Client/server timestamp conversion

Timestamp conversion helps you maintain accurate records of activities on the database. It allows you to view activities in local time recorded in GMT time zone format, even if the database server is in a remote location with a different time zone.

Timestamps are essential for auditing purposes. It is important that the integrity of timestamps is maintained across all data partitions in a partitioned database environment.

This section explains the generation of timestamps in a client/server environment:

• If you specify a local time for a rollforward operation, all messages returned will also be in local time.
  Note: All times are converted on the server and (in partitioned database environments) on the catalog database partition.
• The timestamp string is converted to GMT on the server, so the time represents the server's time zone, not the client's. If the client is in a different time zone from the server, the server's local time should be used.
• If the timestamp string is close to the time change due to daylight savings time, it is important to know whether the stop time is before or after the time change so that it is specified correctly.