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INFO: Coordinated Universal Time on MS-DOS vs. Windows NT

Article ID: 117779

Article Last Modified on 12/2/2003

APPLIES TO

This article was previously published under Q117779

SUMMARY

If a data file containing MFC CTime objects is moved from MS-DOS (including Windows) to Windows NT, or vice-versa, differences in the system time under MS-DOS and Windows NT can cause unexpected results.

MORE INFORMATION

Under MS-DOS, Pacific Standard Time is the default time zone. The default time zone for Windows NT is Greenwich Mean Time. MFC CTime objects use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to store the current time. This can cause problems if CTime objects are shared between applications on default installations of MS-DOS (Windows) and Windows NT. Specifically, the time will be 8 hours off.

This is expected behavior for any object that uses UTC. To share data files, make sure that both systems use the same time zone. If you want to use an absolute time (one that remains the same regardless of time zone), you must implement your own object.

Additional query words: kbinf 1.00 1.50 1.51 1.52 2.00 2.10 2.50 2.51 2.52 3.00 3.10 4.00

Keywords: kbprb KB117779


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