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# tzif
This python library provides time transitions for timezones. This library does
not directly provide time zone data, and instead uses the same sources as
`zoneinfo` which includes the system timezone database or the `tzdata` package.
## Background
iCalendar files are fully specified, and there is no ambiguity with respect
to how times in timezones are interpreted. That is, an iCalendar contains a
VTIMEZONE that has all local time transitions fully specified. That means
that an iCalendar implementation must have a timezone database.
[PEP 615](https://peps.python.org/pep-0615/) adds support for the IANA Time Zone
Database in the base python and describes the datasources used to implement
timezones and the `zoneinfo` package. However, those APIs do not expose all
the underlying timezone transitions.
## Details
This package works similarly to the `zoneinfo` package, exposing the underlying
datasources for use by libraries that need timezone transitions. Timezone data
is stored in the Time Zone Information Format (TZif) described in [rfc8536](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc8536).
The library will read both from the system TZ paths or from the tzdata package.
TZif v3 files support a posix TZ string that describe the rules for the timezone
going forward without explicit transitions. These two resources were helpful to
better describe the string since it is not references in the RFC for TZif:
- https://developer.ibm.com/articles/au-aix-posix/
- https://www.di-mgt.com.au/wclock/help/wclo_tzexplain.html
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