Set default timezone for mysql client - mysql

I have a MySQL database that stores time in UTC. However, when I connect to it using MySQL Workbench I would like to see time in PST. I know I can use tz_convert to convert individual columns to PST. I was wondering is there any way I set the entire client session to a timezone so that I don't have to put tz_convert over every individual time columns.

Your column has to be of the type TIMESTAMP to be automatically converted to your local timestamp. As written in 10.6 MySQL Server Time Zone Support:
The current session time zone setting affects display and storage of time values that are zone-sensitive. This includes the values displayed by functions such as NOW() or CURTIME(), and values stored in and retrieved from TIMESTAMP columns. Values for TIMESTAMP columns are converted from the current time zone to UTC for storage, and from UTC to the current time zone for retrieval.
However, it does not work for DATE, TIME or DATETIME:
The current time zone setting does not affect values displayed by functions such as UTC_TIMESTAMP() or values in DATE, TIME, or DATETIME columns. Nor are values in those data types stored in UTC; the time zone applies for them only when converting from TIMESTAMP values. If you want locale-specific arithmetic for DATE, TIME, or DATETIME values, convert them to UTC, perform the arithmetic, and then convert back.

Related

Stop changing dates automatically in MySQL on tz change

I am using DATETIME field to store my dates in MySQL. Without any timezone specified directly (there is just a datetime column)
But when timezone was changed on server MySQL updated all datetime columns according to new timezone.
Actually switching to EDT was the reason.
I don't need to recalculate my dates automatically - just want to store specific dates in it.
So even if tz changed manually to UTC from EST date should be same (from characters POV) if it was 2016-01-01 18:55 it should be same in any new tz..
I did not run any scripts\queries to update dates.
So it was performed either by MySQL itself or by server.
Need advice what I need to check to find and disable such feature.
Make sure you are using DATETIME and not TIMESTAMP
[From the MySQL documentation][1]:
MySQL converts TIMESTAMP values from the current time zone to UTC for storage, and back from UTC to the current time zone for retrieval. (This does not occur for other types such as DATETIME.)
You should also review this post (Duplicate):
Will changing a MySQL timezone change values of DateTime fields in a database?
I am sorry for the mess I brought
Just extended my query to grab some old dates - and it looks unchanged
So error defenetly in my code..
Anyway - thanks for your help

MySQL timezone discrepancy on Update tale

I'm working on a shared hosting so I don't have access to mysql configuration files.
The default timezone on that system is 'America/New_York' but I need to use UTC -5:00 for my databases.
Everytime I perform a query the timezone is set to UTC -5:00 like this:
SET time_zone='-5:00';
If I want the current time, SELECT NOW() returns the correct time and date, but when updating a table mysql uses the SYSTEM time and not the set timezone
UPDATE administradores SET ultimo_acceso=NOW() WHERE id=1
Why does those values are different? Shouldn't be the same time in both queries since I'm overriding the timezone?
I also tried with INSERT statement and that works fine.
If the ultimo_acceso field is of type TIMESTAMP, then the value is actually being stored as UTC and then converted back to the current time zone when you select the value back out. So you need to set the time zone again in the select statement.
If you are using a DATETIME data type, then the value you set should be persisted without conversion and you will get back exactly what you store - regardless of the timezone setting at time of select.
See the MySQL docs on this subject.
Note that DATETIME, DATE, and TIME fields will always return the exact time you placed into them, regardless of the value of the time_zone variable.
TIMESTAMP fields will automatically convert their values to the timezone specified by the time_zone variable.

Changing CURRENT_TIMESTAMP value based on timezone in MySQL

I want to migrate our mysql server from shared hosting to local server.
Current server is in MST time zone and the values for the CURRENT_TIMESTAMP in databsse is stored as -7:00 GMT.
Now I want to move complete application on dedicated server in India. Also want to convert the date values stored in -7:00 GMT to +5:30 GMT.
I can accomplish this task of updating the dates by writing script to update the time, however I would like to know if is there any way I can do this from database itself (at time of import or while exporting itself)
mysql version 5.0.96-log. I am not getting option export timestamp in UTC.
When using mysqldump, set the flag: --tz-utc to force all timestamps to be exported as UTC. ( http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/mysqldump.html#option_mysqldump_tz-utc ). Note here --tz-utc is enabled by default. So you should have to do nothing: but test first :)
If just working with timestamps on the server you don't have to do anything to convert them, from the documentation on TIMESTAMP post MySQL 4.1 ( http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/timestamp.html ):
"values still are stored in UTC, but are converted from the current
time zone for storage, and converted back to the current time zone for
retrieval. As long as the time zone setting remains constant, you
get back the same value you store. If you store a TIMESTAMP value, and
then change the time zone and retrieve the value, the retrieved value
is different from the value you stored."
This is easy to test:
Save a timestamp to your table
Change the server's timezone
Retrieve it: the return value should reflect the new timezone.
So another option is you could just have both the servers set to the same timezone while doing the export / import, than set them back to the correct timezone(s) after it is complete, but note with MySQLDump this should not be necessary.
General syntax
SELECT DATE_ADD(<column_name>, INTERVAL HOUR);
for changing to UTC to MST
SELECT DATE_ADD(NOW(), INTERVAL 7 HOUR);

