Time by server

[moncet_idi]

Can you tell me about “timenow”, who make by server ?

[Steve]

TIMENOW(), and all other time & date query functions, uses the device’s local time, except when used in workflows. In workflows, it uses the AppSheet server’s time.

[moncet_idi]

Can you show it to me the sampe ?

[pravse]

@Steve to clarify a bit further …

1. For any change workflow rule, the TIMENOW() function captures the time on the AppSheet service but it is offset to the timezone of the user whose action triggered the workflow. So let’s say I was in Seattle (PST) and make an update that syncs at 5:30AM, the TIMENOW() function running in a change workflow on sync will capture the time in PST (i.e. 5:30AM).
2. For scheduled reports, the timezone is specified explicitly in the definition of the report (because it is used as part of the definition of the recurring schedule)

[moncet_idi]

Thanks your solution

[Kirk_Masden]

Hi @praveen!

When I travel, I sometimes keep my phone set to Japan time because I don’t want the times recorded to be affected by time zone changes. Perhaps if developers could choose to have times zone recorded in a column separate from the time stamps column it would become possible to really know when something happened and put the times in chronological order. Or, better yet, if we could choose to have a time stamp that appends the time zone, that might be even better. Then we could parse the data on our own. Just a thought; I don’t know if this would be difficult to implement or not.

[moncet_idi]

[Steve]

Consider…

Kirk_Masden:

Perhaps if developers could choose to have times zone recorded in a column separate

USERTZOFFSET()

Kirk_Masden:

possible to really know when something happened and put the times in chronological order

UTCNOW()

Kirk_Masden:

a time stamp that appends the time zone

(NOW() & " " & USERTZOFFSET())

[moncet_idi]

Thanks that solution, i try first

[Kirk_Masden]

Thanks from me too. I assumed that it wasn’t possible. “Assumptions” are a problem I never seem to fully overcome.

[moncet_idi]

[Kirk_Masden]

I posted about this issue in “Tips & Tricks”:

Handling multiple time zones Tips & Tricks 💡

The column type “ChangeTimeStamp” records the date and time a change occurred to another column according to the time zone of the device being used. In many situations this is probably just fine, but what if you need to know the sequence in which events actually occurred? A single user who flies to a different time zone may appear to be doing A after B, when A actually came first. Or, a similar problem will occur when there are multiple users in different time zones. I have learned from expre…