AMT Datasouth PAL - Manual (Page 134)

_localtime
128
while powered-off. The programmer should check the printer's documentation for information
concerning date and time maintenance.
At some point, all PAL printers require an operator to set the current date and time. Printers which
can maintain the correct date and time while powered-off only require the operator to set the time
once, or once following any time changes. Printers which cannot maintain the correct time when
powered-off need the operator to set the time following power-on.
In either case, if the printer never receives the correct time from the operator, the _localtime op-
erator will set AvailBool to false in the returned array. This indicates that the printer does not
know the current time or date.
In addition, even if the printer knows the correct time and date, the printer may not know the local
time's relationship to Greenwich mean time (GMT). The printer may also not know whether or not
the local time zone has daylight savings time active. Whether or not the printer knows these two
settings usually depends upon whether or not the operator told the printer. PAL will return -1 for
either or both of these values if the printer does not contain the information.
The ZoneInt and SaveInt values provide the extended time logging information often required by
wide area network systems operating across multiple time zones.
Special Considerations
Some printers may normally indicate the correct daylight savings time status at all times, excluding
two special hours during the year. At 2:00:00
AM on the last Sunday in October, daylight savings
time ends and standard time begins. During this transition, clocks are updated from 1:59:59 AM to
1:00:00 AM . Therefore, a time reading bwtween 1:00:00 AM and 1:59:59 AM on this day may
indicates either 1-2 AM daylight savings time or 1-2 AM standard time. During this two hour period
of time, some printers may automatically indicate "unknown" (-1) for SaveInt.