Parameters for time zone, and date and time formats

Use the following parameters to define the time zone, and date and time formats:

  • ZONE_ID—Defines the time zone that is used to display the date and time in PDF files.
  • DATE_FORMAT—Defines the format in which the date is displayed in PDF files.
  • DATE_TIME_FORMAT—Defines the format in which date and time are displayed in PDF files.

The DATE_FORMAT parameter is used for the dynamic date field, and the DATE_TIME_FORMAT parameter is used for the dynamic date and time type field.

When is ZONE_ID considered for displaying the time in PDF files

By default, when a case agent creates a case, the time zone of the requester primary site is considered as the case time zone. If a case agent changes the primary site, the time zone of the changed site is used for displaying the date and time in PDF files.

When no primary site is defined for a case, the time zone that a case business analyst configures for the ZONE_ID parameter is used for displaying the date and time in PDF files. The default primary zone is in the UTC format.

If a case business analyst hasn't set a value for the ZONE_ID parameter, the default UTC time zone is used for displaying the date and time in PDF files.

Examples

  • For example, a case business analyst configures Asia/Kolkata as the IST time zone for Calbro Services. The case business analyst also defines dd-MMM-yyyy as the date format to be displayed in the reference letter. A requester from Calbro Services is traveling and raises a request for a reference letter. Although the request is raised from a different time zone, the reference letter displays the time in the IST time zone.
  • A user from Calbro Services from Pune, India requests for a visa letter. The time zone of the primary site of the requester is IST. When the PDF is generated for the Visa letter, the date and time are displayed in the IST time zone. The requester travels to New York, USA, and requests for a reference letter. A case agent changes the primary site from Pune, India to New York, USA. The changed time zone CST is used for the case. When the PDF is generated for the reference letter, the date and time are displayed in the CST time zone.
    While creating the case for a reference letter for the Calbro Services user, if the case agent doesn't define the primary site, and if a case business analyst hasn't set a value for the ZONE_ID parameter, the default UTC time zone is used to display date and time in PDF files.

Daylight saving time not considered for displaying time in PDF files

To enable the conversion of time according to daylight saving time, an administrator edits a time zone in BMC Helix Innovation Studio, and sets the Adjust Clock to Daylight Savings field value to Yes.

When the setting is enabled, and PDF files are generated by using the site timezone, the daylight saving time is not considered while generating PDF files. However, when the ZONE_ID parameters is considered for displaying time in PDF files, daylight savings time is accounted and time is displayed accordingly in PDF files.

For example, when a user creates a case during daylight saving time from Mexico City with CST timezone, the daylight saving time that should be considered is America/Chicago. However, BMC Helix Platform returns the ZONE_ID as UTC -06:00.