers are unique names associated with each time
   zone, as defined by publishers.  The iCalendar [RFC5545]
   specification has a "TZID" property and parameter whose value is set
   to the corresponding time zone identifier, and used to identify time
   zone data and relate time zones to start and end dates in events,
   etc.  This specification does not define what format of time zone
   identifiers should be used.  It is possible that time zone
   identifiers from different publishers overlap, and there might be a
   need for a provider to distinguish those with some form of
   "namespace" prefix identifying the publisher.  However, development
   of a standard (global) time zone identifier naming scheme is out of
   scope for this specification.

3.7.  Time Zone Aliases

   Time zone aliases map a name onto a time zone identifier.  For
   example "US/Eastern" is usually mapped on to "America/New_York".
   Time zone aliases are typically used interchangeably with time zone
   identifiers when presenting information to users.

   A time zone data distribution service needs to maintain time zone
   alias mapping information, and expose that data to clients as well as
   allow clients to query for time zone data using aliases.  When
   returning time zone data to a client, the server returns the data
   with an identifier matching the query, but it can include one or more
   additional identifiers in the data to provide a hint to the client
   that alternative identifiers are available.  For example, a query for



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   "US/Eastern" could include additional identifiers for "America/
   New_York" or "America/Montreal".

   The set of aliases may vary depending on whether time zone data is
   truncated (see Section 3.9).  For example, a client located in the US
   state of Michigan may see "US/Eastern" as an alias for "America/
   Detroit" whereas a client in the US state of New Jersey may see it as
   an alias for "America/New_York", and all three names may be aliases
   if time zones are truncated to post-2013 data.

3.8.  Time Zone Localized Names

   Localized names are names for time zones which can be presented to a
   user in their own language.  Each time zone may have one or more
   localized names associated with it.  Names would typically be unique
   in their own locale as they might be presented to the user in a list.
   Localized names are distinct from abbreviations commonly used for UTC
   offsets within a time zone.  For example, the time zone "America/
   New_York" may have the localized name "Nueva York" in a Spanish
   locale, as distinct from the abbreviations "EST" and "EDT" which may
   or may not have their own localizations.

   A time zone data distribution service might need to maintain
   localized name information, for one or more chosen languages, as well
   as allow clients to query for time zone data using localized names.

3.9.  Truncating Time Zones

   Time zone data can contain information about past and future UTC
   offsets that may not be relevant for a particular server's intended
   clients.  For example, calendaring and scheduling clients are likely
   most concerned with time zone data that covers a period for one or
   two years in the past on into the future, as users typically create
   only new events for the present and future.  Similarly, time zone
   data might contain a large amount of "future" information about
   transitions occurring many decades into the future.  Again, clients
   might be concerned only with a smaller range into the future, and
   data past that point might be redundant.

   To avoid having to send unnecessary data, servers can choose to
   truncate time zone data to a range determined by start and end point
   date and time values, and provide only offsets and rules between
   those points.  If such truncation is done, the server MUST include
   the ranges it is using in the "capabilities" action response (see
   Section 6.1), so that clients can take appropriate action if they
   need time zone data for times outside of those ranges.





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   The truncation points at the start and end of a range are always a
   UTC date-time value, with the start point being "inclusive" to the
   overall range, and the end point being "exclusive" to the overall
   range (i.e., the end value is just past the end of the last valid
   value in the range).  A server will advertise a truncation range for
   the truncated data it can supply, or provide an indicator that it can
   truncate at any start or end point to produce arbitrary ranges.  In
   addition, the server can advertise that it supplies untruncated data
   - that is data that covers the full range of times available from the
   source publisher.  In the absence of any indication of truncated data
   available on the server, the server will supply only untruncated
   data.

   When truncating the start of a "VTIMEZONE" component, the server MUST
   include either a "STANDARD" or "DAYLIGHT" sub-component with a
   "DTSTART" property value that matches the start point of the
   truncation range, and appropriate "TZOFFSETFROM" and "TZOFFSETTO"
   properties to indicate the correct offset in effect right before and
   after the truncation range start point.  This sub-component, which is
   the first observance defined by the time zone data, thus represents
   the earliest valid date-time covered by the time zone data in the
   truncated "VTIMEZONE" component.

   When truncating the end of a "VTIMEZONE" component, the server MUST
   include a "TZUNTIL" iCalendar property (Section 7.1) in the
   "VTIMEZONE" component to indicate the end point of the truncation
   range.

3.10.  Time Zone Versions

   Time zone data changes over time and it is important for consumers of
   that data to stay up to date with the latest versions.  As a result
   it is useful to identify individual time zones with a specific
   version number or version identifier as supplied by the time zone
   data publisher.  There are two common models which time zone data
   publishers might use to publish updates to time zone data:

   a.  with the "monolithic" model, the data for all time zones is
       published in one go, with a single version number or identifier
       applied to the entire data set. e.g., a publisher producing data
       several times a year might use version identifiers "2015a",
       "2015b", etc.

   b.  with the "incremental" model, each time zone has its own version
       identifier, so that each time zone can be independently updated
       without impacting any others. e.g., if the initial data has
       version "A.1" for time zone "A", and "B.1" for time zone "B", and
       then time zone "B" changes; when the data is next published, time



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       zone "A" will still have version "A.1", but time zone "B" will
       now have "B.2".

   A time zone data distribution service needs to ensure that the
   version identifiers used by the time zone data publisher are
   available to any client, along with the actual publisher name on a
   per-time zone basis.  This allows clients to compare publisher/
   version details on any server, with existing locally cached client
   data, and only fetch those time zones which have actually changed
   (see Section 4.2.2 for more details on how clients synchronize data
   from the server).

4.  Time Zone Data Distribution Service Protocol

4.1.  Server Protocol

   The time zone data distribution service protocol uses HTTP [RFC7230]
   for query and delivery of time zone data and meta-data, and leap
   second information.  The interactions with the HTTP server can be
   broken down into a set "actions" that define the overall function
   being requested (see Section 5).  Each action targets a specific HTTP
   resource using the GET method, with various request-URI parameters
   altering the behavior as needed.

   The HTTP resources used for requests will be identified via URI
   templates [RFC6570].  The overall time zone distribution service has
   a "context path" request-URI defined as "{/service-prefix}".  This
   "root" prefix is discovered by the client as per Section 4.2.1.
   Request-URIs that target time zone data directly use the prefix
   "{/service-prefix,data-prefix}".  The second component of the prefix
   template can be used to introduce additional path segments in the
   request-URI to allow for alternative ways to "partition" the time
   zone data.  For example, time zone data might be partitioned by
   publisher release dates, or version identifiers.  This specification
   does not define any partitions, which is left for future extensions.
   When the "data-prefix" variable is empty, the server is expected to
   return the current version of time zone data it has for all
   publishers it supports.

   All template-URI variable values, and URI request parameters that
   contain text values, MUST be encoded using the UTF-8 [RFC3629]
   character set.  All responses MUST return data using the UTF-8
   [RFC3629] character set.  It is important to note that any "/"
   characters, which are frequently found in time zone identifiers, are
   percent-encoded when used in the value of a path segment expansion
   variable in a URI template (as per Section 3.2.6 of [RFC6570]).  Thus
   the time zone identifier "America/New_York" would appear as




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   "America%2FNew_York" when used as the value for the "{/tzid}" URI
   template variable defined later in this specification.

   The server provides time zone meta-data in the form of a JSON
   [RFC7159] object.  Clients can directly request the time zone meta-
   data, or issues queries for subsets of meta-data that match specific
   criteria.

   Most security considerations are already handled adequately by HTTP.
   However, given the nature of the data being transferred and the
   requirement it be correct, all interactions between client and server
   SHOULD use an HTTP connection protected with TLS [RFC5246] as defined
   in [RFC2818].

4.1.1.  Time Zone Queries

   Time zone identifiers, aliases or localized names can be used to
   query for time zone data or meta-data.  This will be more explicitly
   defined below for each action.  In general however, if a "tzid" URI
   template variable is used, then the value may be an identifier or an
   alias.  When the "pattern" URI query parameter is used it may be an
   identifier, an alias or a localized name.

