Background
HelpMaster v12 and above supports multiple timezones when entering, updating or viewing any date/time data. This is very useful if you use HelpMaster across different timezones.
In order to support this functionality, HelpMaster needs to store all date data in the database as UTC (Universal coordinated time). When the date data is displayed to the end user, it is converted and displayed in local time. If the timezone for the date is different to the local time, HelpMaster will indicate this.
For all versions of HelpMaster prior to v12, the date data that has been entered into HelpMaster by each person in each location will be in their local time. The date data displayed to each person will also be this time. This can be confusing and misleading if you do not realize where each entry originated from. A person viewing a date that was entered in a different timezone may not realize this.
This is the issue that v12 addresses.
By storing all date data in a common date timezone such as UTC, the timezone information and time offset (including daylight savings time) can be used to display date data in local time and preserve the original timezone data.
Database upgrade and conversion
In order to use HelpMaster v12, you will need to upgrade your database. Use the HelpMaster database and reports wizard to automatically do this. All of your existing HelpMaster data will be upgraded and all date data will be converted to UTC - nothing is lost.
However! It is very important to run the Database and Reports Wizard on a computer that has its' date timezone (Windows timezone) set to the same timezone that the majority of your date data is entered in. This will allow the conversion process to convert your existing date data into UTC and preserve the same ratio of timezone information.
For example.
Suppose you have people using HelpMaster in 3 different timezones.
- Timezone 1 = Wellington, New Zealand (+12)
- Timezone 2 = Sydney, Australia (+10)
- Timezone 3 = Perth, Australia (+8)
The majority of your data entry is from the Sydney office. This means that users in NZ, or Perth will be accustomed to viewing the majority of date data that is not in their timezone.
The HelpMaster database upgrade to v12 will update all date data, however by running the conversion on a machine running in the same timezone as the majority of your date data, you preserve this same ratio of timezone differences for existing data only. The effect for existing data will be business as usual - that is, the same potential ambiguity will exist.
All new date data entry in HelpMaster v12 will be stored as UTC with timezone encoding and this ambiguity will no longer exist.
Make a database backup and test!
As usual, it is highly recommended to make a backup of your existing HelpMaster database before performing the database upgrade. It is also recommended to view your converted data for any issues before converting your live production HelpMaster database.
Date display in HelpMaster v12
Once your HelpMaster database has been converted, all date data entry will be encoded with the originating timezone and v12 will store this data in the database in UTC. When this date data is displayed, it will be converted back to a local timezone and all ambiguity will be removed. Each person using HelpMaster will be able to tell where and when the date was entered, regardless of where it was entered.
Custom reports
If you have created custom reports that pull data from your HelpMaster database, you will need to update these to account for the changes in the date fields. Remeber, all date fields in the database will now be in UTC. You will need to convert these to your preferred timezone.
For information about updating Crystal Reports, please refer to this discussion thread.
Getting help, have questions?
Please post any questions, or issues you have about this here.
Thank you,
The HelpMaster development team