GMT time in Database

Is there is any possibility in database, What ever time i am given which should store as GMT time stamp. If it so, Please share me.
For PostgreSQL, your table should have a column of type timestamp with time zone (timestamptz for short) like this:
CREATE TABLE tbl (id serial, ts timestamptz);
If what you want to store (let's call it my_ts) is ...
a local timestamp without time zone, i.e. it agrees with the current setting of timezone in your client:
Insert as is, everything is saved as UTC automatically internally:
INSERT INTO tbl (ts) VALUES my_ts'
a timestamp with time zone:
Insert as is, everything is saved as UTC automatically internally:
INSERT INTO tbl (ts) VALUES my_ts;
a timestamp without time zone but from another time zone:
Say, you get timestamp without time zone values from the Olympic Games in London, but your client thinks you are at a different time zone. Transform the timestamp with the AT TIME ZONE construct:
INSERT INTO tbl (ts) VALUES my_ts AT TIME ZONE 'Europe/London';
If you use the time zone name (instead of a time zone abbreviation, BST in this case), DST (daylight saving time) rules are applied automatically. Details in this related question.
More about timestamp handling in PostgreSQL in this related answer.
Now, if you want to display tbl.ts as UTC (~ GMT) timestamp without time zone, regardless of your current time zone, retrieve the values like this:
SELECT ts AT TIME ZONE 'UTC' FROM tbl;
Note that AT TIME ZONE has a different effect when applied to timestamptz than with timestamp! Read the manual carefully.
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/datetime.html
MySQL converts TIMESTAMP values from the current time zone to UTC for
storage, and back from UTC to the current time zone for retrieval.
(This does not occur for other types such as DATETIME.) By default,
the current time zone for each connection is the server's time.
Times in timestamp with time zone (and the old-style timestamp, but you shouldn't generally use that) are always stored in UTC ("GMT") in PostgreSQL. They're converted to and from UTC for display. If you want them to be treated as UTC for input and output:
SET timezone = 'UTC'
in each session, or set the param at the database or user level. Your app must then send all timestamps qualified with a time zone if they're in a TZ other than UTC; you've told the system that "local time" is UTC.
The AT TIME ZONE construct can be useful if you want to explicitly convert timestamps to a time zone other than the default, eg:
regress=# SELECT TIMESTAMP '2012-01-01 00:00:00 UTC' AT TIME ZONE '+08:00';
timezone
------------------------
2012-01-01 16:00:00+08
(1 row)
The keyword you are looking for is UTC instead of GMT ("For most common purposes, UTC is synonymous with GMT, but GMT is no longer precisely defined by the scientific community.", wikipedia).
For MySQL, you can use the CONVERT_TZ() function (please note the warning in the manual about named time zones, it can break your queries if it's not properly set up).
Just a word of caution: there is no 100% reliable way to work with timezone conversion between MySQL and your application (see my blog post about mysql time zone conversions to learn in detail about why this is). It's better to pass your datetime strings to MySQL in UTC directly (e.g. by doing the conversion in the application itself). You almost always end up storing datetimes in a DATETIME field using UTC formatted date strings if you need reliability.

How does mySQL determine the time zone for the TIMESTAMP field?

According to mysqltutorial
The values of the MySQL TIMESTAMP columns depend on connection’s time
zone. When insert values for MySQL TIMESTAMP columns, they are
converted to Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) from connection’s time
zone. When you select the value, the server converts it back from UTC
to the connection’s time zone so you have the same value that you
inserted.
Where does it get this info. from, the time the user sets his OS to or from some other method?
Javascript also has a way to do timezones but is more involved: onlineaspect
To specify connection-specific time you need to perform
SET time_zone = TZ;
Where TZ can be either numerical offset like +11:00 or name of timezone Asia/Vladivostok (for the latter you need to import timezones description. Ask your DBA to do so)
the example there is wrong, i just tested it. it returns the previously inserted timestamp, regardless of the timezone. mysql will always insert the time you specify, without modifying it. if you need timezone adjustment, you have to tell mysql explicit to do so; otherwise all times are assumed to be "local server time".