4.1.2.  Time Zone Formats

   The default media type [RFC2046] format for returning time zone data
   is the iCalendar [RFC5545] data format.  In addition, the iCalendar-
   in-XML [RFC6321], and iCalendar-in-JSON [RFC7265] representations are
   also available.  Clients use the HTTP Accept header field (see
   Section 5.3.2 of [RFC7231]) to indicate their preference for the
   returned data format.  Servers indicate the available formats that
   they support via the "capabilities" action response (Section 5.1).

4.1.3.  Time Zone Localization

   As per Section 3.8, time zone data can support localized names.
   Clients use the HTTP Accept-Language header field (see Section 5.3.5
   of [RFC7231]) to indicate their preference for the language used for
   localized names in the response data.

4.1.4.  Conditional Time Zone Requests

   When time zone data or meta-data changes, it needs to be distributed
   in a timely manner because changes to local time offsets might occur
   within a few days of the publication of the time zone data changes.
   Typically, the number of time zones that change is small, whilst the
   overall number of time zones can be large.  Thus, when a client is




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   using more than a few time zones, it is more efficient for the client
   to be able to download only those time zones that have changed.

   To support conditional time zone requests, based on whether the
   underlying time zone data or meta-data has changed, the server
   supports two options: an opaque token based synchronization mechanism
   for meta-data synchronization, and HTTP ETag based conditional
   requests for data synchronization (as per [RFC7232]).

   Note that time zone meta-data includes the time zone data ETag value.
   Thus time zone meta-data will always change when the corresponding
   time zone data changes.  However, the converse is not true: it is
   possible for some piece of the time zone meta-data to change without
   the corresponding time zone data changing. e.g., for the case of a
   "monolithic" publisher (see Section 3.10), the version identifier in
   every time zone meta-data element will change with each new published
   revision, however, only a small subset of time zone data will
   actually change.

   For opaque token based synchronization of meta-data, when a client
   requests a list of all time zones, an opaque token is returned by the
   server, and that serves as a synchronization token for later
   requests.  Clients can then use the returned opaque token in a
   conditional "list" action (see Section 5.2) to limit the results to
   only time zone meta-data which has changed since the previous
   request.  A new opaque token is then returned with the results, and
   that can be used in a subsequent request.  This allows clients to
   periodically poll the server for possible changes, using the opaque
   token value from the previous poll.  Note, that for a "monolithic"
   publisher (see Section 3.10) all corresponding time zone meta-data
   changes as the version identifier changes for all time zones.
   However, clients only need to retrieve new time zone data for those
   time zones whose ETag value is different in the corresponding time
   zone meta-data.

   If a client only needs data for one time zone (e.g., a clock in a
   fixed location), then it can use a conditional HTTP request to
   determine if the time zone data has changed and retrieve the new
   data.  The full details of HTTP conditional requests are described in
   [RFC7232], what follows is a brief summary of what a client typically
   does.  When the client retrieves the time zone data from the server
   using a "get" action (see Section 5.3) the server will include an
   ETag HTTP header field in the response.  The client will store the
   value of that header field along with the request-URI used for the
   request.  When the client wants to check for an update, it issues
   another "get" action HTTP request on the original request-URI, but
   this time it includes an If-None-Match HTTP request header field,
   with a value set to the ETag from the previous response.  If the data



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   for the time zone has not changed, the server will return a 304 (Not
   Modified) HTTP response.  If the data has changed, the server will
   return a normal HTTP success response which will include the changed
   data, as well as a new value for the ETag.  Thus clients can poll the
   server for changes, and only retrieve new data when it is actually
   different from what it got before.

   Clients SHOULD poll for changes, using an appropriate conditional
   request, at least once a day.  A server acting as a secondary
   provider, caching time zone data from another server, SHOULD poll for
   changes once per hour.  See Section 8 on expected client and server
   behavior regarding high request rates.

4.1.5.  Expanded Time Zone Data

   Determining time zone offsets at a particular point in time is often
   a complicated process, as the rules for daylight saving time can be
   complex.  To help with this, the time zone data distribution service
   provides an action that allows clients to request the server to
   expand a time zone into a set of "observances" over a fixed period of
   time (see Section 5.4).  Each of these observances describes a UTC
   onset time and UTC offsets for the prior time and the observance
   time.  Together, these provide a quick way for "thin" clients to
   determine an appropriate UTC offset for an arbitrary date without
   having to do full time zone expansion themselves.

4.1.6.  Server Requirements

   To enable a simple client implementation, servers SHOULD ensure that
   they provide or cache data for all commonly used time zones, from
   various publishers.  That allows client implementations to configure
   a single server to get all time zone data.  In turn, any server can
   refresh any of the data from any other server - though the root
   servers may provide the most up-to-date copy of the data.

4.1.7.  Error Responses

   The following are examples of response codes one would expect to be
   used by the server.  Note, however, that unless explicitly prohibited
   any 2/3/4/5xx series response code may be used in a response.

      200 (OK) - The command succeeded.

      304 (Not Modified) - The requested data is unchanged.

      400 (Bad Request) - The Sender has provided an invalid request
      parameter.




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      404 (Not Found) - The time zone was not found.

   When an HTTP error response is returned to the client, the server
   SHOULD return a JSON "problem detail" object in the response body, as
   per [I-D.ietf-appsawg-http-problem].  Every JSON "problem detail"
   object MUST include a "type" member with a uri value matching the
   applicable error code (defined for each action in Section 5).

4.1.8.  Extensions

   This protocol is designed to be extensible through a standards based
   registration mechanism (see Section 9).  It is anticipated that other
   useful time zone actions will be added in the future (e.g., mapping a
   geographical location to time zone identifiers, getting change
   history for time zones), and so, servers MUST return a description of
   their capabilities.  This will allow clients to determine if new
   features have been installed and, if not, fall back on earlier
   features or disable some client capabilities.

4.2.  Client Guidelines

4.2.1.  Discovery

   Client implementations need to either know where the time zone data
   distribution service is located or discover it through some
   mechanism.  To use a time zone data distribution service, a client
   needs a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), port and HTTP request-URI
   path.  The request-URI path found via discovery is the "context path"
   for the service itself.  The "context path" is used as the value of
   the "service-prefix" URI template variable when executing actions
   (see Section 5).

   The following sub-sections describe two methods of service discovery
   using DNS SRV records [RFC2782] and an HTTP "well-known" [RFC5785]
   resource.  However, alternative mechanisms could also be used (e.g.,
   a DHCP server option [RFC2131]).

4.2.1.1.  Time Zone Data Distribution Service SRV Service Labels

   [RFC2782] defines a DNS-based service discovery protocol that has
   been widely adopted as a means of locating particular services within
   a local area network and beyond, using SRV RR records.  This can be
   used to discover a service's FQDN and port.

   This specification adds two service types for use with SRV records:

   timezone:  Identifies a Time Zone Data Distribution server that uses
      HTTP without transport layer security ([RFC2818]).



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   timezones:  Identifies a Time Zone Data Distribution server that uses
      HTTP with transport layer security ([RFC2818]).

   Clients MUST honor "TTL", "Priority" and "Weight" values in the SRV
   records, as described by [RFC2782].

   Example: service record for server without transport layer security.

   _timezone._tcp SRV 0 1 80 tz.example.com.

   Example: service record for server with transport layer security.

   _timezones._tcp SRV 0 1 443 tz.example.com.

4.2.1.2.  Time Zone Data Distribution Service TXT records

   When SRV RRs are used to advertise a time zone data distribution
   service, it is also convenient to be able to specify a "context path"
   in the DNS to be retrieved at the same time.  To enable that, this
   specification uses a TXT RR that follows the syntax defined in
   Section 6 of [RFC6763] and defines a "path" key for use in that
   record.  The value of the key MUST be the actual "context path" to
   the corresponding service on the server.

   A site might provide TXT records in addition to SRV records for each
   service.  When present, clients MUST use the "path" value as the
   "context path" for the service in HTTP requests.  When not present,
   clients use the ".well-known" URI approach described next.

   Example: text record for service with transport layer security.

