[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #44985: timezone_string should be valid when offset time zone mode is used

[WordPress Trac]

#44985: timezone_string should be valid when offset time zone mode is used
-------------------------+------------------------------------------
 Reporter:  Rarst        |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement  |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal       |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Date/Time    |    Version:  trunk
 Severity:  normal       |   Keywords:  needs-patch needs-unit-tests
  Focuses:               |
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 `timezone_string` time zone settings mode is backwards compatible,
 overriding `gmt_offset` mode with correct offset:

 {{{#!php
 // Kiev
 var_dump( get_option( 'gmt_offset' ), get_option( 'timezone_string' ) );
 // float(3) string(11) "Europe/Kiev"
 }}}

 However the reverse isn't true, if settings are in offset mode the time
 zone string is empty and invalid:

 {{{#!php
 // UTC+3
 var_dump( get_option( 'gmt_offset' ), get_option( 'timezone_string' ) );
 // string(1) "3" string(0) ""
 }}}

 In part this is because on older PHP versions there is no valid string
 that would correspond to an hours offset. But from PHP 5.5.10 it would
 work with timezone strings in `+03:00` format just fine.

 I think generating valid time zone strings in offset mode for new PHP
 versions is low hanging and makes things much more robust for downstream
 developers, making it harder for them to unknowingly screw up by relying
 on `timezone_string` alone.

 We still need unified timezone retrieval in #24730, but that doesn't
 displace making `timezone_string` by itself more reliable.

 Will work on a patch.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/44985>
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