   _timezones._tcp TXT path=/timezones

4.2.1.3.  Time Zone Data Distribution Service Well-Known URI

   A "well-known" URI [RFC5785] is registered by this specification for
   the Time Zone Data Distribution service, "timezone" (see Section 9).
   This URI points to a resource that the client can use as the initial
   "context path" for the service they are trying to connect to.  The
   server MUST redirect HTTP requests for that resource to the actual
   "context path" using one of the available mechanisms provided by HTTP
   (e.g., using an appropriate 3xx status response).  Clients MUST
   handle HTTP redirects on the ".well-known" URI.  Servers MUST NOT
   locate the actual time zone data distribution service endpoint at the
   ".well-known" URI as per Section 1.1 of [RFC5785].

   Servers SHOULD set an appropriate Cache-Control header field value
   (as per Section 5.2 of [RFC7234]) in the redirect response to ensure



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   caching occurs as needed, or as required by the type of response
   generated.  For example, if it is anticipated that the location of
   the redirect might change over time, then a "no-cache" value would be
   used.

   To facilitate "context path's" that might differ from user to user,
   the server MAY require authentication when a client tries to access
   the ".well-known" URI (i.e., the server would return a 401 status
   response to the unauthenticated request from the client, then return
   the redirect response after a successful authentication by the
   client).

4.2.1.3.1.  Example: well-known URI redirects to actual context path

   A Time Zone Data Distribution server has a "context path" that is
   "/servlet/timezone".  The client will use "/.well-known/timezone" as
   the path for the service after it has first found the FQDN and port
   number via an SRV lookup or via manual entry of information by the
   user.  When the client makes its initial HTTP request against
   "/.well-known/timezone", the server would issue an HTTP 301 redirect
   response with a Location response header field using the path
   "/servlet/timezone".  The client would then "follow" this redirect to
   the new resource and continue making HTTP requests there.

4.2.2.  Synchronization of Time Zones

   This section discusses possible client synchronization strategies
   using the various protocol elements provided by the server for that
   purpose.

4.2.2.1.  Initial Synchronization of All Time Zones

   When a secondary service or a client wishing to cache all time zone
   data first starts, or wishes to do a full refresh, it synchronizes
   with another server by first issuing a "list" action.  The client
   would preserve the returned opaque token for subsequent use.  The
   client will store the meta-data for each time zone returned in the
   response.  Time zone data for each corresponding time zone can then
   be fetched and stored locally.  In addition a mapping of aliases to
   time zones can be built from the meta-data.

4.2.2.2.  Subsequent Synchronization of All Time Zones

   A secondary service or a client caching all time zones needs to
   periodically synchronize with a server.  To do so it would issue a
   "list" action with the "changedsince" URI query parameter set to the
   value of the opaque token returned by the last synchronization.  The
   client would again preserve the returned opaque token for subsequent



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   use.  The client will update its stored time zone meta-data using the
   new values returned in the response.  In addition, it will compare
   the "etag" value in each time zone meta-data to the ETag value for
   the corresponding time zone data resource it has previously cached,
   and if different, it will fetch the new time zone data.  Note that if
   the client presents the server with a "changedsince" value that the
   server does not support, all time zone data will be returned, as it
   would for the case where the request did not include a "changedsince"
   value.

   Publishers should take into account the fact that the "outright"
   deletion of time zone names will cause problems to simple clients and
   so aliasing a deleted time zone identifier to a suitable alternate
   one is preferable.

4.2.2.3.  Synchronization with Pre-Existing Time Zone Data

   A client might be pre-provisioned with time zone data from a source
   other than the time zone data distribution service it is configured
   to use.  In such cases, the client might want to minimize the amount
   of time zone data it synchronizes by doing an initial "list" action
   to retrieve all the time zone meta-data, but then only fetch time
   zone data for those time zones that do not match the publisher and
   version details for the pre-provisioned data.

5.  Actions

   Servers MUST support the following actions.  The information below
   shows details about each action: the request-URI the client targets
   (in the form of a URI template [RFC6570]) a description, the set of
   allowed query parameters, the nature of the response, and a set of
   possible error codes for the response (see Section 4.1.7).

   For any error not covered by the specific error codes defined below,
   the "urn:ietf:params:tzdist:error:invalid-action" error code is
   returned to the client in the JSON "problem details" object.

5.1.  "capabilities" Action

   Name:  capabilities

   Request-URI Template:  {/service-prefix}/capabilities

   Description:  This action returns the capabilities of the server,
      allowing clients to determine if a specific feature has been
      deployed and/or enabled.

   Parameters:  None



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   Response  A JSON object containing a "version" member, an "info"
      member, and an "actions" member, see Section 6.1.

   Possible Error Codes  No specific code.

5.1.1.  Example: Get Capabilities

   >> Request <<

   GET /capabilities HTTP/1.1
   Host: tz.example.com

   >> Response <<

   HTTP/1.1 200 OK
   Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:32:12 GMT
   Content-Type: application/json; charset="utf-8"
   Content-Length: xxxx

   {
     "version": 1,

     "info": {
       "primary-source": "Olson:2011m",
       "formats": [
         "text/calendar",
         "application/calendar+xml",
         "application/calendar+json"
       ],
       "truncated" : {
         "any": false,
         "ranges": [
           {
             "start": "1970-01-01T00:00:00Z",
             "end": "*"
           },
           {
             "start":"2010-01-01T00:00:00Z",
             "end":"2020-01-01T00:00:00Z"
           }
         ],
         "untruncated": true
       },
       "provider-details": "http://tz.example.com/about.html",
       "contacts": ["mailto:tzs@example.org"]
     },

     "actions": [



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       {
         "name": "capabilities",
         "uri-template": "/capabilities",
         "parameters": []
       },

       {
         "name": "list",
         "uri-template": "/zones{?changedsince}",
         "parameters": [
           {
             "name": "changedsince",
             "required": false,
             "multi": false
           }
         ]
       },

       {
         "name": "get",
         "uri-template": "/zones{/tzid}{?start,end}",
         "parameters": [
           {
             "name": "start",
             "required": false,
             "multi": false
           },
           {
             "name": "end",
             "required": false,
             "multi": false
           }
         ]
       },

       {
         "name": "expand",
         "uri-template":
           "/zones{/tzid}/observances{?start,end}",
         "parameters": [
           {
             "name": "start",
             "required": true,
             "multi": false
           },
           {
             "name": "end",
             "required": true,



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             "multi": false
           }
         ]
       },

       {
         "name": "find",
         "uri-template": "/zones{?pattern}",
         "parameters": [
           {
             "name": "pattern",
             "required": true,
             "multi": false
           }
         ]
       },

       {
         "name": "leapseconds",
         "uri-template": "/leapseconds",
         "parameters": []
       }
     ]
   }

5.2.  "list" Action

   Name:  list

   Request-URI Template:  {/service-prefix,data-
      prefix}/zones{?changedsince}

   Description:  This action lists all time zone identifiers in summary
      format, with publisher, version, aliases and optional localized
      data.  In addition, it returns an opaque synchronization token for
      the entire response.  If the "changedsince" URI query parameter is
      present, its value MUST correspond to a previously returned
      synchronization token value.  When "changedsince" is used, the
      server MUST return only those time zones that have changed since
      the specified synchronization token.  If the "changedsince" value
      is not supported by the server, the server MUST return all time
      zones, treating the request as if it had no "changedsince".

   Parameters:

      changedsince  OPTIONAL, but MUST occur only once.





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   Response:  A JSON object containing a "synctoken" member and a
      "timezones" member, see Section 6.2.

   Possible Error Codes

      urn:ietf:params:tzdist:error:invalid-changedsince  The
         "changedsince" URI query parameter has an incorrect value, or
         appears more than once.

5.2.1.  Example: List time zone identifiers

   In this example the client requests the time zone identifiers and in
   addition requests that the US-English local names be returned.

   >> Request <<

   GET /zones HTTP/1.1
   Host: tz.example.com

   >> Response <<

   HTTP/1.1 200 OK
   Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:32:12 GMT
   Content-Type: application/json; charset="utf-8"
   Content-Length: xxxx

   {
     "synctoken": "2009-10-11T09:32:11Z",
     "timezones": [
       {
         "tzid": "America/New_York",
         "etag": "123456789-000-111",
         "last-modified": "2009-09-17T01:39:34Z",
         "publisher": "Example.com",
         "version": "2015a",
         "aliases":["US/Eastern"],
         "local-names": [
           {
             "name": "America/New_York",
             "lang": "en_US"
           }
         ]
       },
       ...
     ]
   }





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5.3.  "get" Action

   Name:  get

   Request-URI Template:  {/service-prefix,data-
      prefix}/zones{/tzid}{?start,end}


      The "tzid" variable value is REQUIRED to distinguish this action
      from the "list" action.

   Description:  This action returns a time zone.  The response MUST
      contain an ETag response header field indicating the current value
      of the strong entity tag of the time zone resource.

      In the absence of any Accept HTTP request header field, the server
      MUST return time zone data with the "text/calendar" media type.

      If the "tzid" variable value is actually a time zone alias, the
      server will return the matching time zone data with the alias as
      the identifier in the time zone data.  The server MAY include one
      or more "TZID-ALIAS-OF" properties (see Section 7.2) in the time
      zone data to indicate additional identifiers that have the
      matching time zone identifier as an alias.

   Parameters:

      start=<date-time>  OPTIONAL, and MUST occur only once.  Specifies
         the inclusive UTC date-time value at which the returned time
         zone data is truncated at its start.

      end=<date-time>  OPTIONAL, and MUST occur only once.  Specifies
         the exclusive UTC date-time value at which the returned time
         zone data is truncated at its end.

   Response:  A document containing all the requested time zone data in
      the format specified.

   Possible Error Codes

      urn:ietf:params:tzdist:error:tzid-not-found  No time zone
         associated with the specified "tzid" path segment value was
         found.

      urn:ietf:params:tzdist:error:invalid-format  The Accept request
         header field supplied by the client did not contain a media
         type for time zone data supported by the server.




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      urn:ietf:params:tzdist:error:invalid-start  The "start" URI query
         parameter has an incorrect value, or appears more than once, or
         does not match one of the fixed truncation range start values
         advertised in the "capabilities" action response.

      urn:ietf:params:tzdist:error:invalid-end  The "end" URI query
         parameter has an incorrect value, or appears more than once, or
         has a value less than or equal to the "start" URI query
         parameter, or does not match one of the fixed truncation range
         end values advertised in the "capabilities" action response.

5.3.1.  Example: Get time zone data

   In this example the client requests the time zone with a specific
   time zone identifier to be returned.

   >> Request <<

   GET /zones/America%2FNew_York HTTP/1.1
   Host: tz.example.com
   Accept:text/calendar

   >> Response <<

   HTTP/1.1 200 OK
   Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:32:12 GMT
   Content-Type: text/calendar; charset="utf-8"
   Content-Length: xxxx
   ETag: "123456789-000-111"

   BEGIN:VCALENDAR
   ...
   BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
   TZID:America/New_York
   ...
   END:VTIMEZONE
   END:VCALENDAR

5.3.2.  Example: Conditional Get time zone data












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   In this example the client requests the time zone with a specific
   time zone identifier to be returned, but uses an If-None-Match header
   field in the request, set to the value of a previously returned ETag
   header field, or the value of the "etag" member in a JSON "timezone"
   object returned from a "list" action response.  In this example, the
   data on the server has not changed, so a 304 response is returned.

   >> Request <<

   GET /zones/America%2FNew_York HTTP/1.1
   Host: tz.example.com
   Accept:text/calendar
   If-None-Match: "123456789-000-111"

   >> Response <<

   HTTP/1.1 304 Not Modified
   Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:32:12 GMT


5.3.3.  Example: Get time zone data using a time zone alias






























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   In this example the client requests the time zone with an aliased
   time zone identifier to be returned, and the server returns the time
   zone data with that identifier, and two aliases.

   >> Request <<

   GET /zones/US%2FEastern HTTP/1.1
   Host: tz.example.com
   Accept:text/calendar

   >> Response <<

   HTTP/1.1 200 OK
   Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:32:12 GMT
   Content-Type: text/calendar; charset="utf-8"
   Content-Length: xxxx
   ETag: "123456789-000-111"

   BEGIN:VCALENDAR
   ...
   BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
   TZID:US/Eastern
   TZID-ALIAS-OF:America/New_York
   TZID-ALIAS-OF:America/Montreal
   ...
   END:VTIMEZONE
   END:VCALENDAR

5.3.4.  Example: Get truncated time zone data

   Assume the server advertises a "truncated" object in its
   "capabilities" response that appears as:

   "truncated": {
     "any": false,
     "ranges": [
       {"start": "1970-01-01T00:00:00Z", "end": "*"},
       {"start":"2010-01-01T00:00:00Z", "end":"2020-01-01T00:00:00Z"}
     ],
     "untruncated": false
   }










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   In this example the client requests the time zone with a specific
   time zone identifier truncated at one of the ranges specified by the
   server, to be returned.  Note the presence of a "STANDARD" component
   that matches the start point of the truncation range (converted to
   the local time for the UTC offset in effect at the matching UTC
   time).  Also, note the presence of the "TZUNTIL" (Section 7.1)
   iCalendar property in the "VTIMEZONE" component, indicating the upper
   bound on the validity of the time zone data.

   >> Request <<

   GET /zones/America%2FNew_York
                   ?start=2010-01-01T00:00:00Z
                   &end=2020-01-01T00:00:00Z
                   HTTP/1.1
   Host: tz.example.com
   Accept:text/calendar

   >> Response <<

   HTTP/1.1 200 OK
   Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:32:12 GMT
   Content-Type: text/calendar; charset="utf-8"
   Content-Length: xxxx
   ETag: "123456789-000-111"

   BEGIN:VCALENDAR
   ...
   BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
   TZID:America/New_York
   TZUNTIL:20200101T000000Z
   BEGIN:STANDARD
   DTSTART:20101231T190000
   TZNAME:EST
   TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
   TZOFFSETTO:-0500
   END:STANDARD
   ...
   END:VTIMEZONE
   END:VCALENDAR

5.3.5.  Example: Get a non-existent time zone data









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   In this example the client requests the time zone with a specific
   time zone identifier to be returned.

   >> Request <<

   GET /zones/America%2FPittsburgh HTTP/1.1
   Host: tz.example.com
   Accept:application/calendar+json

   >> Response <<

   HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
   Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:32:12 GMT
   Content-Type: application/problem+json; charset="utf-8"
   Content-Language: en
   Content-Length: xxxx

   {
     "type": "urn:ietf:params:tzdist:error:tzid-not-found",
     "title": "Time zone identifier was not found on this server",
     "status": 404
   }

5.4.  "expand" Action

   Name:  expand

   Request-URI Template:  {/service-prefix,data-prefix}/zones{/tzid}

      /observances{?start,end}


      The "tzid" variable value is REQUIRED.

   Description:  This action expands the specified time zone into a list
      of onset start date/time (in UTC) and UTC offsets.  The response
      MUST contain an ETag response header field indicating the current
      value of the strong entity tag of the time zone being expanded.

   Parameters:

      start=<date-time>:  REQUIRED, and MUST occur only once.  Specifies
         the inclusive UTC date-time value for the start of the period
         of interest.

      end=<date-time>:  REQUIRED, and MUST occur only once.  Specifies
         the exclusive UTC date-time value for the end of the period of
         interest.  Note that this is the exclusive end value - i.e., it



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         represents the date just after the range of interest. e.g., if
         a client wants the expanded date just for the year 2014, it
         would use a start value of "2014-01-01T00:00:00Z" and an end
         value of "2015-01-01T00:00:00Z".  An error occurs if the end
         value is less than or equal to the start value.

   Response:  A JSON object containing a "tzid" member, and an
      "observances" member, see Section 6.3.  If the time zone being
      expanded is not fully defined over the requested time range (e.g.,
      because of truncation), then the server MUST include "start" and/
      or "end" members in the JSON response to indicate the actual start
      and end point for the observances being returned.  The server MUST
      include an expanded observance representing the time zone
      information in effect at the start of the returned observance
      period.

   Possible Error Codes

      urn:ietf:params:tzdist:error:tzid-not-found  No time zone
         associated with the specified "tzid" path segment value was
         found.

      urn:ietf:params:tzdist:error:invalid-start  The "start" URI query
         parameter has an incorrect value, or appears more than once, or
         is missing, or has a value outside any fixed truncation ranges
         advertised in the "capabilities" action response.

      urn:ietf:params:tzdist:error:invalid-end  The "end" URI query
         parameter has an incorrect value, or appears more than once, or
         has a value less than or equal to the "start" URI query
         parameter, or has a value outside any fixed truncation ranges
         advertised in the "capabilities" action response..

5.4.1.  Example: Expanded JSON Data Format

















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   In this example the client requests a time zone in the expanded form.

   >> Request <<

   GET /zones/America%2FNew_York/observances
                      &start=2008-01-01T00:00:00Z
                      &end=2009-01-01T00:00:00Z
                      HTTP/1.1
   Host: tz.example.com

   >> Response <<

   HTTP/1.1 200 OK
   Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2009 09:32:12 GMT
   Content-Type: application/json; charset="utf-8"
   Content-Length: xxxx
   ETag: "123456789-000-111"

   {
     "tzid": "America/New_York",
     "observances": [
       {
         "name": "Standard",
         "onset": "2008-01-01T00:00:00Z",
         "utc-offset-from": -18000,
         "utc-offset-to": -18000
       },
       {
         "name": "Daylight",
         "onset": "2008-03-09T07:00:00Z",
         "utc-offset-from": -18000,
         "utc-offset-to": -14400
       },
       {
         "name": "Standard",
         "onset": "2008-11-02T06:00:00Z",
         "utc-offset-from": -14400,
         "utc-offset-to": -18000
       },
     ]
   }

5.5.  "find" Action

   Name:  find

   Request-URI Template:  {/service-prefix,data-prefix}/zones{?pattern}




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   Description:  This action allows a client to query the time zone data
      distribution service for a matching identifier, alias or localized
      name, using a simple "glob" style pattern match against the names
      known to the server (with an asterisk * as the wildcard
      character).  Pattern match strings have the following options:

      * not present  An exact text match is done, e.g., "xyz"

      * first character only  An ends-with text match is done, e.g.,
         "*xyz"

      * last character only  A starts-with text match is done, e.g.,
         "xyz*"

      * first and last characters only  A sub-string text match is done,
         e.g., "*xyz*"

      In addition, when matching, underscore characters (0x5F) SHOULD be
      mapped to a single space character (0x20) prior to string
      comparison.  This allows time zone identifiers such as "America/
      New_York" to match a query for "*New York*".  ASCII characters in
      the range 0x41 ("A") through 0x5A ("Z") SHOULD be mapped to their
      lowercase equivalents.  To match characters 0x2A ("*") and 0x5C
      ("\") in the pattern, a single 0x5C ("\") is prepended to act as
      an "escaping" mechanism. i.e., a pattern "Test\*" implies an exact
      match test against the string "Test*".

   Parameters:

      pattern=<text>  REQUIRED, and MUST occur only once.

   Response:  The response has the same format as the "list" action,
      with one result object per successful match, see Section 6.2.

   Possible Error Codes

      urn:ietf:params:tzdist:error:invalid-pattern  The "pattern" URI
         query parameter has an incorrect value, or appears more than
         once.

5.5.1.  Example: Find action

   In this example the client asks for data about the time zone "US/
   Eastern".







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   >> Request <<

   GET /zones&pattern=US/Eastern HTTP/1.1
   Host: tz.example.com

   >> Response <<

   HTTP/1.1 200 OK
   Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:32:12 GMT
   Content-Type: application/json; charset="utf-8"
   Content-Length: xxxx

   {
     "synctoken": "2009-10-11T09:32:11Z",
     "timezones": [
       {
         "tzid": "America/New_York",
         "etag": "123456789-000-111",
         "last-modified": "2009-09-17T01:39:34Z",
         "publisher": "Example.com",
         "version": "2015a",
         "aliases":["US/Eastern"],
         "local-names": [
           {
             "name": "America/New_York",
             "lang": "en_US"
           }
         ]
       },
       {
         "tzid": "America/Detroit",
         "etag": "123456789-999-222",
         "last-modified": "2009-09-17T01:39:34Z",
         "publisher": "Example.com",
         "version": "2015a",
         "aliases":["US/Eastern"],
         "local-names": [
           {
             "name": "America/Detroit",
             "lang": "en_US"
           }
         ]
       },
       ...
     ]
   }





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5.6.  "leapseconds" Action

   Name:  leapseconds

   Request-URI Template:  {/service-prefix,data-prefix}/leapseconds

   Description:  This action allows a client to query the time zone data
      distribution service to retrieve the current leap second
      information available on the server.

   Parameters:  None

   Response:  A JSON object containing an "expires" member, a
      "publisher" member, a "version" member, and a "leapseconds"
      member, see Section 6.4.  The "expires" member in the JSON
      response indicates the latest date covered by leap second
      information. e.g., (from the example below) if the "expires" value
      is set to "2014-06-28" and the latest leap second change indicated
      was at "2012-07-01", then the data indicates that there are no
      leap seconds added (or removed) between those two dates, and
      information for leap seconds beyond the "expires" date is not yet
      available.

      The "leapseconds" member contains a list of JSON objects each of
      which contains a "utc-offset" and "onset" member.  The "onset"
      member specifies the date (with the implied time of 00:00:00 UTC)
      at which the corresponding UTC offset from TAI takes effect.  In
      other words, a leap second is added or removed just prior to time
      00:00:00 UTC of the specified onset date.

   Possible Error Codes  No specific code.

5.6.1.  Example: Get leapsecond information


















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   In this example the client requests the current leap second
   information from the server.

   >> Request <<

   GET /leapseconds HTTP/1.1
   Host: tz.example.com

   >> Response <<

   HTTP/1.1 200 OK
   Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:32:12 GMT
   Content-Type: application/json; charset="utf-8"
   Content-Length: xxxx

   {
     "expires": "2014-06-28",
     "publisher": "Example.com",
     "version": "2014d",
     "leapseconds": [
       {
         "utc-offset": 10,
         "onset": "1972-01-01",
       },
       {
         "utc-offset": 11,
         "onset": "1972-07-01",
       },
       ...
       {
         "utc-offset": 35,
         "onset": "2012-07-01",
       }
     ]
   }

6.  JSON Definitions

   [RFC7159] defines the structure of JSON objects using a set of
   primitive elements.  Those elements will be used to describe the
   structure of JSON objects used by this specification using a set of
   "rules".  The rules used are:

   OBJECT  represents a JSON object, defined in Section 4 of [RFC7159].
      "OBJECT" is followed by a parenthesized list of "MEMBER" rule
      names.  If a member rule name is preceded by a "?" (0x3F)
      character, that member is optional, otherwise all members are
      required.  If two or more member rule names are present, each



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      separated from the other by a "|" (0x7C) character, then only one
      of those members MUST be present in JSON object.  JSON object
      members are unordered, and thus the order used in the rules is not
      significant.

   MEMBER  represents a member of a JSON object, defined in Section 4 of
      [RFC7159].  "MEMBER" is followed by a rule name, then the name of
      the member, followed by a ":", and then the value.  A value can be
      one of "OBJECT", "ARRAY", "NUMBER", "STRING", or "BOOLEAN" rules.

   ARRAY  represents a JSON array, defined in Section 5 of [RFC7159].
      "ARRAY" is followed by a value (one of "OBJECT", "ARRAY",
      "NUMBER", "STRING", or "BOOLEAN"), indicating the type of items
      used in the array.

   NUMBER  represents a JSON number, defined in Section 6 of [RFC7159].

   STRING  represents a JSON string, defined in Section 7 of [RFC7159].

   BOOLEAN  represents either of the JSON values "true" or "false",
      defined in Section 3 of [RFC7159].

   ;  a line starting with a ";" (0x3B) character is a comment.

   Note, clients MUST ignore any unexpected JSON members in responses
   from the server.

6.1.  capabilities action response

   Rules for the JSON document returned for a "capabilities" action
   request.

   ; root object
   OBJECT (version, info, actions)

   ; The version number of the protocol supported - MUST be 1
   MEMBER version "version" : NUMBER

   ; object containing service information
   ; Only one of primary_source or secondary_source MUST be present
   MEMBER info "info" : OBJECT (
     primary_source | secondary_source,
     formats,
     ?truncated,
     ?provider_details,
     ?contacts
   )




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   ; The source of the time zone data provided by a "primary" server
   MEMBER primary_source "primary-source" : STRING

   ; The time zone data server from which data is provided by a
   ; "secondary" server
   MEMBER secondary_source "secondary-source" : STRING

   ; Array of one or more media types for the time zone data formats
   ; that the server can return
   MEMBER formats "formats" : ARRAY STRING

   ; Present if the server is providing truncated time zone data. The
   ; value is an object providing details of the supported truncation
   ; modes.
   MEMBER truncated "truncated" : OBJECT: (
     any,
     ?ranges,
     ?untruncated
   )

   ; Indicates whether the server can truncate time zone data at any
   ; start or end point. When set to "true" any start or end point is
   ; a valid value for use with the "start" and "end" URI query
   ; parameters in a "get" action request
   MEMBER any "any" : BOOLEAN

   ; Indicates which ranges of time the server has truncated data for.
   ; A value from this list may be used with the "start" and "end" URI
   ; query parameters in a "get" action request. Not present if "any"
   ; is set to "true"
   MEMBER ranges "ranges" : ARRAY OBJECT (range-start, range-end)

   ; [RFC3339] UTC date-time value for inclusive start of the range,
   ; or the single character "*" to indicate a value corresponding to
   ; the lower bound supplied by the publisher of the time zone data
   MEMBER range-start "start" : STRING

   ; [RFC3339] UTC date-time value for exclusive end of the range,
   ; or the single character "*" to indicate a value corresponding to
   ; the upper bound supplied by the publisher of the time zone data
   MEMBER range-end "end" : STRING

   ; Indicates whether the server can can supply untruncated data. When
   ; set to "true" indicates that, in addition to truncated data being
   ; available, the server can return untruncated data if a "get"
   ; action request is executed without a "start" or "end" URI query
   ; parameter
   MEMBER untruncated "untruncated" : BOOLEAN



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   ; A URI where human readable details about the time zone service
   ; is available
   MEMBER provider_details "provider-details" : STRING

   ; Array of URIs providing contact details for the server
   ; administrator
   MEMBER contacts "contacts" : ARRAY STRING

   ; Array of actions supported by the server
   MEMBER actions "actions" : ARRAY OBJECT (
     action_name,
     action_params
   )

   ; Name of the action
   MEMBER action_name: "name" : STRING

   ; Array of request-URI query parameters supported by the action
   MEMBER action_params: "parameters" ARRAY OBJECT (
     param_name,
     ?param_required,
     ?param_multi,
     ?param_values
   )

   ; Name of the parameter
   MEMBER param_name "name" : STRING

   ; If true the parameter has to be present in the request-URI
   ; default is false
   MEMBER param_required "required" : BOOLEAN

   ; If true the parameter can occur more than once in the request-URI
   ; default is false
   MEMBER param_multi "multi" : BOOLEAN,

   ; An array that defines the allowed set of values for the parameter
   ; In the absence of this member, any string value is acceptable
   MEMBER param_values "values" ARRAY STRING

6.2.  list/find action response

   Rules for the JSON document returned for a "list" or "find" action
   request.

   ; root object
   OBJECT (synctoken, timezones)




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   ; Server generated opaque token used for synchronizing changes,
   ; [RFC3339] UTC value
   MEMBER synctoken "synctoken" : STRING

   ; Array of time zone objects
   MEMBER timezones "timezones" : ARRAY OBJECT (
     tzid,
     etag,
     last_modified,
     publisher,
     version,
     ?aliases,
     ?local_names,
   )

   ; Time zone identifier
   MEMBER tzid "tzid" : STRING

   ; Current ETag for the corresponding time zone data resource
   MEMBER etag "etag" : STRING

   ; Date/time when the time zone data was last modified
   ; [RFC3339] UTC value
   MEMBER last_modified "last-modified" : STRING

   ; Time zone data publisher
   MEMBER publisher "publisher" : STRING

   ; Current version of the time zone data as defined by the
   ; publisher
   MEMBER version "version" : STRING

   ; An array that lists the set of time zone aliases available
   ; for the corresponding time zone
   MEMBER aliases "aliases" : ARRAY STRING

   ; An array that lists the set of localized names available
   ; for the corresponding time zone
   MEMBER local_names "local-names" : ARRAY OBJECT (
     lname, lang, ?pref
   )

   ; Language tag for the language of the associated name
   MEMBER: lang "lang" : STRING

   ; Localized name
   MEMBER lname "name" : STRING




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   ; Indicates whether this is the preferred name for the associated
   ; language default: false
   MEMBER pref "pref" : BOOLEAN

6.3.  expand action response














































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   Rules for the JSON document returned for a "expand" action request.

   ; root object
   OBJECT (
     tzid,
     ?start,
     ?end,
     observances
   )

   ; Time zone identifier
   MEMBER tzid "tzid" : STRING

   ; The actual inclusive start point for the returned observances
   ; if different from the value of the "start" URI query parameter
   MEMBER start "start" : STRING

   ; The actual exclusive end point for the returned observances
   ; if different from the value of the "end" URI query parameter
   MEMBER end "end" : STRING

   ; Array of time zone objects
   MEMBER observances "observances" : ARRAY OBJECT (
     oname,
     ?olocal_names,
     onset,
     utc_offset_from,
     utc_offset_to
   )

   ; Observance name
   MEMBER oname "name" : STRING

   ; Array of localized observance names
   MEMBER olocal_names "local-names" : ARRAY STRING

   ; [RFC3339] UTC date-time value at which the observance takes effect
   MEMBER onset "onset" : STRING

   ; The UTC offset in seconds before the start of this observance
   MEMBER utc_offset_from "utc-offset-from" : NUMBER

   ; The UTC offset in seconds at and after the start of this observance
   MEMBER utc_offset_to "utc-offset-to" : NUMBER







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6.4.  leapseconds action response

   Rules for the JSON document returned for a "leapseconds" action
   request.

   ; root object
   OBJECT (
     expires,
     publisher,
     version,
     leapseconds
   )

   ; Last valid date covered by the data in this response
   ; [RFC3339] date value
   MEMBER expires "expires" : STRING

   ; Leap second information publisher
   MEMBER publisher "publisher" : STRING

   ; Current version of the leap second information as defined by the
   ; publisher
   MEMBER version "version" : STRING

   ; Array of leap second objects
   MEMBER leapseconds "leapseconds" : ARRAY OBJECT (
     utc_offset,
     onset
   )

   ; The UTC offset from TAI in seconds in effect at and after the
   ; specified date
   MEMBER utc_offset "utc-offset" : NUMBER

   ; [RFC3339] date value at which the new UTC offset takes effect,
   ; at T00:00:00Z
   MEMBER onset "onset" : STRING

7.  New iCalendar Properties

7.1.  Time Zone Upper Bound

   Property Name:  TZUNTIL

   Purpose:  This property specifies an upper bound for the validity of
      data within a "VTIMEZONE" component.

   Value Type:  DATE-TIME



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   Property Parameters:  IANA and non-standard property parameters can
      be specified on this property.

   Conformance:  This property can be specified zero or one time within
      "VTIMEZONE" calendar components.

   Description:  The value MUST be specified in the UTC time format.

      Time zone data in a "VTIMEZONE" component might cover only a fixed
      period of time.  The start of such a period is clearly indicated
      by the earliest observance defined by the "STANDARD" and
      "DAYLIGHT" sub-components.  However, [RFC5545] does not define a
      way to indicate an upper bound on the validity of the time zone
      data, which cannot be simply derived from the observance with the
      latest onset time.  This specification introduces the "TZUNTIL"
      property for that purpose.  It specifies an "exclusive" UTC date-
      time value that indicates the last time at which the time zone
      data is to be considered valid.

      This property is also used by time zone data distribution servers
      to indicate the truncation range end point of time zone data (as
      described in Section 3.9).

   Format Definition:  This property is defined by the following
      notation:

   tzuntil      = "TZUNTIL" tzuntilparam ":" date-time CRLF

   tzuntilparam = *(";" other-param)

   Example:  Suppose a time zone based on astronomical observations has
      well-defined onset times through the year 2025, but the first
      onset in 2026 is currently known only approximately.  In that
      case, the "TZUNTIL" property could be specified as follows:

   TZUNTIL:20260101T000000Z

7.2.  Time Zone Identifier Alias Property

   Property Name:  TZID-ALIAS-OF

   Purpose:  This property specifies a time zone identifier that the
      main time zone identifier is an alias of.

   Value Type:  TEXT

   Property Parameters:  IANA and non-standard property parameters can
      be specified on this property.



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   Conformance:  This property can be specified zero or more times
      within "VTIMEZONE" calendar components.

   Description:  When the "VTIMEZONE" component uses a time zone
      identifier alias for the "TZID" property value, the "TZID-ALIAS-
      OF" property is used to indicate the time zone identifier of the
      other time zone (see Section 3.7).

   Format Definition:  This property is defined by the following
      notation:

   tzid-alias-of    = "TZID-ALIAS-OF" tzidaliasofparam ":"
                           [tzidprefix] text CRLF

   tzidaliasofparam = *(";" other-param)

   ;tzidprefix defined in [RFC5545].

   Example:  The following is an example of this property:

   TZID-ALIAS-OF:America/New_York

8.  Security Considerations

   Time zone data is critical in determining local or UTC time for
   devices and in calendaring and scheduling operations.  As such, it is
   vital that a reliable source of time zone data is used.  Servers
   providing a time zone data distribution service MUST support HTTP
   over Transport Layer Security (TLS) (as defined by [RFC2818]) with a
   valid certificate.  Clients and servers making use of a time zone
   data distribution service SHOULD use HTTP over TLS and verify the
   authenticity of the service being used before accepting and using any
   time zone data from that source.

   Clients that support transport layer security as defined by [RFC2818]
   SHOULD try the "_timezones" service first before trying the
   "_timezone" service.  Clients MUST follow the certificate
   verification process specified in [RFC6125].

   A malicious attacker with access to the DNS server data, or able to
   get spoofed answers cached in a recursive resolver, can potentially
   cause clients to connect to any server chosen by the attacker.  In
   the absence of a secure DNS option, clients SHOULD check that the
   target FQDN returned in the SRV record matches the original service
   domain that was queried.  If the target FQDN is not in the queried
   domain, clients SHOULD verify with the user that the SRV target FQDN
   is suitable for use before executing any connections to the host.




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   Time zone data servers SHOULD protect themselves against errant or
   malicious clients by throttling high request rates or frequent
   requests for large amounts of data.  Clients can avoid being
   throttled by using the polling capabilities outlined in
   Section 4.1.4.  Servers MAY require some form of authentication or
   authorization of clients (including secondary servers) to restrict
   which clients are allowed to access their service, or provide better
   identification of errant clients.  As such, servers MAY require HTTP-
   based authentication as per [RFC7235].

9.  IANA Considerations

   This specification defines a new registry of "actions" for the time
   zone data distribution service protocol, defines a "well-known" URI
   using the registration procedure and template from Section 5.1 of
   [RFC5785], creates two new SRV service label aliases, and defines one
   new iCalendar property parameter as per the registration procedure in
   [RFC5545].  It also adds a new "tzdist" sub-namespace to the IETF
   parameters URN sub-namespace as per [RFC3553] for use with protocol
   related error codes.

9.1.  Service Actions Registration

   This section defines the process to register new or modified time
   zone data distribution service actions with IANA.

9.1.1.  Service Actions Registration Procedure

   The IETF will create a mailing list, tzdist-service@ietf.org, which
   can be used for public discussion of time zone data distribution
   service actions proposals prior to registration.  Use of the mailing
   list is strongly encouraged.  The IESG will appoint a designated
   expert who will monitor the tzdist-service@ietf.org mailing list and
   review registrations.

   Registration of new time zone data distribution service actions MUST
   be reviewed by the designated expert and published in an RFC.  A
   Standard Track RFC is REQUIRED for the registration of new time zone
   data distribution service actions.  A Standard Track RFC is also
   REQUIRED for changes to actions previously documented in a Standard
   Track RFC.

   The registration procedure begins when a completed registration
   template, as defined below, is sent to tzdist-service@ietf.org and
   iana@iana.org.  The designated expert is expected to tell IANA and
   the submitter of the registration within two weeks whether the
   registration is approved, approved with minor changes, or rejected
   with cause.  When a registration is rejected with cause, it can be



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   re-submitted if the concerns listed in the cause are addressed.
   Decisions made by the designated expert can be appealed to the IESG
   Applications Area Director, then to the IESG.  They follow the normal
   appeals procedure for IESG decisions.

9.1.2.  Registration Template for Actions

   An action is defined by completing the following template.

   Name:  The name of the action.

   Request-URI Template:  The URI template used in HTTP requests for the
      action.

   Description:  A general description of the action, its purpose, etc.

   Parameters:  A list of allowed request URI query parameters,
      indicating whether they are "REQUIRED" or "OPTIONAL" and whether
      they can occur only once or multiple times, together with the
      expected format of the parameter values.

   Response  The nature of the response to the HTTP request, e.g., what
      format the response data is in.

   Possible Error Codes  Possible error codes reported in a JSON
      "problem details" object if an HTTP request fails.

9.2.  Initial Time Zone Data Distribution Service Registry

   The IANA is requested to create and maintain the following registry
   for time zone data distribution service actions with pointers to
   appropriate reference documents.

9.2.1.  Actions Registry

   The following table is to be used to initialize the actions registry.

           +---------------+----------+-----------------------+
           | Action Name   | Status   | Reference             |
           +---------------+----------+-----------------------+
           | capabilities  | Current  | RFCXXXX, Section 5.1  |
           | list          | Current  | RFCXXXX, Section 5.2  |
           | get           | Current  | RFCXXXX, Section 5.3  |
           | expand        | Current  | RFCXXXX, Section 5.4  |
           | find          | Current  | RFCXXXX, Section 5.5  |
           | leapseconds   | Current  | RFCXXXX, Section 5.6  |
           +---------------+----------+-----------------------+




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9.3.  timezone Well-Known URI Registration

   URI suffix:  timezone

   Change controller:  IETF.

   Specification document(s):  This RFC.

   Related information:

9.4.  Service Name Registrations

   This document registers two new service names as per [RFC6335].  Both
   are defined within this document.

9.4.1.  timezone Service Name Registration

   Service Name:  timezone

   Transport Protocol(s):  TCP

   Assignee:  IESG <iesg@ietf.org>

   Contact:  IETF Chair <chair@ietf.org>

   Description:  Time Zone Data Distribution Service - non-TLS

   Reference:  [This Draft]

   Assignment Note:  This is an extension of the http service.  Defined
      TXT keys: path=<context path>

9.4.2.  timezones Service Name Registration

   Service Name:  timezones

   Transport Protocol(s):  TCP

   Assignee:  IESG <iesg@ietf.org>

   Contact:  IETF Chair <chair@ietf.org>

   Description:  Time Zone Data Distribution Service - over TLS

   Reference:  [This Draft]

   Assignment Note:  This is an extension of the https service.  Defined
      TXT keys: path=<context path>



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9.5.  tzdist URN sub-namespace

   IANA is requested to register a new URN sub-namespace within the IETF
   URN Sub-namespace for Registered Protocol Parameter Identifiers
   defined in [RFC3553].

   Registry name:  tzdist

   Specification):  This RFC

   Repository:  Time Distribution Service protocol elements registry.

   Index value::  This specification defines the single "error" sub-
      parameter, which itself has sub-parameters representing specific
      error codes within the protocol as defined in the list of actions
      in Section 5 and used in problem reports (Section 4.1.7).

9.6.  iCalendar Property Registrations

   This document defines the following new iCalendar properties to be
   added to the registry defined in Section 8.2.3 of [RFC5545]:

           +----------------+----------+-----------------------+
           | Property       | Status   | Reference             |
           +----------------+----------+-----------------------+
           | TZUNTIL        | Current  | RFCXXXX, Section 7.1  |
           | TZID-ALIAS-OF  | Current  | RFCXXXX, Section 7.2  |
           +----------------+----------+-----------------------+

10.  Acknowledgements

   The authors would like to thank the members of the Calendaring and
   Scheduling Consortium's Time Zone Technical Committee, and the
   participants and chairs of the IETF tzdist working group.  In
   particular, the following individuals have made important
   contributions to this work: Steve Allen, Lester Caine, Stephen
   Colebourne, Tobias Conradi, Steve Crocker, Paul Eggert, John Haug,
   Ciny Joy, Bryan Keller, Andrew McMillan, Ken Murchison, Tim Parenti,
   Arnaud Quillaud, Jose Edvaldo Saraiva, and Dave Thewlis.

   This specification originated from work at the Calendaring and
   Scheduling Consortium, which has supported the development and
   testing of implementations of the specification.








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11.  References

11.1.  Normative References

   [I-D.ietf-appsawg-http-problem]
              Nottingham, M. and E. Wilde, "Problem Details for HTTP
              APIs", draft-ietf-appsawg-http-problem-00 (work in
              progress), September 2014.

   [RFC2046]  Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
              Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types", RFC 2046,
              November 1996.

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC2782]  Gulbrandsen, A., Vixie, P., and L. Esibov, "A DNS RR for
              specifying the location of services (DNS SRV)", RFC 2782,
              February 2000.

   [RFC2818]  Rescorla, E., "HTTP Over TLS", RFC 2818, May 2000.

   [RFC3339]  Klyne, G., Ed. and C. Newman, "Date and Time on the
              Internet: Timestamps", RFC 3339, July 2002.

   [RFC3553]  Mealling, M., Masinter, L., Hardie, T., and G. Klyne, "An
              IETF URN Sub-namespace for Registered Protocol
              Parameters", BCP 73, RFC 3553, June 2003.

   [RFC3629]  Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO
              10646", STD 63, RFC 3629, November 2003.

   [RFC5246]  Dierks, T. and E. Rescorla, "The Transport Layer Security
              (TLS) Protocol Version 1.2", RFC 5246, August 2008.

   [RFC5545]  Desruisseaux, B., "Internet Calendaring and Scheduling
              Core Object Specification (iCalendar)", RFC 5545,
              September 2009.

   [RFC5785]  Nottingham, M. and E. Hammer-Lahav, "Defining Well-Known
              Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs)", RFC 5785, April
              2010.

   [RFC6125]  Saint-Andre, P. and J. Hodges, "Representation and
              Verification of Domain-Based Application Service Identity
              within Internet Public Key Infrastructure Using X.509
              (PKIX) Certificates in the Context of Transport Layer
              Security (TLS)", RFC 6125, March 2011.



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   [RFC6321]  Daboo, C., Douglass, M., and S. Lees, "xCal: The XML
              Format for iCalendar", RFC 6321, August 2011.

   [RFC6335]  Cotton, M., Eggert, L., Touch, J., Westerlund, M., and S.
              Cheshire, "Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)
              Procedures for the Management of the Service Name and
              Transport Protocol Port Number Registry", BCP 165, RFC
              6335, August 2011.

   [RFC6557]  Lear, E. and P. Eggert, "Procedures for Maintaining the
              Time Zone Database", BCP 175, RFC 6557, February 2012.

   [RFC6570]  Gregorio, J., Fielding, R., Hadley, M., Nottingham, M.,
              and D. Orchard, "URI Template", RFC 6570, March 2012.

   [RFC6763]  Cheshire, S. and M. Krochmal, "DNS-Based Service
              Discovery", RFC 6763, February 2013.

   [RFC7159]  Bray, T., "The JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Data
              Interchange Format", RFC 7159, March 2014.

   [RFC7230]  Fielding, R. and J. Reschke, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol
              (HTTP/1.1): Message Syntax and Routing", RFC 7230, June
              2014.

   [RFC7231]  Fielding, R. and J. Reschke, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol
              (HTTP/1.1): Semantics and Content", RFC 7231, June 2014.

   [RFC7232]  Fielding, R. and J. Reschke, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol
              (HTTP/1.1): Conditional Requests", RFC 7232, June 2014.

   [RFC7234]  Fielding, R., Nottingham, M., and J. Reschke, "Hypertext
              Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Caching", RFC 7234, June
              2014.

   [RFC7235]  Fielding, R. and J. Reschke, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol
              (HTTP/1.1): Authentication", RFC 7235, June 2014.

   [RFC7265]  Kewisch, P., Daboo, C., and M. Douglass, "jCal: The JSON
              Format for iCalendar", RFC 7265, May 2014.

11.2.  Informative References

   [RFC2131]  Droms, R., "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol", RFC
              2131, March 1997.






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Appendix A.  Change History (to be removed prior to publication as an
             RFC)

   Changes for -05

   1.  Now uses its own rules for defining JSON objects.

   2.  Added new section on time zone versions.

   3.  Added publisher/version to the list action response meta-data.

   4.  Changed conditional request and synchronization sections to
       better describe how meta-data and data are updated.

   5.  Added the ability to retrieve leap second information from the
       server.

   6.  Added text to require servers to return all data if a
       "changedsince" value is not supported.

   7.  Switched TZUNTIL to be exclusive rather than inclusive, so that
       it now matches the definition of the truncation end point (also
       exclusive).

   Changes for -04

   1.   Tweaked invalid-start/end for action expand to indicate outside
        truncation range.

   2.   Added text on use of Accept-Language.

   3.   Added text on requirement to percent-encode {/tzid}.

   4.   Moved /observances under /zones{/tzid}.

   5.   Observances response now includes start/end of actual range
        returned if different from what was requested.

   6.   Truncation end and &end= for get action are now exclusive.

   7.   Added capabilities action in capabilities example response.

   8.   Added uri-template items to capabilities action definitions.

   9.   Added start/end items to the observances response.






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   10.  Error codes are now URNs (with an IANA registration for a tzdist
        sub-namespace) and the URNs are used as the type value in JSON
        problem reports.

   11.  Removed "changedsince" from expand action - ETag can be used
        instead.

   Changes for -03

   1.  Reworked conditional list section
       (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/22 &
       https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/33).

   2.  Moved definitions into General Considerations section.

   3.  Now makes use of ietf-appsawg-http-problem for error responses.

   4.  Switched to using a more RESTful design with resources used to
       identify endpoints for actions
       (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/29).

   5.  Tweaked TZUNTIL text to further address
       (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/15).

   6.  Tweaked "outright" deletion text to match latest on mailing list
       (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/18).

   7.  Added additional text suggesting other discovery mechanisms could
       be used (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/30).

   8.  Now require "end" parameter on expand to avoid issues with
       truncated data upper bounds
       (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/10).

   Changes for -02

   1.  "time zone server" -> "time zone data server".

   2.  Re-worded some text containing reference to "historical" time
       zone data, and truncation behavior.

   3.  Removed "REST".

   4.  Use "TZID-ALIAS-OF" in place of "EQUIVALENT-TZID".

   5.  Added \-escape mechanism for find action.





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   6.  Revised Section 4.2.3 to address
       (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/18).

   Changes for -01

   1.   Query attribute: "name" -> "pattern"
        (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/4).

   2.   UTF-8 used for time zone ids and in all responses.

   3.   Added glossary term and note for "time zone"
        (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/12).

   4.   Glossary term change and alias text from
        (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/13).

   5.   "Local Provider" -> "Secondary Provider".

   6.   Additional security text for
        (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/25).

   7.   Added additional text to better describe localized names.

   8.   Added "tzid" member to expand response.

   9.   Added optional "provider-details" member to capabilities
        response, and also made "contacts" optional.

   10.  Definition of "invalid-action" moved to Section 6, and clarified
        text related to error responses in Sections 4.1.6 and 6
        (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/17).

   11.  Added "Observance" to glossary.

   12.  Added "TZUNTIL" iCalendar property (part of
        https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/15).

   13.  Revamped truncation to always use UTC date-time values and
        support end points (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/
        ticket/21, and https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/10).

   14.  Expand always uses UTC date-time values for query parameters,
        and always returns UTC date-time onset values
        (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/21).

   Changes for -00





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   1.  Initial WG draft derived from draft-douglass-timezone-service-11,
       with some terminology changes to match WG name.

   2.  Updated references.

   3.  "timezone" -> "time zone" (https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/
       ticket/6).

   4.  Glossary tweak (first part of
       https://tools.ietf.org/wg/tzdist/trac/ticket/13).

   5.  Fix iCalendar property names: UTC-OFFSET-* -> TZOFFSET*.

   6.  Fix invalid-truncate error code description.

Authors' Addresses

   Michael Douglass
   Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
   110 8th Street
   Troy , NY   12180
   USA

   Email: douglm@rpi.edu
   URI:   http://www.rpi.edu/


   Cyrus Daboo
   Apple Inc.
   1 Infinite Loop
   Cupertino , CA   95014
   USA

   Email: cyrus@daboo.name
   URI:   http://www.apple.com/
















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